Grave Peril

Wow. Talk about a disappointment! This audiobook started off with a message from the author, Jim Butcher. In which, he described how many of his fans consider Grave Peril the book in which he really develops as a writer. This coupled with the fact that many reviews for the series state that his writing gets better as the series progresses really brought my hopes up for this book.

Those hopes? Yeah, they were shattered with a overwhelming wave of misogyny and over-sexualization. While the author had previously ranted and raved about Dresden's "chauvinism" and failed to develop the new female characters out of a shell, this book brought it all to a new level. There were several points that I had to pause the book because I was so annoyed by the writing. The attractive qualities of every female was described in excruciating detail every time they entered into a scene. The bad-ass female characters reveled in mixing sex with violence. It was very "HERE. Let me show you I'm an evil female character by shoving my boobs in your face and licking my lips." Talk about revolting.

Couple this with the numerous "bad guys" and you've got yourself an incredibly convoluted plot with little appeal. Murphy was absent essentially the entire book, which frustrated me to no end. She seemed to be the only female character that Jim Butcher has attempted to give some sort of characterization other than "hawt" (although he does often lapse into how cute she is. Talk about patronizing). I have to wonder if Butcher has ever actually spoken to a woman, given just how deeply fantasized all of the scenes involving females are. It was almost as if I was reading his masturbation fodder at some points. That's not something you want to think about while reading.

Overall, I was just incredibly disappointed int his book. Butcher seemed to devolve his writing immensely in this book. While I enjoyed the introduction of Thomas and Michael, all of the characterization seemed lackluster. The plot was an absolute mess, and should have pared down the twists/bad guys considerably. The whole Harry being down on his luck and all alone while he defeats his nemesis schtick is getting pretty old as well... Overall, I didn't enjoy this book. Hopefully the next one is better, otherwise I might be ditching this series, as much as I enjoy the concept (and the voice of James Marsters).

(2/5 stars)