Alright, not that I didn’t trust those fellow Cannonballers who said this series really hits it’s stride with this book, but Hell’s bells! I guess I wasn’t truly prepared for the balls-out thrill ride that this installment turned out to be. And that’s with all the machinations of the White Council and it’s battle with the Red Court, as well as the Faerie with it’s Winter Queen and Summer Queen and attendant allies and enemies. I seriously needed a scorecard at times.
But it wasn’t all politics and exposition on the Dresdenverse. I was happy to see the return of our Alphas (from Fool Moon) as allies to Harry and champions for the people of Chicago against supernatural skulduggery. Another blast from the past: Toot Toot!!
Still, Harry is a bit of a mess, mooning over Susan (get over it already, man!) and generally just giving up on things. Billy tries to give him a kick in the ass, and in turn, Harry tries to do the same for Murphy, who is not doing well in the aftermath of the whole Kavros thing. This sort of puts them on even ground and they really open up to each other. That was one my favorite parts of this book, seeing how they are seriously coming to trust each other. And who else would you want to help you take down chlorofiends, an ogre and The Tigress in a Walmart?
Let’s see, what else, oh yeah…. ELAINE IS STILL ALIVE! And she never wanted to go against Harry but Justin was overcoming her mind with magic, but she was able to somehow escape the fire. Hmmm. I’m still not sure about that whole drama, but I’m sure it will come up again in subsequent books. If anything, Harry actually seemed to listen to her when she told him to get his shit together. I was happy to see that, even if it’s just baby steps. Like eating pizza with friends and playing Thorg the Barbarian in D&D.
