Ghosts. Cassandra's Tears, Amoracchius, Hecate, Kali, Charybdis. I love the inclusion of real places of Chicago; this book introduces the Saint Mary of the Angels Catholic Church, and the characters associated. Plot is good. The usual showdown at the end. ( )

(2001)3rd in Dresden Files series. Pretty good tale of Harry trying to track down why ghosts are wreaking havoc.Wizard Harry Dresden stars in the third installment of the Dresden Files (following Fool Moon), a haunting, fantastical novel that begins almost as innocently as those of another famous literary wizard named Harry. In the opening scene, Dresden and his knight friend, Michael, battle the ghost of a woman who is terrorizing a local hospital's maternity ward. From there, the novel quickly evolves into an unorthodox tale spiced with sexual innuendo and subtle humor (Dresden carries his ghost-hunting gear in an old Scooby-Doo lunch box). Due to the weakened barrier between the spirit world which Butcher refers to as "the nevernever" and the actual world, obsessive and violent ghosts are on the loose in modern-day Chicago, and they seem to be targeting Dresden and Michael. Horny vampires and possessive demons join the mix as Dresden journeys into the spirit world to hunt down the villains who are terrorizing him and his friends. Butcher narrates Dresden's story in the first person, which limits the amount of detail he can inject into the lives of his secondary characters. Despite this narrow point of view, Butcher successfully lends human dimensions to vampires and spirits through his vivid descriptions and colloquial dialogue. (Sept.)Forecast: A vivid cover showing glowing barbed wire wrapped around a pair of cemetery gates is misleading as is a cover quote appealing to fans of Laurell K. Hamilton and Tanya Huff but it will catch the browser's eye. This over-the-top tale is more likely to entertain young adult readers than fans of the aforementioned authors.

I am ready to admit something, Harry Dresden is a pervert. I didn’t realize how overly sexualized Butcher’s females are until this book, The way Dresden describes a women, well I can tell you that my nipples are not always straining through my shirt thank you very much, if they were I think there may be something wrong with them. Did this ruin the story for me absolutely not, it was an annoyance really. Because I listened by way of audio book, I was unable to really skim over these scenes, had I read the book I would have skipped most character descriptions. I don’t really care how smooth a characters skin is.

Also I think I may be way too good at figuring out what will happen and who the bad guy is, but honestly I don’t think Butcher was trying too hard at covering it up. I will admit that until this book Butcher didn’t have an overall story really flushed out, now I think we will have an arc with allied characters on Dresden’s side that will span multiple books and I am excited. This book didn’t have Murphy in it that much, and no mention of Mac, but it had a lot more of Bob whom I love. Plus they introduced a couple of characters that I can’t wait to read more about. They all seem really badass and fleshed out.

Now if only we can get Dresden’s mind out of the freaking gutter… ( )

(3.5 / 5)

My favorite thing about this book is definitely Harry and Michael—their friendship, how they work together, and how they contrast each other. Some really funny moments came out of their interactions. The mystery of the Nightmare is engaging, as is the introduction of Harry’s godmother, which is sort of just dropped in like we should have already known about it, Butcher’s signature way of world-building.

I did like this book more than the previous, though I still hope for some improvement as the series continues. The formula I was concerned about becoming part of the series after the first two books was all but shattered in this one, which is good. Though I can’t say I’m a big fan of the super long-battle scenes that seem to be part of every book. I found it strange that every vampire seems to purr when they talk—actually, not just the vampire, but all of the bad guys. Dresden seems to use that verb a bit too heavily. And if you ask me, there was too much Susan and not enough Murphy in this book. I still wish there was less content of a sexual nature, but it wasn’t as bad in this book as it was in the previous. And I definitely recommend the narration by James Marsters. ( )

I abandoned reading the physical book midway, but tried again the audiobook, and like it better. Then stuck to the series till this installment, because the consensus seems to be that it picks up with the third volume. Now I think I'll give up.

Personally what I hope to find in an urban fantasy is something a bit... different. Could be giving a serious tech/math/physics turn to old ideas, like in the Atrocity Archives; or it could be to see the natural evolution of those old ideas embodied in a modern surrounding, like Dimitri's Pan. Embracing modernity in a way that matters.

But this is just the usual old wizard-ish stuff in modern day Chicago. The only hint of modernity is, ironically, that modern stuff doesn't work around Harry... Could be set anywhere else. I don't get the appeal. ( )