Strange Animals

A Novel

By: Jarod K. Anderson

Narrated by: Jay Myers

An ordinary man discovers a hidden world of supernatural creatures—and an unexpected home—in this enchanting contemporary fantasy debut.

“Unique, haunting, riveting, and beautifully magical.”—Sarah Beth Durst, New York Times bestselling author of The Spellshop

“Anderson has conceived of such a rich world, and such a textured mythology. I can’t remember a time when cryptids felt more . . . real.”—Justin McElroy, #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Adventure Zone series

Green trips on the curb, falls flat into the street, and sees the city bus speeding toward him. And then . . . blink. He’s back on the curb, miraculously still alive. A five-foot-tall crow watches him from atop a nearby sign, somehow unseen by the rushing crowd of morning commuters.

Desperate for answers and beset by more visions of impossible creatures, Green finds his way to a remote campsite in the Appalachian Mountains, where he meets a centuries-old teacher and begins an apprenticeship unlike anything he could imagine.

Under his new mentor’s grouchy tutelage, Green studies the time-bending rag moth, the glass fawn, and the menacing horned wolf. He begins to see past hidden nature’s terrors and glimpse its beauty, all while befriending fellow misfits—and finding connection and community.

Along the way come clues about the forces that set him on this path—and, most incredibly, a sense of purpose and fulfillment like nothing he’s felt before.

But Green’s new happiness promises to be short-lived, because alongside these marvels lurks a deadly threat to this place he’s already come to love.

Creepy, cozy, and beautiful, Strange Animals is a fantasy about home, belonging, and the fearfully wonderous nature all around us.

Critic reviews

“Unique, haunting, riveting, and beautifully magical—this is the kind of strange and wonderful book that you carry around in your heart. You’re in for a special and wondrous ride!”—Sarah Beth Durst, New York Times bestselling author of The Spellshop

“Anderson has conceived of such a rich world, and such a textured mythology. I can’t remember a time when cryptids felt more . . . real.”—Justin McElroy, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Adventure Zone

“I cannot express how much this book scratched an itch I didn’t know I had. The deep wonder and curiosity about nature coupled with the terror of our own insignificance strummed a familiar chord within me, and reading about these singular creatures and Green’s journey confronting them inspired a childlike glee of discovery. I envy everyone who gets to read Strange Animals for the first time. I’ll be reading it again and again to revisit that happiness and winkle out every morsel of wisdom breathed by the sage characters within.”—Kevin Hearne, New York Times bestselling author of Candle & Crow and the Iron Druid Chronicles

“I absolutely adore this book. Reading it is like curling up under a blanket with a mug of hot cocoa beside a campfire in the middle of a dark forest and listening to a master storyteller weave tales of cryptids and extradimensional gods. A delight from start to finish.”—Lucy A. Snyder, Bram Stoker Award–winning author of Sister, Maiden, Monster

“A wildly inventive, fantastically fun story about a man who goes to find himself and finds so, so much more. I absolutely loved it from the first page.”—Peter Clines, New York Times bestselling author of Paradox Bound and God’s Junk Drawer

I was immediately enthralled

What a delightful & intriguing story. Once I started listening, I did not want to stop. I loved the characters and the mystery . I do hope that Jarod K Anderson will write more tales with Green, Dancer & Valentina. I loved it!

Magic and the Strangeness of Nature

Love cryptids? Stories about self discovery? Excellent character writing with relatable (and often funny) dialogue? Read this. The writing is incredible, the story is magic, and Anderson brings that wonder and strangeness of nature from his poetry into his fiction in the best way. Paired with the amazing, widely-ranged vocal talent of Jay Myers, it's an adventure that whisks you away into the wonder of the strangeness in the Catskills.

As good as I hoped

Excellent story and storytelling. Andersen has a real gift for poetry and prose. I devoured this in a couple days. It was that good. Don’t hesitate to get this.

Savor, Don’t Gobble This Delicious Story

Once you sink your teeth into the opening of this extraordinary story, you’re going to want to gobble it all up in one sitting because it draws you in like a mythical moth to a flame. Yet if you rush through, you might miss essential nuggets like the beautiful and authentically rich description of the Appalachian Mountains or the spot on rendition of Sir David Attenborough’s voice.

Having said that, I will admit that I couldn’t resist devouring this story because I simply couldn’t stop thinking about the characters while attempting to do other tasks. The talons of this mysteriously captivating tale infused my psyche, the dialects of the characters inviting me to walk back into the mountain woods.

I’ll admit that I was originally disappointed that Jarod was not narrating his story, as he did such a remarkable job with Something in the Woods Loves You, but Jay added nuances and depth that made this book come vibrantly alive.

I encourage you to listen to this while being in nature, something I ordinarily choose not to do, as I don’t want to muffle the experience of being among the scurrying and chirping world around me. This is different. This story begs you to immerse yourself in the wonders of the forest. Give yourself the gift of allowing it to draw you into its wondrous web of anomalous characters.

Spirit of the place

The characters and sense of place in this story are truly fantastical. I enjoyed the way each part of the story was revealed and how the author brought nature to life.