Grave Peril by Jim Butcher on 2008-11-04
Genres: Urban Fantasy
Pages: 384
Rating: I'M OBSESSED
Goodreads
Buy on Author Website, Amazon, Kobo, iBooks, Barnes&Noble
In all his years of supernatural sleuthing, Harry Dresden has never faced anything like this: the spirit world's gone postal. These ghosts are tormented, violent, and deadly. Someone-or something-is purposely stirring them up to wreak unearthly havoc. But why? If Harry doesn't figure it out soon, he could wind up a ghost himself.
What can I say that I haven’t already about these books? Maybe… I guess this book felt a bit darker. There were still some laughs, but some of the stuff that happened was pretty intense. We got introduced to some new characters. Actually, that’d be the only negative thing I could say about this book. The other books felt like we started at the beginning of something. This felt like we came into the middle of something. It didn’t take away from my enjoyment in the least, but some characters came out of left field. I felt like I should have known about them earlier. I didn’t get as much Murphy as I’d like. She’s a great character, and though she made an appearance, it was brief but awesome. We learn a bit about her.
I’m sad to say there was no t-shirt saying in this book. I’d hoped it’d be a standard.
That’s about as far as my disappointment can be stretched.
Crap kept happening. We barely had time to breath through it all. I loved it. Harry Dresden has his usual sense of humor which can coax a smile from me even when I’m in a horrible mood. I swear I’m growing more attached to him with each book. I’d go completely character crazy, but the books have such a satisfying conclusion that I can take my time and savor the series. I’m beyond appreciative. I must say, this book left me with my mouth hanging open. The ending was something I never expected, and it’s got me soooo curious about what will happen. However, I’m really determined to savor these. One a month. That’s all I’m allowing myself.
I’m not a vampire fan. It was a major concern of mine when I first starting reading this series. Werewolves, vamps, ghosts—they aren’t my thing. It’s why I’ve steered clear of urban fantasy. However, Butcher manages to have them be relevant without overpowering the story by them. This one is vampire heavy, and I didn’t realize it until looking back. Even with some of my least favorite bad/good guys, Butcher can keep me glued to his books. It’s because of the characters and action upon action scenes.
So in conclusion, Butcher is damn talented.
About Jim Butcher
Jim Butcher read his first fantasy novel when he was seven years old–
the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. By the time he turned eight,
he’d added the rest of the Narnia books, the Prydain Chronicles, every
book about Star Wars he could find, a great many Star Trek novels and
the Lord of the Rings to his count.
So he was pretty much doomed from the start.
Love of fantasy, his personal gateway drug, drew him toward a fairly
eclectic spread of interests: horseback riding (including trick riding,
stunt riding, drill riding, and competitive stunt racing), archery,
martial arts, costuming, music and theater. He played a lot of role-
playing games, a lot of fantasy-based tactical computer games, and
eventually got into live-action roleplay where players beat each other
up with boffer weapons.
So, really, he can fly his nerd flag with pretty much anyone, and
frequently does.
He took up writing to be able to produce fantasy novels with swords and
horses in them, and determinedly wrote terrible fantasy books until,
just to prove a point to his writing teacher, he decided to take every
piece of her advice; fill out outlines and worksheets, and design
stories and characters just the way she’d been telling him to do for
about three years. He was certain that once she saw what hideous art it
produced, she would be proven wrong and repent the error of her ways.
The result was the Dresden Files, which sure showed *her*.
She has not yet admitted her mistake and recanted her philosophy on
writing.
Jim has performed in dramas, musicals, and vocal groups in front of
live audiences of thousands and on TV. He has performed exhibition
riding in multiple arenas, and fallen from running horses a truly
ridiculous number of times. He was once cursed by an Amazon witch
doctor in rural Brazil, has apparently begun writing about himself in
the third person, and is hardly ever sick at sea.
He also writes books occasionally.
Jim stands accused of writing the Dresden Files and the Codex Alera.
He’s plead insanity, but the jury is still out on that one. He lives in
Missouri with his wife, romantic suspense and paranormal romance writer
Shannon K. Butcher (who is really pretty and way out of his league),
his son, and a ferocious guard dog.
