An ordinary man encounters wondrous and terrifying supernatural creatures, joins a community of fellow outcasts, and ultimately discovers his true calling as a cryptonaturalist in this warm-hearted, beautifully imagined contemporary fantasy debut.
After miraculously surviving a deadly encounter with a city bus, Green finds himself gripped by a strange, incontrovertible urge to leave his life behind and seek out a new existence in the Appalachian mountains.
But on his first night in the wilderness, his obsession curdles into terror. Huddled shivering in the front seat of his car, he watches, helpless, as a shimmering, translucent fawn is chased down by a vicious wolf that is part skeleton, part night sky. . .and that seems to have a particular interest in Green.
Luckily, Green's new neighbor, Valentina, seems oddly knowledgeable about these strange creatures. And in his encounters, she sees the stirrings of unusual talent.
Valentina is a cryptonaturalist, part of a community of scholars and observers who've devoted their lives to the study of cryptids-strange animals that only a tiny portion of humanity is able to see. As Green begins his studies under her watchful eye, he discovers an entirely different and fantastical ecosystem-and a community of mountain-dwelling outcasts who are just as quirky as the creatures he's investigating.
But just as Green dares to believe he's found a home in this world, he discovers a force that could take it all away. Because amongst the beauty he's learning to see, a deadly threat lurks-and Green may be the only one who can stop it and restore balance to the mountains.
Filled with amazing creatures amidst a wonderfully imagined supernatural ecosystem, populated by unforgettable characters, and animated on every page by the author's passion for the natural world, Strange Animals is a stunningly original and transporting fantasy. Jarod K. Anderson has self-published three collections of nature poetry, Field Guide to the Haunted Forest, Love Notes from the Hollow Tree, and Leaf Litter. His memoir Something in the Woods Loves You explores his lifelong struggle with depression through a lens of love and gratitude for the natural world. Jarod created and voices The CryptoNaturalist podcast and regularly shares his poetry on social media. He lives in Ohio between a park and a cemetery.
