Paul James Bygrave
A Fun and Bloody Werewolf Story
This review will assume you've read the previous book in the series.
Six months after the events of Storm Front, a grizzly murder points toward a werewolf as the culprit, wizard-for-hire Harry Dresden is brought in to help track down the beast.
One of my favourite parts of this book is the different types of werewolf. The worldbuilding implied in the different ways one can take on the qualities of a wolf is superb. Harry is a lot better than in the first book—I didn't have anywhere near as many moments of frustration over him being an idiot or sexist. Butcher has a talent for making me feel the stress of the situation—things just get worse and worse as time goes on, and I can really feel Harry's pain and fatigue.
Harry's stupid choices from the first book actually have consequences in this one, which is nice. He doesn't just get away with keeping things from Murphy or getting involved with Marcone—these things matter and come back to bite him in the ass. And then there's the sheer carnage of this book—a body count that makes Victor Sells' killing spree look like a minor misdemeanour, and I love it!
There are only a couple of things I didn't care for. Harry's chauvinism has been somewhat downplayed, as I mentioned, but it's very much still there. And then there's this new character we're introduced to, apparently very important to Harry, whose only real role is to be his “woman in the fridge,” so to speak. Not a fan of that kind of writing.
Overall, however, those problems are minor and didn't take away from my overall enjoyment. In my opinion, this is a fun, blood-soaked werewolf romp and an excellent second entry in this series.
A Fun and Bloody Werewolf Story
This review will assume you've read the previous book in the series.
Six months after the events of Storm Front, a grizzly murder points toward a werewolf as the culprit, wizard-for-hire Harry Dresden is brought in to help track down the beast.
One of my favourite parts of this book is the different types of werewolf. The worldbuilding implied in the different ways one can take on the qualities of a wolf is superb. Harry is a lot better than in the first book—I didn't have anywhere near as many moments of frustration over him being an idiot or sexist. Butcher has a talent for making me feel the stress of the situation—things just get worse and worse as time goes on, and I can really feel Harry's pain and fatigue.
Harry's stupid choices from the first book actually have consequences in this one, which is nice. He doesn't just get away with keeping things from Murphy or getting involved with Marcone—these things matter and come back to bite him in the ass. And then there's the sheer carnage of this book—a body count that makes Victor Sells' killing spree look like a minor misdemeanour, and I love it!
There are only a couple of things I didn't care for. Harry's chauvinism has been somewhat downplayed, as I mentioned, but it's very much still there. And then there's this new character we're introduced to, apparently very important to Harry, whose only real role is to be his “woman in the fridge,” so to speak. Not a fan of that kind of writing.
Overall, however, those problems are minor and didn't take away from my overall enjoyment. In my opinion, this is a fun, blood-soaked werewolf romp and an excellent second entry in this series.