Discount Armageddon: Book One of Incryptid (InCryptid, #1)

by Seanan McGuire

First book in New York Times-bestselling Seanan McGuire's witty urban fantasy InCryptid series about a family of cryptozoologists who act as a buffer between humans and the magical creatures living in secret around us.

"The only thing more fun than an October Daye book is an InCryptid book." —Charlaine Harris, #1 New York Times-bestselling author of Sookie Stackhouse series

Cryptid, noun: Any creature whose existence has not yet been proven by science. See also "Monster."

Crytozoologist, noun: Any person who thinks hunting for cryptids is a good idea. See also "idiot."

Ghoulies. Ghosties. Long-legged beasties. Things that go bump in the night...

The Price family has spent generations studying the monsters of the world, working to protect them from humanity—and humanity from them.

Enter Verity Price. Despite being trained from birth as a cryptozoologist, she'd rather dance a tango than tangle with a demon, and is spending a year in Manhattan while she pursues her career in professional ballroom dance. Sounds pretty simple, right?

It would be, if it weren't for the talking mice, the telepathic mathematicians, the asbestos supermodels, and the trained monster-hunter sent by the Price family's old enemies, the Covenant of St. George. When a Price girl meets a Covenant boy, high stakes, high heels, and a lot of collateral damage are almost guaranteed.

To complicate matters further, local cryptids are disappearing, strange lizard-men are appearing in the sewers, and someone's spreading rumors about a dragon sleeping underneath the city...

• ISBN10: 1101576871
• ISBN13: 9781101576878
• Publish Date: 1 March 2012
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Daw Books
• Format: eBook
• Pages: 368
• Language: English

Reviews

[Quirky Cat]

How have I not read this series before now? InCryptid combines all of my favorite things: lore, creatures from mythology, and Seanan McGuire's writing. Seriously, what more could I have asked for?

Discount Armageddon is the very first novel in the InCryptid series, with number ten due out before the month is over. So now seems like a perfectly good time for me to fix my oversight, and binge the entire series in one go.

Verity Price is a woman with many talents, and passions. First and foremost, she's a Cryptozoologist. Meaning that she studies and hunts all the things that go bump in the night. Or broad daylight. She only hunts the beings that disrupt the natural ecosystem, and those that hunt when they shouldn't.

It's a family trade, one she was born and bred for. But it's not her only passion. You see, Verity also loves to dance, and making those two halves of her life work is easier said than done. Especially when a massive Cryptid enters her city and causes some chaos.

“There's no such thing as a normal life. Some lives are just more interesting than others, and we shouldn't judge people for being boring.”

Guys, I had such a blast reading Discount Armageddon. It was a quick and fun read, sure, but that is far from being a bad thing. Very is such a hilarious and endearing character, and Seanan McGuire's quirky writing really had an opportunity to shine through here.

While there are certainly serious points in this book, overall it is a lighter and more casual series full of magical and mythical critters. It's witty and full of surprising characters, all of whom have their own (very strong) personalities. Honestly, I can't wait to dive into the next book and learn more about them.

“Self-defense teaches you to kick-ass. Ballroom dancing teaches you to do it in heels.”

But for now, I'll try to focus on the present. Discount Armageddon. Verity, aka Very, really makes for a unique leading lady. She loves the study of Cryptids, as does her whole family. They're not hunters, and stand in stark contrast to an organization that sees anything as inhuman as a blight.

Seeing the world through her lens is fascinating, especially as she lets her passion for dance color the world. It's a unique combination, one that really adds a lot of personality to the series. I can already see how this might be a source of conflict and hilarity in later novels as well.

This was a strong introduction into this world, giving us plenty of opportunities to see the good and bad that both humans and monsters have to provide in this world, and what can happen when the two come into conflict.

Major bonus points for the Aeslin mice, they are a treasure that I will always hold onto. Now onto Midnight Blue-Light Special! Can't wait to see what happens there.

Check out more reviewers over at Quirky Cat's Fat Stacks

[pagesbycyndy]

My Review Of

Discount Armageddon (InCryptid #1) by Seanan McGuire

This wonderful story takes place in an alternate reality where creatures rule and monsters are among us. The Covenant of St. George works hard to destroy these creatures and the Price family broke away from this secretive group generations ago. Verity Price is a cryptozooligist, the Price family are a family of cryptozoologists, who are tasked  with the study and protection of these creatures. Verity Price is a tough as nails heroine and Dominic De Luca is part of the covenant that the Prices are hiding from because if the covenant finds the Prices they will kill them. The unlikely duo of Verity and Dominic pair up to find out why women cryptids  are disappearing. After some blood , gore and dancing  we find out that there may be a dragon in the underground sewers of NYC. The dragon princesses want their extinct boyfriend back, yes I said dragon princesses! Verity also lives with Aslin Mice who are very religious and live in a converted Barbie Dream-house in Verity's closet. I just loved these mice, they were hysterical and very enthusiastic. Verity lives in a semi-legal sublet and is cocktail waitress/ballroom dancer, can wear high heels  and kick-ass all at the same time. Together Dominic and Verity find out who or what is behind the disappearances/slayings of the local female cryptids and the romance begins..... almost like Romeo and Juliet, after all he is a Covenant guy and she is a Price! I happily listened along while this duo slayed the bad monsters, danced and romanced. What a fun book this was for me. I am officially hooked on this series and author. I will be binge listening to this authors books for months to come.

This review was originally posted on My Fiction Obsession

[kimbacaffeinate]

Reason to Grab your earbuds and listen to Discount Armageddon

• The tale takes place in an alternate world where paranormal creatures live amongst humans. The Covenant of St. George has spent centuries destroying these creatures. The Price family used to be members of this secret organization until Verity Price's great-grandfather while doing research about the creatures broke from the group. This family and the friends they have gathered along the way call themselves cryptozoologist. They study and protect these creatures, but are also tasked with hunting them should they upset the balance or place others in danger.


• Our heroine is snarky, kickass and has issues with authority. (my kind of gal) Trained since birth to study, protect and if necessary destroy these paranormal creatures referred to as cryptids Verity Price is in Manhattan for a year to decide whether to continue in the Price tradition or pursue a career in dance.  To support herself she works as a waitress at Dave's Fish & Strips, a Cyrytid hotspot. Yes, that is strips as in dancers. Verity travels the town via rooftops and is surprisingly skilled with throwing knives and guns.


• Thanks to a bounty set by the Covenant, Verity and her family work and live in secret. We meet some of her family and learn what they are doing around the world through phone calls and emails. Verity is the oldest Price sibling, but we will meet cousins, aunts and more. It looks like each story will involve an InCryptid problem or case with an overall series arc involving the Covenant. I am all in.


• All hail the creatures! The creatures are unique, strange and fun. I think this is my favorite aspect of the world. Verity lives with Aeslin mice who can talk and worship the Price family.  They were a huge source of amusement. Verity works for the Boogyman and is friends with a Medus. Her cousin, Sarah, is a telepathic mathematician known as a Cuckoo. Dragons, Sleestack, tooth fairies, basilisks and all sorts of splendid creatures make appearances. They live side by side with humans and hold jobs as bakers, cleaners, dancers and more.


• McGuire also introduces us to Dominic De Luca, a young Covenant member who arrives in Manhattan to prepare a report before the Covenant arrives to do a purge of the city. He has been trained and raised to believe cryptids are monsters and should be destroyed. All of his beliefs will come into question when he meets Verity Price.


• A shout out to the quotes and intros to each chapter. Be sure to listen or read these.


• We get a Romeo and Juliet romance that should prove to be interesting as the hero is conflicted.


• While introducing the world and its characters, Discount Armageddon delivered a suspenseful case where cryptids go missing all the city. Talks of dragons, sewer lizards, and end of times kept me listening into the wee hours.


• Fans of the Adventures of Owl by Kristi Charish, the White Trash Zombie series by Diana Rowland movies like Men in Black,  will feel right at home in the InCryptid world.


• Emily Bauer,  a new to me narrator captured both human and creatures giving them unique voices. I plan to continue the series on audio. The pacing was well done and she enhanced the humor, suspense, and emotions of the story wonderfully.

This review was originally posted at Caffeinated Reviewer

[Heather]

I'm loving this urban fantasy series! The Price family fled to North America several generations ago after they broke away from the monster-hunting Covenant. The Covenant thinks the family died out. The Prices have worked hard to make it seem like they did.

Verity Price isn't sure she wants to spend her life as a cryptozoologist. She has trained to be a professional ballroom dancer. Now she has one year in New York to try to make a living dancing as long as she uses her spare time to survey the local cryptid community. But her side job is taking up more time than her dancing.

There is so much great world building here. There are ultrareligious mice colonies that live with the Prices. There are telepathic cuckoos that can make humans give them things and not notice they did it. There are boogeymen who know all the secrets. Dragon princesses live to make money and gorgons have a hard time keeping their snakes happy under their wigs.

Verity comes face to face with a Covenant member. He was sent to see if New York needs to be purged of cryptids. Verity isn't going to let that happen to her friends.This review was originally posted on Based On A True Story

[tellemonstar]

Cross-posted at Book Review With The Blogmonstar

I love original ideas in my urban-fantasy and that is exactly what you get in the InCryptid series. Discount Armageddon is a rollicking, mythological creature-filled romp through Manhattan.

Verity Price (or Very as she is known to her family) can really kick butt. She free-runs all over the rooftops of Manhattan and does competitive ballroom dancing, whilst wearing any number of sharp, pointy weapons. Also, she doesn’t like the fact that someone is poaching in her territory. Unfortunately or maybe rather, fortunately that person is Dominic de Luca, who is a member of the Covenant of St. George. He’s pretty easy on the eyes, and apparently thinks Very is too. But more on that later.

Seanan McGuire’s use of mythology and cryptozoology is a breath of fresh air in the urban-fantasy genre. There’s dozens upon dozens of series with vampires and faeries and angels and werewolves. There aren’t too many with cryptozoologists, ‘lesser-Medusas’, Japanese scary-pants shape shifters with 3 forms, and dragon princesses.

At least we have a heroine who actually has a backbone from the beginning. Yes, Very can be a little immature sometimes, but then so was Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Some people will take issue with this fact, and quite frankly, I don’t care. The point is that this tends to make the character more relatable – since as far as we know the monsters aren’t real, who are we to say that we wouldn’t be sassy in order to buy some time.

Overall I found Discount Armageddon to be a fun and interesting read that filled in a boring old Saturday afternoon quite well. If you are a fan of Kim Harrison’s work, I would definitely recommend you check this out and see if you like it.

[MurderByDeath]

While reading this book I kept vacillating between Men in Black and Dr. Doolittle in my mind. Only supernatural, not alien. Either way this was a very entertaining read. My favorite character is probably Sarah, although each character, even the unusual ones, are likeable, unique and engaging. Verity is a perfect blend of kick-ass heroine and happy-go-lucky smartass. I look forward to reading about more of her adventures.