Grave Peril (The Dresden Files, Book 3) by Jim Butcher
|
List Price: Our Price: $5.36 You Save: $4.63 (46%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $3.00 (click here) Category: Book See more book details and other editions |
|---|
Book Reviews of Grave Peril (The Dresden Files, Book 3)
Book Review: The Spirit of Destruction
Summary: 5 Stars
Grave Peril (2001) is the third urban fantasy in the Dresden Files series, following Fool Moon. In the previous volume, the renegade FBI agents were all killed and the hexanwolf belts were burned by Harry and Murphy. Susan's film of the death of the loup-garou went on the morning news and was shown for two days afterward before it vanished.
Tera was badly injured, but recovered when she converted to human form. The Alphas suffered few injuries and were soon ready for Harry to lead them on another crusade. Nonetheless, the whole situation left Dresden wondering whether some wizard was working in the shadows to cause these problems.
In this novel, Michael Carpenter and Harry have been responding to visitations by some rather powerful ghosts during the past two weeks. Michael is a Knight of the Cross, a Fist of God, carrying the blessed sword Amorachius. Tonight they banish the ghost of Agatha Hagglethorn from the Cook County Hospital nursery and the babies breathe easily again.
After this banishment, the police arrest both Harry and Michael for disturbing the peace and trespress and they impound the Blue Beetle. After an hour or so, Harry and Michael are released on bail. Charity Carpenter is less than pleased with Harry for getting her husband in trouble, but Susan Rodriguez just wants to know about the story.
It has been a long night, but the vampires are waiting when Harry and Susan reach his basement abode. Luckily, Kyle and Kelly Hamilton are delivering an invitation for Harry and guest to attend a reception of the Red Court for Bianca St. John. As the local representative of the White Council, Harry would be find it difficult to follow his own inclinations and skip the vampire affair entirely.
Then Michael shows up just before dawn. The day before, Harry had sent a client calling herself Lydia to Father Forthill at Saint Mary of the Angels to protect her from a life threatening situation. During the night, a very strong spirit had appeared and demanded that the girl come out. When she remained inside, the spirit had torn up the roses outside the door and trashed the vehicles parked in the lot. Sometime during the night, however, Lydia had unlocked the back door and left the church.
Later, Harry finds the girl in a late model van parked in an abandoned storefront. Then Kyle and Kelly show up and Dresden calls fire upon the vampires, accidentally cutting the support beams and setting the building on fire. The vampires get away with the girl and Harry barely gets out before the whole front of the building collapses.
In this story, Harry attends the Red Court reception, taking Michael with him in full knightly regalia. The invitation didn't say that he had to bring a guest of the other sex. One of the vampire attendees admires Michael's costume and touches it; the resulting shock sends him into convulsions. Thereafter, the vampires look, but don't touch.
The other outsider invitees are an odd lot. One is a Black vampire, one is a White vampire, and another is a dragon. Unhappily, Susan is also there, having forged a copy of Harry's invitation. She learns more than she wants to know about Red vampires at the affair.
This story puts Harry in a bind. He has to let the Red Court hurt his friends or start a war between the vampires and the White Council. Of course, Dresden does it the hard way.
Harry finds out who has been agitating the wall between the real world and Nevernever, letting spirits slip over and cause trouble. He helps Murphy by removing a nasty spell from a disabled veteran of Special Investigations. He also meets a spirit who is posing as himself and discovers the true identity of Lydia. Some nights it just doesn't pay to get out of bed.
As usual, Harry loses sleep, barely escapes death and worries about his friends. He chastises himself for not doing more, not being everywhere and other improbabilities. Dresden is really into self-blame.
Highly recommended for Butcher fans and for anyone else who enjoys tales of powerful ghosts, vampire parties, and overworked wizards.
-Arthur W. Jordin
Book Review: A Fun and Fantastic Read!
Summary: 5 Stars
"Grave Peril" by Jim Butcher is the third instalment in the absolutely enchanting Dresden Files, and it is another excellent read. Butcher has yet again created a compelling mix of horror, mystery, fantasy, romance and comedy, and these elements are expertly blended into one un-put-downable tale. Our hero, Harry Dresden, Chicago's only professional wizard, continues to evolve as a character, and his tongue-in-cheek narration is a delight. Harry is an immensely likable hero, and despite his haplessness, readers will really enjoy getting to know him."Grave Peril" begins with Harry and his friend Michael, a Knight of the Cross with a sword blessed by God, running all over Chicago trying to control an outbreak of malicious spirits. Indeed, the spirit world has gone postal, and countless rampaging ghosts have been attacking unsuspecting individuals. As the book opens, Harry and Michael must rush to the hospital in order to stop a dangerous ghost with an unhealthy affection for infants. Their attempt to destroy the ghost doesn't go as planned, and Harry and Michael are forced to follow her into the Nevernever. And though Harry eventually succeeds in destroying this particular spirit, his troubles are only just beginning. He discovers that these ghosts aren't going crazy of their own accord, that someone or something is placing a torture spell on them. And while Harry's trying to digest that disturbing bit of new information, he has a terrifying run-in with his faerie godmother. Harry made a deal with Lea, his godmother, when he was much younger and in a lot of trouble, and now she wants to collect her payment. The only thing is, it's Harry she wants to collect!
After managing to escape from the Nevernever and his godmother (for now) Harry sets about trying to discover who could be responsible for the horrifying torture spells being placed on Chicago's spirits. Evidence of a frighteningly powerful and vicious spirit has Harry feeling distinctly nervous, since this spirit has done things that just shouldn't be possible. And then Harry is accosted by two vampires representing madam Bianca; the vampire Harry made a mortal enemy of in "Storm Front". Bianca has been promoted in the ranks of the Vampire's Red Court, and as a member of the White Council of wizards, Harry is obliged to attend the celebration. Harry's girlfriend Susan, a reporter for a paper specializing in the supernatural, is desperate to attend for the story, but Harry knows just how much Bianca wants her revenge and that attending is out of the question. So Harry just won't go right? Wrong. A series of disasters and nasty encounters leaves Harry between a rock and a hard place. Whoever is doing these torture spells is now putting them on people as well, Harry's friends no less, and Harry needs to catch the culprit right away. After nearly getting killed several times and losing Michael's holy sword, making things even worse with his godmother, and letting a young and frightened girl who he agreed to protect fall into the hands of some very nasty people, Harry's last hope is to attend Bianca's party, where he's sure the person or thing causing all of this will be.
From this point on, "Grave Peril" takes readers on a thrilling and suspenseful adventure filled with unexpected twists and turns. Harry gets himself and those around him into deeper and deeper trouble as the story builds towards a gripping climax. "Grave Peril" kept me riveted the whole way through, and I couldn't wait to start the next in the series, "Summer Knight", when it came to a close. The secondary characters, such as Harry's friend Lieutenant Karrin Murphy and Bob, Harry's over-sexed air spirit assistant residing in a human skull, are wonderful and always amusing. Harry is a fabulous character, and his witty narrative makes "Grave Peril" just that much more enjoyable. So take my word for it, Jim Butcher's Dresden Files is a series you don't want to miss. "Grave Peril" is a fun, exciting, and hugely entertaining mix of mystery and fantasy, so buy it today!
Book Review: Gravely good
Summary: 5 Stars
After two good-but-not-great urban fantasies, the Dresden Files suddenly rockets into the "great" category with its third. "Grave Peril" sees Jim Butcher radically change his now-bestselling series into a far more complex and tragic affair, as well as introducing a slew of likable new characters and a long-ranging arc that promises to be very nasty for our wizardly hero.
Harry and Knight of the Cross Michael Carpenter (a sort of knight working directly for God and the angels, with a sacred sword) are working hard to exorcise a sudden surge of violent ghosts -- even taking a trip into the Nevernever, where an old enemy is waiting for Harry. They're being stirred up by a particularly evil spirit called the Nightmare, who is targeting people near Harry. Oh yeah, and he's been "invited" to a vampire ball and his amoral fairy godmother (no, really) wants an old debt repaid.
But the situation becomes far more grim when Harry discovers that it's not just one enemy but many that are conspiring against him -- evil ghosts, malevolent vampires, and the Leanansidhe. Cornered on every side and with a bunch of innocent people threatened (including Michael's newborn son), Harry is faced with a terrible choice that has no good outcomes. And he might lose the person he loves best in the process...
"Grave Peril" is the point when the entire Dresden Files series blossoms like a black rose. The relatively simple storylines of the first two books abruptly give way to a complex tangle of intertwined enemies, conspiracies and magical creatures (ranging from fae to vampires). And rather than a standalone mystery/fantasy, this book is the start of a massive arc that promises to span the entire Dresden Files series.
Butcher's writing has matured as well, becoming a more polished brand of hard-boiled fantasy noir with some nasty stark details (such as barbed wire on the soul. Lots of snappy dialogue ("Vampires on a diet?" "Yeah. Make hers a Blood Lite"), sudden plot twists and detailed explorations of a nighttime world. But no matter how dark and bleak the book becomes, Butcher still manages some funny quirky moments (such as Harry attending a vampire ball in a cheap vampire costume).
And having also introduced multiple kinds of werewolf, Butcher does the same for other supernaturals here. There's the undead Black Court vampires, the alluring incubi of the White Court, and one of the more powerful and frightening Fae.
And poor Harry has a pretty rough time in this novel: chased by a sociopathic faery and a vengeful ghost, vampires intent on taking him out, locked in a dungeon with a crazy woman, and he suffers a terrible loss that upturns his entire life. Even worse, the poor guy is obviously going to feel pretty guilty about what happens to people close to him.
Butcher also introduces a bunch of new characters -- the pious and righteous Knight Michael, who seems to be one of the few people to gain Harry's deep respect; the lovable and sexy White Court vampire Thomas Raith; and the kindly old Catholic priest Father Forthill ("I've never had anyone ask me to bless a five-gallon drum into holy water before, Mr. Dresden"). Not to mention Lea, who promises to cause more trouble in future.
"Grave Peril" is the point when Jim Butcher's considerable talents began to fully bloom, in an urban fantasy full of grimy horror, tragedy and wit. Definitely a must-read.
Book Review: Ghostbusters, The Novel
Summary: 5 Stars
It should come as no surprise to the followers of Harry Dresden, freelance wizard and general dogooder, that Harry starts out the third volume of this series in every bit as much trouble as he ended the last. After all, Harry's natural state is jumping out of frying pans and into fires. Except when he is looking for another frying pan to fall out of. This time the book opens with Harry and a new friend, Michael (a Knight of the Sword and even a bigger dogooder than Harry) racing to stop Agatha the ghost, who has a bit too much affection for infants. Without fail, Harry fumbles the attack and Michael and he must pursue Agatha into the Nevernever. In the process of putting Agatha away Harry has a run in with his dysfunctional fairy godmother and barely manages to escape with all his body parts.Michael and Harry have been chasing down disgruntled ghosts for weeks now, and finally Harry has come to believe that this isn't just a series of coincidences. Instead, someone is deliberately stirring the ectoplasm with evil intentions. But Harry barely has time to discover this when he is visited by two vampires, who go out of their way to irritate him while delivering a formal invitation to the elevation of Bianca St. Claire to the position of Margravine of the Vampire Court. You may remember Bianca from "Fool Moon." She was the vampiress Harry managed to make a deadly enemy of in the first 15 minutes of their meeting. Harry may be slow witted, but even he knows that Bianca's plans include making Dresden au gratin.
So he refuses the invitation, right? Well, not quite. A wild series of ghostly attacks, bespelled friends, and damsels in distress ensue. Harry, a class act as usual, manages to lose Michael's magic sword, fail the damsels, and barely keep his friend's alive. It is only a matter of time before the ever-widening swath of disasters leads Harry straight to Bianca's soiree and Harry-splatting party. And does Harry get splatted? You bet. It is characteristic of this story that the question Harry gets asked most often is "What happened to you?" And these are just the highlights of the quiet part of the novel.
Jim Butcher has once again concocted a unique mix of comedy and horror, In doing so he has created an entirely new genre, which I call 'noir vaudeville.' Bad things keep happening, and the life-span of one of Harry's friends seems to be about a week, but you can't help snickering and moaning. Perhaps because Harry generally deserves everything that happens to him. But you do have to feel sorry for Michael and his wife, Harry's girlfriend Susan, and most of the Chicago police force. And don't forget poor Bob the sex-fiend in a skull, who gets a serious workout this time and no fun. Butcher ends "Grave Peril" on a 'to be continued' note, which means we can look forward to even more misadventures from the career of the most hapless wizard in the Midwest. Let's hope Harry has good medical insurance.
Book Review: Most Entertaining Dresden File to Date
Summary: 5 Stars
Book Three of the Dresden Files begins a year after Fool Moon. Where Book Two was all in shades of wolf, the palette here is considerably more varied. Harry himself is back in full-color, wise-cracking form. The central themes are ghosts and vampires, but Butcher throws in a sprinkling of other paranormal phenomena as well, just to keep everybody on their toes.An unknown agent has been raising ghosts all over Chicago, torturing them into murderous rampages. Tired of vanquishing a different ghost every night, Harry's determined to attack the problem at its source, especially after the same torture spell is used on a living victim.
An unidentified beastie, too powerful to be just another ghost, tries to tear apart a church where Harry stashed a young woman who came to him for protection. The attack fails, the woman disappears into the night, and the beastie is still around.
Vampire madam Bianca, celebrating a promotion within the vampires' Red Court, invites Harry to the bash. Diplomatic protocols between Court and White Council virtually require attendance, and girlfriend Susan is eagerly contemplating interview prospects, but Harry's sure that Bianca is looking to settle an old score with him.
Speaking of which, Harry's real-life faerie godmother is determined to collect on a deal he made with her as a teenager. Problem is, it's Harry she expects to collect.
These plot lines are all set up in the first hundred pages of Grave Peril. It takes the other three-quarters of the book for Harry to work out who's really doing what, and why. Along the way, he and several of his nearest and dearest fall prey to various bad guys; nobody gets away without some physical and psychological scarring.
Butcher writes like a master gamesman here. Things start happening with no apparent purpose or connection, and only gradually does an overall game plan begin to emerge. This being his third book, readers by now can guess that everything is going to come together eventually-short term events before the book's end and long term plots in future books-but that takes nothing away from the enjoyment of seeing how Butcher actually manages to make the pieces fit.
There are more minor plotting issues in Grave Peril than in the first two books, and it seems like a bit of a cheat to have two personal, apparently long-standing relationships suddenly pop up with no previous mention. Technical writing errors, fairly unobtrusive before, are more overt here as well (note: never flaunt tony words like "dais"-especially not 21 times-without confirming their proper spelling). Picky, picky; this is the most entertaining of the Dresden Files to date. All of the "things are not what they seem" plot twists once again call to mind Steven Brust's Vlad Taltos, as does the personal and political mess Harry creates over Susan; a habit of pensive lip-chewing would not seem at all out of place for Harry.