Backpacking through Bedlam

February 1, 2023

Alice Price-Healy has been reunited with her husband, Thomas, after 50 years of searching dimensions for him. Returning hundreds of other people trapped by the Crossroads in a dying dimension finally ends, and Alice and Thomas can go home. Sure, they are going home with Thomas's adopted daughter, Sally, and a lot of decades of baggage still not unpacked, but they can finally take some time to relax--or not. For the Covenant has declared war on the family, and they are willing, eager in fact, to kill every cryptid between them. Now in New York, Thomas and Sally must find a way to support the cryptids who are in hiding from the Covenant, kick them back across the ocean once again, and repair the damage that has been done with their long absence. Numerous family and friends are featured in the book from previous novels and stories, showing McGuire's detailed worldbuilding and the intertwined lives of her characters. VERDICT Following on Spelunking Through Hell, this latest installment in the "InCryptid" series continues to highlight the fast action, delightful cryptids and the gloriously dysfunctional family dynamics the Prices are known for. Urban fantasy fans will rejoice.--Kristi Chadwick

Copyright 2023 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 30, 2023
In many ways a capstone to all that’s come before, McGuire’s entertaining 12th InCryptid urban fantasy (after Spelunking Through Hell) draws together numerous characters and threads from earlier installments, offering updates on previous protagonists and giving fan-favorite supporting characters more room to shine. Cryptologist-turned-adventurer Alice Price-Healy has finally reunited with her missing husband, Thomas, after 50 years spent searching for him through myriad alternate worlds, but their long separation means they must work to rebuild their relationship. They barely have time to settle into a new normal after returning home along with their pseudo-daughter, Sally, before they’re called to travel to New York, where other members of the extended Price family are engaged in a quiet war with the monster-hunting Covenant of St. George, who are determined to wipe out every cryptid in the city—and the Prices along with them. Toggling between the aftermath of Alice and Thomas’s reunion, the conflict against the Covenant, and flashbacks to Alice’s earliest adventures, there’s a slight kitchen sink feel to this offering, but, as always, McGuire offers plenty of action and mayhem, complex worldbuilding, snappy dialogue, and a strong focus on the strength of family—both biological and found. Fans will not be disappointed. Agent: Diana Fox, Fox Literary.

March 10, 2023
Alice Healy is ready to begin the work of recovery, staying in one dimension with her newly retrieved husband, Thomas. First, they have to find a dimension where the rest of the refugees from the bottle dimension they were trapped in are, work out what to do with the woman Thomas has essentially adopted as a daughter, and once they're back in Michigan, get the house back to a livable state. There's one complication between Alice, Thomas, and domestic bliss, though: the Covenant of Saint George. It's been five years since Alice was home, and now the Covenant knows her family is still around. The crew gets a good night's sleep before they're whisked away to New York and thrown into the middle of a war zone. The Covenant hasn't changed much since Thomas defected, and they're still hell-bent on murdering every non-human they can get their hands on. New York's cryptids have a lot to protect, and Alice isn't going to let them down. McGuire handles the extended family tensions alongside the much bigger conflict with the Covenant with her usual style, giving readers an adventure with a solid payoff on both fronts, a worthy addition to the family saga (after Spelunking through Hell, 2022).

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