Grave Peril

Grave Peril (2001) Jim Butcher

The third book in The Dresden Files series occurs several months after the events of the last book, and introduces us to another of Harry Dresden’s friends and companions, Michael, a Knight of the Cross. Michael is helping Harry put down an uprising of ghosts that are rising up and wreaking havoc in Chicago.

Grave Peril wasn’t nearly as good as Fool Moon. The dialog wasn’t quite as sharp, especially Harry’s cursing, which just seemed forced and strange.

Also like the first book, I didn’t find the mystery to be as strong. It wasn’t bad, but the focus of this book was definitely on the supernatural instead of on a mystery.

And the editing of this book was atrocious. At times it felt like I couldn’t go more than a couple of pages without finding a major error. Things like a character’s name being spelled two different ways on the same page, or now for not. For $7.99 I expect much better of a book. I’m hoping that this was a slip for this book, and won’t be a regular occurrence in the following books.

I did like the complexity that Michael added to Harry’s life, with his desire for Harry not just to fight evil, but to embrace God in his fight against evil. My only complaint was that Michael and Father Forthill were just a bit too heavy-handed in that manner. If they really pushed the subject as much–and as strongly–as it was written, Harry wouldn’t have put up with it, and certainly wouldn’t have been friends with Michael. But I did like the angle it added to the story, the levels of good that people are capable of.

I also liked how Harry struggled with his relationship with Susan, and how the struggles were due solely to his feeling and beliefs and actions, not hers.

However, I found some of Susan’s actions rather unbelievable. She simply didn’t strike me as stupid as she acted at times, with everything from not bothering to give Michael her message, to being blindly oblivious to what the consequences of her actions.

Unlike the previous two books, the last chapter was little more than a teaser for another book. Which I do not care for. Sell me your next book on the quality of your writing, not because you’ve left me hanging at the end of the last book.

However, despite these flaws, it was still and interesting book, and a fun read. But I am hoping that the quality of the next book is a little higher than this one, or else I’ll reconsider how far into this series I want to read.
Rating: 6/10

• Browse the archives:
  
• The Grand Tour » »
• « « Fool Moon