Chaos Choreography (InCryptid Series #5)

by Seanan McGuire

Overview

The fifth 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

Destiny, Noun:

   1. The inevitable or irresistible course of events.
   2. The inescapable future.
   3. See also “Screwed.”

Verity Price is back on the West Coast and getting back into the swing of the family business: cryptozoology. She's rescuing cryptids from bad situations, protecting them from monster-hunters, and generally risking life and limb for the greater good, with her ex-Covenant partner/husband, Dominic, by her side. Her ballroom dance career is behind her...or so she thinks.

When Verity gets the call from the producers of Dance or Die, the reality show she almost won several years before, she finds the lure of a comeback impossible to resist, and she and Dominic are off to L.A. for one last shot at the big time.
 
Of course, nothing is that simple. When two of her fellow contestants turn up dead, Verity will need every ally she can find—and a couple she wasn't looking for—in order to navigate the complicated steps of both the tango and a murder investigation without blowing her cover. It doesn't help that her official family backup is her grandmother, Alice Price-Healy, who thinks "subtle" is something that happens to other people.

Winning this competition may have just become a matter of life and death.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780756408138
Publisher:	DAW
Publication date:	03/01/2016
Series:	InCryptid Series , #5
Pages:	368
Sales rank:	215,085
Product dimensions:	4.10(w) x 6.70(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Seanan McGuire is a Washington State-based author with a strong penchant for travel and can regularly be found just about anyplace capable of supporting human life (as well as a few places that probably aren’t). Early exposure to a vast number of books left her with a lifelong affection for the written word, and led, perhaps inevitably, to her writing books of her own, starting somewhere around the age of eleven. The October Daye novels are her first urban fantasy series, and the InCryptid novels are her second series, both published by DAW and both of which have put her in the New York Times bestseller list. Seanan was the winner of the 2010 John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer; Rosemary and Rue, the first novel in the October Daye series, was named one of the Top 20 Paranormal Fantasy Novels of the Past Decade; and her novel Feed, written under the name Mira Grant, was named as one of Publishers Weekly's Best Books of 2010. She also won a Hugo for her podcast, and is the first person to be nominated for five Hugo Awards in a single year. You can visit her at www.seananmcguire.com.

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Excerpted from "Chaos Choreography"
by .
Copyright © 2016 Seanan McGuire.
Excerpted by permission of DAW.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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Editorial Reviews

04/18/2016
For the fifth installment of her InCryptid series (following Pocket Apocalypse), McGuire revisits cryptozoologist Verity Price, last seen as a primary character in 2013's Midnight Blue-Light Special. When Verity's alter ego, professional ballroom dancer Valerie Pryor, receives an invitation to appear in a special all-star season of the reality show Dance or Die, which made her briefly famous, she accepts in order to give her dancing days the closure they deserve. With her husband and a contingent of Aeslin mice in tow, Verity dons Valerie's wig and heads back to Los Angeles. Then someone starts ritually murdering eliminated contestants, and Verity has to maintain her secret identity and continue to compete even as she and her allies investigate the supernatural killings. McGuire skillfully skewers the reality show mindset as she infuses it with urban fantasy tropes and a blend of humor and action. As always, the cryptids— some drawn from myth, others original to the setting—are entertaining in their own right, . It's great to see Verity in action, and this tale sets the stage for many more exciting adventures. Agent: Diana Fox, Fox Literary. (Mar.)

Publishers Weekly

Praise for the InCryptid series:

"The only thing more fun than an October Daye book is an InCryptid book. Swift narrative, charm, great world-building...all the McGuire trademarks." —Charlaine Harris, #1 New York Times-bestselling author of the Sookie Stackhouse series

"[Half-Off Ragnarok] is kind of like taking a tour through a very deadly theme park made up of alternating parts awesome and terrifying. Come to think of it, that sums up this series quite nicely.... This book effectively acts as a jumping-on point to those just coming in." —Tor.com 

"Half-Off Ragnarok is my favorite book in the InCryptid series thus far.... If urban fantasy, intriguing animals, and fast-paced adventure is your thing, you’re going to love Half-Off Ragnarok. Highly recommended." —Jennifer Brozek

"McGuire creates a sense of wonder and playfulness with her love for mythology and folklore.... Her enthusiastic and fast-paced style makes this an entertaining page-turner." —Publishers Weekly

"A funny, fast-paced and genuinely suspenseful adventure that is sure to engross and entertain.... There is still a wide world for the intrepid Price family to explore, much to readers' guaranteed delight." —RT Reviews

"While chock-full of quality worldbuilding, realistic characters, and a double helping of sass, at its core, Half-Off Ragnarok is a book about judging others according to stereotypes, how nurture can overcome nature, and the importance of family." —Ranting Dragon

From the Publisher

03/15/2016
Recent series entries (Pocket Apocalypse) have focused on Alex Price. Here we return to Alex's sister Verity, cryptozoologist and ballroom dancer. She's looking out for cryptids with boyfriend Dominic when she gets a call to compete on the TV reality show Dance or Die. Her investigation skills are needed as fellow contestants start dying.—MM

Library Journal