INSTALLMENT IMMORTALITY - Seanan McGuire

This is the second InCryptid novel to be from Mary Dunlavy's point of view. Mary, for those who aren't familiar with Seanan McGuire's various series, is a Crossroads Ghost who has been the babysitter for generations of Price-Healy Family children. (And the Price-Healy Family is an old family that has been studying and conserving InCryptids.)

In their attempt to help preserve the cryptid community, the Prices are at war with the Covenant of St George - a human group out to preserve the sanctity of humankind but ridding the world of the paranormal community.

While Mary has earned her break from being a babysitter for the Prices, she wasn't quite expecting to be called up to be at the forefront of new attacks. She's one ghost being asked to take on the entire East Coast Covenant, so she'll recruit some friends and make new acquaintances.

Each time I read a book in one of Seanan McGuire's series I think "this might be my favorite of her series." And each time I'm right. My favorite is always the one I'm currently reading.

I really liked the way McGuire deals with ghosts (yeah, the Ghost Roads series was a favorite of mine, too!) and having Mary be our POV character again is definitely something I enjoyed here.

This on-going way with the Covenant is well delivered here, but I can't shake the feeling of exhaustion from the characters. When will it end? Will there ever be any relief? Changing the main character focus is McGuire's way of keeping this story fresh, but we need somebody who isn't dealing with a whole host of personal issues to step up and take charge real soon.

Like most of McGuire's urban fantasies that I've read, this one comes with a novella at the end. This one, "Mourner's Waltz," features Verity Price, recovering from the events in the previous series novel in which her husband was killed. Her problems at first seem rather mundane - typical renter's maintenance issues, until those issues turn into something life-threatening. But when your landlords are dragons, they've got you covered.

I can't recommend jumping into this series with a book like this, number fourteen, but then I started late and caught feel mostly caught up. Just don't be surprised if you feel like you don't understand everything going on if you do start here.

Looking for a good book? Installment Immortality is Seanan McGuire's 14th book in the InCryptid series. It's an exciting urban fantasy that extends from coast to coast and features more cryptids than you can possibly imagine.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

4-1/2 stars

* * * * * *

Installment Immortality

author: Seanan McGuire

series: InCryptid #14

publisher: Tor Books

ISBN: 9781250375117

paperback, 432 pages

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