Part of InCryptid, book 9
First published 2020
Sarah Zellaby has spent years recovering in Ohio, sheltered by her adoptive parents while the rest of the world moved on without her. She is a cuckoo, a telepathic predator built by biology to deceive and destroy, and no amount of love from the Price family has fully quieted that fact. Now she is ready to come back. She wants to see Artie, her cousin, the person she has been in love with since they were kids. She wants to be a mathematician, a friend, a member of a family that chose her. But cuckoos have gathered, and Sarah cannot avoid what she is. When her survival and her family's survival pull in opposite directions, every choice she makes leads to the same place. The Price family are cryptozoologists who have spent generations protecting magical creatures living hidden among humans. This time, the threat is not something they can study or negotiate with. It is Sarah's own kind. The ninth book in Seanan McGuire's InCryptid series, Imaginary Numbers puts Sarah at the center and asks whether the person she has become can outlast the predator she was born to be.
Genres: science-fiction-fantasy, fantasy, supernatural, urban-fantasy, family-drama
Vibes: character-driven, dark, emotional, introspective, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: chosen-one, coming-of-age, found-family, internal-conflict
Setting: Ohio
448 pages · Paperback · DAW
Content warnings: death, violence