Title: One Hell of a Ride
Author: Seanan McGuire
Series: InCryptid #0.02
Rating Out of 5: 4.5 (Amazing, but not quite perfect)
My Bookshelves: Paranormal fantasy, Strong women, Urban fantasy
Dates read: 11th August 2020
Pace: Fast
Format: eBook, Short story
Publisher: Seanan McGuire
Year: 2012
5th sentence, 74th page: “That’s that, then,” said Clark.

After a rather…eventful…visit to Tempe, Arizona, Jonathan Healy wants nothing more than to return to his home in Buckley Township, Michigan, where at least the threats are generally familiar ones. With the last of the blood mopped up and the locals none the wiser, it seems he’s just a train ride away from getting his wish.

Of course, there are a few small complications. Like the lovely and occasionally violent Miss Frances Brown, former star of the Campbell Family Circus, who seems to have become his new traveling companion. And then there’s the matter of the train having driven through a dimensional gateway into Hell…

Maybe Jonathan shouldn’t be quite so worried about getting back to Michigan. Maybe his time would be better spent in worrying about how to get off the train while he, and Fran, are still among the living.

Following The Flower of Arizona, and Fran and Johnathon’s meeting… it was nice to see how their relationship began and was likely to develop. Partly I loved the fact that this story involved a train ride and an adventure that had me giggling and smiling all the way through. Even if I now don’t necessarily want to ride a train…

I love that this story is literally what the title suggests – one hell of a ride. A train ride that passes through hell and all of the fun complications that that entails. The fact that it also highlights the evilness of corporate companies and capitalism… it just makes it all that much better.

Not only was this a fun adventure, but it showed a new aspect to the crypto world that I hadn’t expected. There was a mention of a Hell dimension in Discount Armageddon, but not really much beyond that. This provided that bit of extra information that helped make that much more sense…

<- The Flower of Arizona

No Place Like Home ->

Image source: Goodreads