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Grave Peril | Rating | |
| A | |||
| Jim Butcher | |||
| Series | Related Books | ||
| The Dresden Files | Storm Front, Fool Moon, Grave Peril, Summer Knight, Death Masks, Blood Rites, Dead Beat, Proven Guilty, White Night, Small Favor | ||
A year has passed since the events in Fool Moon, and things are as they always are for wizard and private investigator Harry Dresden. He's poor, people don't like him, and, oh yeah, some seriously bad mojo is going down in Chicago. Something has gotten the area's ghosts all riled up, and for the last few weeks they've been going on a spiritual rampage. Something is also attacking certain select allies of Harry's with particularly nasty magic. He needs to figure out this very personal puzzle before someone gets killed. Meanwhile, he's been invited as party guest by the vampire Red Court, his lover Susan is getting antsy for some committment, and he's probably got a library book overdue somewhere in that mess he calls an apartment. Boy. It never rains, but it pours.
I had a bit of a problem with how the author opens his story. He uses the reliable gimmick of beginning right in the middle of some piece of frantic action - in this case, speeding to the hospital - in order to draw people in. Readers want to know what's going on and how things got this way, and so read on. And Butcher obliges, showing us first why they are so determined to get there fast and then, via a flashback, how the evening's adventure began.
Naturally this struck a nerve with me. The way the flashback was written, it would have been perfectly fine as a first chapter - especially since this is book three of a series. Fans won't mind having to wait two chapters to get to the car ride; they're fans! And keeping things in chronological order would have hurt nothing.
The only other thing I had a problem with was the introduction of a new ally of Harry's: Michael Carpenter, the Fist of God. It is mentioned that they've known each other for five years or so, which is well before Storm Front, the first book, is set. But there is never any mention of him before this novel, where he is present throughout the book. Given how carefully Butcher makes sure to hint at other aspects of Harry's past and drop lines to be picked up in future adventures, this appearance out of nowhere is jarring.
But that's about it for the list of dislikes. I loved everything else. The case was tricky, and as usual there were some interesting twists, but it is not impossible to put the puzzle together before Harry does. Most of the characters are deep, much more than a simple sentence could summaraize. There is an absolute ton of action via fights against ghosts and vampires, among other things, and plenty of tense situations where the reader just has to wonder how Harry's going to make it out alive.
And at the end there are a few events that will quite obviously have major, major repercussions. Consequences of this novel will ring for many volumes to come. And I've always liked it when a series is well planned enough to have a story arc greater than its component episodes.
I like werewolves more than ghosts or vampires, but I must admit that this is a far better book than Buther's last. Less gory while no less violent, for one thing, and just tighter overall plot. While I'd still recommend starting the series with the first book, this is one to look forward to.
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