Midnight Blue-Light Special: 09/11/22

Midnight Blue-Light Special by Seanan McGuire and Emily Bauer (Narrator) is the second of the InCryptid books. Verity Price is in her last few weeks of her year in New York. When she should be trying one last time to launch her dancing career, she's faced instead with a potential purge as a group of hunters from Covenant of St. George have arrived.

From the first book, Discount Armageddon, we know that the Covenant is a dangerous organization hellbent on the elimination of all cryptids. We know they are dangerous. Having them here as the big threat takes away the charm of the previous book, namely, a mystery with a paranormal spin.

Rather than being a mystery, this volume is horror. It's the threat of a known enemy being inevitable. It's nonstop tension and preparation and then two thirds through, our narrator is taken and the remainder of the book is from her cousin's point of view.

I appreciate that the author likes to tell different types of stories in her fantasy worlds. It's what she's known for. In this particular case, this book didn't work for me.

A factor in my reaction is that I listened to it as an audio. It's not that Emily Bauer did anything wrong in her performance. It's more that the novel is eleven hours long, about four more hours in length than the cozies I typically listen to. Had I read this book instead, I would have skimmed the scenes that didn't work for me.

The third book is Half-Off Ragnarok (2014). I will continue with this series but in print, either physical copies or ebooks.

Three stars

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