January 10, 2022
McGuire switches focus to a new member of the Price-Healy clan of cryptozoologists for her fun 11th InCryptid fantasy (after Calculated Risks). After several fleeting appearances in previous entries, Alice Price-Healy, the grandmother to the modern generation, whose 50-year hunt through alternate dimensions for her long-missing husband, Thomas, has become both legend and cautionary tale, takes center stage. With the malicious, bargain-granting crossroads destroyed, Alice discovers a new lead to Thomas’s whereabouts, one which takes her further from her home dimension than ever before—and no matter what she finds upon arrival, it may prove to be a one-way trip. Luckily, she’s got no shortage of tricks—and weapons—up her sleeves. While this adventure veers noticeably from the urban fantasy of earlier volumes, taking place primarily in strange realms with almost no humans in sight, it still bears all the hallmarks of the InCryptid series: a clever protagonist, snarky banter, unusual creatures, and an entertaining blend of action, romance, and horror (the secret behind Alice’s enduring youth and vitality is especially unsettling). At heart a love story, this entry delivers both a satisfying payoff for fans of the series and an intriguing expansion of its universe. Agent: Diana Fox, Fox Literary.
March 1, 2022
Fifty-six years ago, Thomas Price was taken by the crossroads to pay a debt that allowed his love, Alice, to live. Since that day, Alice Price-Healy has been searching for him, sacrificing nearly everything else she had, including her relationships with her children and grandchildren. While underneath it all Alice knows there is the chance Thomas is alive, now, with the crossroads destroyed, she will give everything she has left to bring him home. Drawing on all of her resources and the allies she has met along the way, Alice is ready to crash through every dimension to find where Thomas was hidden. Except some of her allies carry secrets, and there is the open question of whether Thomas would even remember her anymore after a half century. VERDICT McGuire's characters are equal parts sass and sarcasm, set in an ever-expanding interdimensional world where Alice is on a journey highlighted by emotional chaos and roller-coaster pacing. Fans will be delighted by this "InCryptid" installation. --Kristi Chadwick
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February 25, 2022
Alice Price-Healy has been searching for her husband ever since he was taken as part of a crossroads bargain. She's been working as a bounty hunter, traveling across planes in search of answers--and now, her hope restored by her granddaughter's impossible achievement (in That Ain't Witchcraft, 2019), the Price luck works in her favor. She finds a map and travel journals that lead her to a bottle dimension where, if she doesn't find Thomas, she'll at least find answers. Of course, this reveals the web of lies her patron has been spinning all these years, but Alice has well-defined priorities and is now laser-focused on finding her husband. When she breaks into the pocket dimension, it's not at all what she expected--although she admits she hasn't really planned past finding Thomas--and matters are getting more complicated by the minute. Fans of the series will be thrilled to see Alice's plotline brought to fruition, and the interpersonal dynamics of the InCryptid series continue to be its greatest strength. There will be far-reaching consequences to these events, certainly, but for now what's important is how the relationships resolve.
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