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Authors A-B

REPOST: Foxglove Summer by Ben Aaronovitch

On March 2, 2021

In Authors, Ben Aaronovitch, Fiction, Rivers of London (Peter Grant), Urban Fantasy

So the plan was, read What Abigail Did That Summer by Ben Aaronovitch on Monday and post about it Tuesday. What happened was: read What Abigail Did That Summer Monday, do some parenting things and have no energy left for anything else. Whoops. So, I’m going to repost a couple of Rivers of London books I thought of while reading the upcoming novella and we’ll try again tomorrow. This novel explains why Peter wasn’t around to give Abigail a hand (not that she’d have asked for it).

Foxglove Summer

by Ben Aaronovitch
Series: The Rivers of London, #5

Mass Market Paperback, 323 pg.
Daw Books, 2015
Read: January 9 – 10, 2014

“Hail the conquering hero,” said Beverly and held up her bottle to clink.
“Sic transit Gloria mundi,” I said, because it was the first thing that came into my head — we clinked and drank. It could have been worse. I could have said, “Valar Morghulis” instead.

It’s always a pleasure to spend some time in the pages of a Peter Grant/The Rivers of London novel, but Foxglove Summer is probably the most pleasurable entry in the series since Midnight Riot (The Rivers of London for non-US types). I’m not sure I can put my finger on why that’s the case, but that’s not something I’m going to worry about. Unlike Peter’s mother, who

never saw a gift horse that she wouldn’t take down to the vet to have its mouth X-rayed — if only so she could establish its resale value.

Two young girls have vanished in a small village slightly north of London, and Peter’s sent to make sure that the (supposedly) no longer active wizard in the area had nothing to do with it. Having done so, he decides to stick around and see if he can help with some of the routine/mundane work needed.

Naturally — well, I should say, Supernaturally, it’s not long before The Powers That Be ask him to see if there’s an angle to the case that’s more up his alley than theirs. Peter finds some undeniable evidence of magic at work and things get going from there.

Nothing against London — but loved this breath of fresh air in this novel. For example, Peter’s dealing with different superior officers to not want to deal with magic/supernatural — these don’t have the antagonism that usually shows up in London, they just don’t want anything to do with it. The town is full of interesting types — including traveling fair ride owners, tavern keepers, farmers, and vacationing journalists.

As always with this series, the sheer amount of British Police acronyms and assumed knowledge of structure and procedures are a hurdle many US readers won’t want to try (I’ve been told this by a few who I’ve tried to get to read these books) — it’s a little effort, and easily worth it to overcome.

My major — only? — gripe is that Peter’s not making a lot of progress with his magic, he seems to be pretty much where he was three novels back. Yes, he’s more confident, yes, he’s able to apply his knowledge of magic with some good old-fashioned police ingenuity — but his abilities and skills are still rookie-level. Without Beverly as magic back-up, he’d be in trouble. The two of them — plus one local cop out of his depth, but committed to work — are able to handle things.

Yeah, it was nice not to focus on Lesley and the Faceless One (which isn’t to say their shadows don’t loom over a good chunk of the book), but it’s clear that they’ll be back in a really big way soon. Which I’m looking forward to, as nice as it was to have this mental palate cleanser here. Foxglove Summer was great mix of police procedural, Urban Fantasy and Folklore — both traditional and contemporary (the area’s obsession with UFOs is great) — with Aaronovitch’s deft humor, pop culture references and tight plotting. We’ve got ourselves a winner here.

—–

4 Stars

He Drank, and Saw the Spider (Audiobook) by Alex Bledsoe, Stefan Rudnicki: LaCrosse’s Break from His Vacation Changes History

By HCNewton

On March 1, 2021

In Alex Bledsoe, Audiobook, Eddie LaCrosse, Fantasy, Fiction, Reread Project

Like with the previous Eddie LaCrosse audiobook, The Wake of the Bloody Angel, I can’t think of much more to say than I did in 2014 when I read the book. But, this is the last one in the series, and I can’t just let this pass unremarked. So I shuffled it a bit, cleaned a couple of things up, and added bit here and there. That’s not cheating too much, is it?

He Drank, and Saw the Spider

by Alex Bledsoe, Stefan Rudnicki (Narrator)
Series: Eddie LaCrosse, #5

Unabridged Audiobook, 9 hrs., 6 min.
Blackstone Audio, 2014

Read: February 16-19, 2021

Grab a copy from your local indie bookstore!

I felt that little knot in my belly that meant a mystery was taking its irrevocable hold. Usually this was a good thing, because usually I got paid for it. But here and now I was on vacation, and the last thing I wanted to do was spend it unraveling the truth of the strange prince, his rotund protector, and the girl I’d once saved from a bear. But damn it, I knew that’s exactly what I was going to do.

What’s He Drank, and Saw the Spider About?

After a couple of adventures that aren’t quite typical in their nature, Eddie La Crosse gets back to basics with a fairly straightforward case. Well, that’s not exactly true—it’s just that the last was more grand-adventure-y, less LaCrosse-as-sword-jokey, and the one before that took on this epic nature by the end. This is Eddie doing what he does best. But still, there’s magic and monsters, and all the other trappings that keep this from being something that Sue Grafton or Dennis Lehane would’ve written.

Sixteen years ago, Eddie promised a dying man on the run that he’d take care of the baby that the other man was running to protect. He found a seemingly-trustworthy family willing to take the infant in, and went on his merry way, and actually forgot all about the incidents surrounding that. Years later, Eddie and his girlfriend, Liz, are on vacation in that area and suddenly it all comes back to him and he decides to try and track down the (now) young woman and see how she’s doing.

Naturally, things start to go poorly about there. He does find her—pretty easily, too—it is a small community, with an economy largely-based on sheep-herding and farming, so it’s not really a bustling metropolis where no one knows anyone else. But there’s a whole lot of interesting things happening around the young woman—royalty in disguise, a meddling sorceress, an untrustworthy mercenary-type, an over-protective mother, a dose of sibling rivalry, and some sort of articulate and super-strong inhuman creature with a healthy interest in the girl.

Even though he was just supposed to check on her and not interfere with her life—he had no intention of even introducing himself to her. Eddie can’t help himself, and before you know it, he’s neck-deep in intrigue and danger.

Biggest Magic Yet

When you think about Fantasy novels (or maybe I should just say “I”, who knows what you think) you think about magic all over the place. But if it’s really that ubiquitous, that takes away some of the special-ness of magic. In LaCrosse’s world, almost no one believes in magic. Eddie sure wouldn’t if magic, deities, and supernatural creatures hadn’t rubbed their existence in his face on repeated occasions.

That’s certainly the case here—most of the people that Eddie is around in this novel (and by most, I mean an overwhelming majority) refuse to admit that what they are seeing—some of them on multiple occasions—has anything to do with magic. I think this is a great choice—it’s another hurdle for Eddie and Liz to get over, it adds some real tension when you’d be tempted to think we’re done with tension, and it keeps the magic mysterious.

Rudnicki’s Narration

I think this is probably Rudnicki’s best work in the series. he nails every character—particularly the character of Billy Cudgel (the aforementioned untrustworthy mercenary-type). He captures the humor, the drunkenness, the misery, the madness, and everything else. I thought the choices he makes in the narration (he and/or the director) and tone were spot-on. He’s definitely a narrator I’m going to seek out in the future.

So, what did I think about He Drank, and Saw the Spider?

On the whole, this is a fun, brisk novel—a lot of humor, some good action, nice banter, and interaction between the characters (especially Eddie and Liz). Yet, even as the answers to the questions surrounding the girl’s mysterious origins become obvious, and some of the characters get to the point where they seemed irredeemable, Bledsoe (as he can every so well) keeps you completely drawn in and even tugs the heartstrings a bit as the truth is revealed to the characters. Just really, really well done.

There’s a lot of nice little touches along the way. For example, towards the end of the book, Eddie and those he’s traveling with encounter a preteen who joins their little band for a while. She’s pretty new to swearing and tries to get in as much practice as she can while with them. At first, I thought she was an odd (but entertaining) and pointless distraction. It didn’t take too long to see she was a perfect tension-breaker, just what that part of the novel needed to keep from being too tense and so much more serious than what had come before.

Eddie’s narration has never been better—humor-tinged and hard-boiled, a medieval Philip Marlowe or Elvis Cole. I liked all of these characters, and really wanted to spend more time with each of them—I don’t know how Bledsoe could’ve pulled that off without getting the whole thing too slow and ponderous (which would’ve sucked the fun out of 60-70% of these characters). This is really such a well-done and fully realized series.

Either Bledsoe or his publishers decided that was enough, and it doesn’t look like we’re going to get any more adventures from our favorite sword-jockey, but man, I’m glad we got what we did.

4 Stars

This post contains an affiliate link. If you purchase from it, I will get a small commission at no additional cost to you. As always, opinions are my own.

Someone to Watch Over Me by Ace Atkins: Spenser Battles Mortality, An Old Foe, and a Sex-Trafficking Ring.

By HCNewton

On February 8, 2021

In Ace Atkins, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller, Robert B. Parker, Spenser

Believe it or not, this is the trimmed-down version. The original draft was too long even for me, so I tabled it for a week or so and came back with something more concise. More concise, I said, not concise. Hopefully coherent.

Robert B. Parker’s Someone to Watch Over Me

by Ace Atkins
Series: Spenser, #48

Hardcover, 306 pg.
G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 2020

Read: January 15-16, 2021
Grab a copy from your local indie bookstore!

It was early evening and early summer, and my bay window was cracked open above Berkeley Street. I had a half-eaten turkey sub on my desk and the sports page from The Globe splayed out underneath. Dan Shaughnessy proclaimed Mookie Betts to be overrated. I’m sure many said the same thing about me. But I was pretty sure being overrated was better than being underrated. A mistake few made twice.

I contemplated Mookie’s situation as I heard a knock on the anteroom door.

And just like that, I’m back in one of my favorite fictional universes, and it felt so great. Among the many, many things wrong with 2020 (and I want to stress that this is far down the list) was that there was no new Spenser novel. Thankfully, Atkins and his publisher have addressed that problem here in the early days of 2021 by bringing us the 48^th entry in this fantastic series.

It All Starts with a Favor…

Mattie Sullivan, who’s been doing some work for Spenser lately, tried to do a favor for someone from her neighborhood, and now needs Spenser to help her. It’s a pretty simple task, but the story behind it is troubling. It doesn’t go much better for Spenser than it went for Mattie, but once he starts to ask questions, he ends up pulling the proverbial thread that unravels a sweater. And by “sweater”, I’m referring to an international sex-trafficking ring catering to the wealthy and powerful who like to prey on the young.

Yeah, basically, Atkins is going for a ripped-from-the-headlines Jeffrey Epstein kind of story.

Mattie Sullivan

One of my few complaints with the Spenser novels by Atkins is that he hasn’t used Mattie Sullivan since his first one, Lullaby. There’ve been a reference or two, but that’s it. But I got the impression that, like Zebulon Sixkill or Paul Giacomin, Mattie’d be around. But it never materialized. That’s fine. I get where (especially as Atkins was establishing himself) that there’d be some resistance to bringing in a young girl as a regular—it’d be tantamount to introducing Cousin Oliver.

But she’s here, and we’re to believe she’s been a presence in his life, and he in hers. More importantly, she needs a little help from her mentor. She’s on the verge of starting a career, and the way this works out will have a lot to say about her next steps.

Boston Homicide Captain Lorraine Glass

The Captain has been antagonistic toward Spenser since she showed up a few books back, a little more than Quirk was in the early books in the series. Sure, she’ll let Belson do his thing and will eventually listen to what Spenser has to say.

And that hasn’t changed. However…years ago, she tried to stop the same man. She worked with two victims, but the charges went away after someone (probably multiple someones) that he had leverage over had exerted their influence. Glass hasn’t gotten over it. If Spenser’s truly trying to bring him down, she’s in.

She doesn’t give a lot of help, but she gives some—and given what little Spenser has to work with it’s something. This doesn’t mean things are going to be chummy between Glass and Spenser any time soon. But it’s still nice to see.

Pearl Again, Naturally

On the backside, we found two cars parked outside. One was the Mercedes I’d seen drop off Debbie Delgado. The other was a light blue Rolls-Royce Phantom. Pearl and I noted the license tag on the Rolls. Or at least I hoped she did. She was still a detective-in-training.

Susan and Spenser’s second Pearl has died. This time, Spenser replaced her with a puppy German Shorthaired Pointer. I think I mentioned when Lupica’s first Sunny Randall had her do the same thing, I find the practice of replacing one dog with another of the same breed and using the same name odd (more than odd, but let’s stick with that). Susan seems to balk at the practice this time, which is odd. She seemingly had no problem with it for their second Pearl, but now she puts her foot down?

This does, however, provide Atkins with the opportunity to get Spenser to explain himself. I’m not sure that it helps. But at least he tried.

Still, Puppy Pearl is cute, so I’ll shut up about it.

Ruger? Really?

I feel bad bringing this up, but it’s right there in the Publisher’s description, so I guess it’s fair game. But Atkins brings back The Gray Man. I was stunned—almost as stunned as Spenser, Hawk, and Susan were—because I haven’t read a blurb for this series since Atkins’ first installment (and it had been probably decades before that).

I think it’s a risky move to bring someone like this back. You don’t want to use someone like Ruger too often. Once was probably enough, any more than that and you risk humanizing the character, making him seem less threatening, more mortal, more defeatable. I thought that when Parker did brought him back, and I think that now. Parker pulled it off. Atkins did it better. I love it when something so risky pays off.

Momento Mori

The three plane rides hadn’t been kind to me. I could feel every old break, bruise, and irregularity in my body. It had been eight years since I’d first met Mattie. Now she was a grown, successful person. And I was still doing what | do, none the wiser, not finding a better line of work. Maybe someday I’d retire to a place like this… Few get out of our livelihood by being politely asked. One day all the push-ups, wind sprints, and sparring wouldn’t save us. At this point in my life, I’d been doing this for many more years than I had not.

Both Ruger and the new Pearl (in different ways) make much of this book a meditation on mortality (Spenser’s in particular, while Hawk insists he “youthens”). This is something that Atkins has really highlighted in various ways since he took the helm, but not to this extent.

I don’t have time (or that much desire) to re-read it so I couldn’t say this definitively, but I don’t think Ruger’s second appearance brought with it this level of angst and apprehension on the part of Spenser, much less Hawk or Susan. But Atkins hits the notes that he should. The Grey Man about killed Spenser, reduced him to a shadow of the man we knew before, and he should make Spenser—reflexive confidence or not—fearful. As he should be. Because that’s the kind of guy that Ruger is, smart people are afraid of him. Smart people who’ve barely survived going up against him should really be afraid of him.

So, what did I think about Someone to Watch Over Me?

I loved it. I always enjoy being back in this world. Getting to see another part of Hawk’s life than we’ve ever seen before just makes it better.

I do wonder a little about what this novel says about Ceremony, the most problematic Spenser novel (still a good read, don’t get me wrong, but come on). I think Spenser’s actions and attitudes in this are defensible without casting doubt about what he did in Ceremony. And maybe it could be argued that Spenser’s attitudes changed after seeing what happened to April Kyle. I don’t think it’d be convincing, but maybe you could do that.

This gives the long-time fan plenty of stuff to think about, if they want to. There’s a decent amount for a new reader to chew on, too. But more than anything—it’s a solid Spenser novel written by the man who’s been keeping the legend alive for almost a decade, with hopefully many more years to come.

4 1/2 Stars

This post contains an affiliate link. If you purchase from it, I will get a small commission at no additional cost to you. As always, opinions are my own.

Wake of the Bloody Angel (Audiobook) by Alex Bledsoe, Stefan Rudnicki: A Search for A Needle in a Very Wet Haystack

By HCNewton

On January 27, 2021

In Alex Bledsoe, Audiobook, Eddie LaCrosse, Fantasy, Fiction, Reread Project

Small confession, before trying to write this post, I read my 2014 post from when I first read the novel, and it struck me that I didn’t have much else to say. So I shuffled it a bit, cleaned a couple of things up, and added bit here and there. That’s not cheating too much, is it?

Wake of the Bloody Angel

by Alex Bledsoe, Stefan Rudnicki (Narrator)
Series: Eddie LaCrosse, #4

Unabridged Audiobook, 8 hrs., 51 min.
Blackstone Audio, 2012

Read: November 27-30, 2020
Grab a copy from your local indie bookstore!

What’s Wake of the Bloody Angel About?

I looked up at the stars. Finding one pirate after twenty years was a lot like picking one star out of this sky. Just when you thought you had it, a cloud slid by and you had to start all over when it passed.

Yet that’s just what Eddie LaCrosse sets out to do—find the unfindable, track the untrackable. For those of you who don’t know—Eddie lives in a fairly standard fantasy realm, and makes his living as a “sword jockey”—what we’d call a P.I. in our world. These books are first-person narratives and read a lot like good detective novels—but with swords, horses, and the occasional dragon or whatnot.

Eddie doesn’t go alone on his search for a pirate—he brings along his old friend/colleague, Jane Argo. Jane’s a former pirate turned pirate hunter turned sword jockey and is as tough as that résumé suggests. Having her come along on this adventure as the Hawk/Joe Pike figure was a great addition to a series that I didn’t think required it. But now, I want more of her—back in Eddie LaCrosse #6, or in Jane Argo #1. I could be pleased either way, as long as it’s soon.

A Killer Line

Every now and then, in the middle of this fun read, Bledsoe reminds you he can do more than tell a fun action story, and drop a sentence, or phrase that shows he’s just a good writer, period. One such line that stood out to me, and I’ve tried to find excuses to use in the last couple of days is:

Hawk’s been called many things over the years, but you know what captures him best, in my opinion? That he’s simply a shiver looking for a spine to run up.

You get a real clear idea about this Hawk guy, the image is pretty creepy in and of itself, and yet, it looks and sounds breezy unless you think about it. I like Eddie and the rest of his world plenty—but it’s that kind of thing that keeps me coming back to Bledsoe.

What I found interesting as I re-read what I wrote years ago is this very line. I’d completely forgotten it in the intervening years, but when I heard it, I mentioned it to a coworker and at least one family member, and even tweeted about it. It struck me as a perfect line in 2014, and it did the same again in 2020. I clearly have a well-defined taste and will probably rave about it the next time I read/listen to this novel.

The Paranormal

The last thing I can think to note is that this book briefly features the creepiest little girl I can remember since Let the Right One In. I really can’t talk about her without ruining too much, but let me just say that absolutely loved the way that Bledsoe used her. And no, I’m not going to talk about why I mention her under “The Paranormal.”

For a Fantasy series, Bledsoe is very careful—almost stingy—with his use of magic and the paranormal. But when he uses it? It’s so effective. We get just a few incidents of it here and I love watching the choices Bledsoe makes regarding them.

The Narration

Obviously, as it was over 6 years ago that I read the book, I could be wrong about this, but I think that Rudnicki’s narration added another layer to the novel, and it struck a deeper chord with me. It’s not like I didn’t enjoy the book when I read it, but listening to it seemed to be more effective. I attribute that solely to Rudnicki. He just does a great job not only with Eddie, but with all the other characters—Jane Argo and the last new character we meet in particular.

So, what did I think about Wake of the Bloody Angel?

There’s adventure, piracy, sword-play, banter, friendship, and a bit of betrayal. That’s pretty much what you want in a novel like this, right?

Bledsoe did a great job of nailing the life of a ship (says the guy who gets too seasick to even contemplate a day-long voyage)—both the tedium of day-to-day and the excitement of boardings (or other adventures at sea).

I couldn’t have seen the ending coming, nor the details it revealed. But it worked, it absolutely worked both as interesting plot development, and as strong character moments. So well done.

I’ve only got one novel in this series to go, and I’m excited to get to it, but I don’t want things to end. That’s a good place to be.

4 Stars

Free Fire (Audiobook) by C. J. Box, David Chandler: Pickett’s on the Case in a Prosecution-Free Zone

By HCNewton

On January 11, 2021

In Audiobook, C. J. Box, Fiction, Joe Pickett, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller

Free Fire

by C. J. Box, David Chandler (Narrator)
Series: Joe Pickett, #7

Unabridged Audiobook, 11 hrs., 5 min.
Recorded Books, 2010

Read: December 3-7, 2020
Grab a copy from your local indie bookstore!

What’s Free Fire About?

As it appeared certain at the end of In Plain Sight, Joe was fired as a Game Warden. He’s working on his father-in-law’s ranch, trying to make it by (his family no longer lives in state property, either). Sure, Marybeth’s business is doing pretty well, but it’s not the same.

Then Governor Rulon comes calling. He liked Joe the first time they met, and he’s pretty sure that Joe is the kind of straight-arrow he can count on. Someone figured out a weird loophole in the overlapping state and federal laws that govern the area of Yellowstone National Forest, and shot and killed several people and was unable to be prosecuted for it. Rulon’s hands have been tied and he can’t do anything about it. But he’d like Joe to go down and take a look, reporting to him, so Rulon can tell voters he looked into it.

Joe’s a Game Warden again, but one at large. No one at Yellowstone is happy to have yet one more person poking around there. But Joe has a job and he’s doing to do it right, no matter what feathers he ruffles.

Family Drama

We don’t get nearly enough time with the Pickett clan. Despite his hardships, things are good with Joe and Marybeth. Things could be better for the kids—because of their ages, and Joe’s very public lack of a job.

Joe and the family are living in a house on Marybeth’s Father-in-Law’s ranch—where Joe is working. The relationship between the Father-in-Law and the Picketts is pretty strong. Maybe even stronger than the relationship between Marybeth’s mother and the Picketts (the fact that Joe likes him probably accounts for a lot of that).

But it looks like things aren’t all happy on the ranch—there’s a lot of problems and who knows how long that’ll work for everyone.

Competition for Stephanie Plum?

Not in a million years, did I think I’d compare Joe Pickett to Stephanie Plum. But this Wyoming Game Warden might be as hard on vehicles as that New Jersey bounty hunter. It’s not as laughable yet, but it’s getting there.

I actually enjoy it more than I’d think I would.

I Did Not See that Coming

Now that I get to this point in the outline, I realize that there are two things I didn’t see coming. The first is that here in book seven, we get a lot of Joe Pickett backstory. If you’ve ever wondered what Joe’s childhood was like—or why we only hear about Marybeth’s family, this book will tell you.

But what I meant to talk about when I wrote the headings was this: Nate Romanowski shocked me. I’ve talked before about Nate serving as Joe’s Hawk/Joe Pike/Bubba Rogowski/Henry Standing Bear figure. We know what to expect from these figures—they’re the heavies. They do the morally/legally questionable things. They’re more likely to be the violent type (and more effective at the violent things anyway). But what Nate does here made me audibly gasp. I’m not saying he was wrong I just didn’t expect it.

At the same time, there are things that happen to him at the beginning and end of the novel that were surprising, but they rank among the “huh, that’s interesting,” kind of thing, not a “what did I hear?” kind of thing.

A Word About the Narration

Actually, I don’t really have anything to say here, Chandler delivers another solid job. He is the voice of Joe Pickett to me at this point. The two go together now.

So, what did I think about Free Fire?

I thought Box did a great job of coming up with a way to keep Pickett as a Game Warden and at the same time not making Twelve Sleep, WY to have a murder-rate that rivals Cabot Cove, ME.

Putting him in Yellowstone was just icing on the cake, and the angle of this prosecution-free zone in the Park is brilliant. At this point in the series, readers know the regular cast of characters and this world—Box can lean into them—or start defying expectations—as he needs to. This is a comfortable place for fans to spend time, and judging by the number of times Pickett comes back? It stays that way. I get that and am already eager to get back to spending time with the Pickett clan.

3.5 Stars

This post contains an affiliate link. If you purchase from it, I will get a small commission at no additional cost to you. As always, opinions are my own.

Tales from the Folly by Ben Aaronovitch: Entertaining Quick Dips into the Rivers of London

By HCNewton

On August 26, 2020

In Ben Aaronovitch, Fiction, Rivers of London (Peter Grant), Urban Fantasy

Tales from the Folly: A Rivers of London Short Story Collection

by Ben Aaronovitch
Series: The Rivers of London

Kindle Edition, 139 pg.
JABberwocky Literary Agency, Inc., 2020

Read: August 1-3, 2020

If asked, I’d have thought I posted about this book weeks ago, so imagine my surprise this past weekend when I saw this title still on my “To Be Written” list when I was checking for something else. Better late than never…

What are the Tales from the Folly?

The subtitle pretty much gives it away, really. These are shorter works set in the Rivers of London series. The Folly is the unofficial name for the recognized British magical organization, following in the first formal study of magic made by Sir Isaac Newton (no known relation, but that doesn’t stop me from claiming him as an uncle), it’s currently formally organized as the Special Assessment Unit of the Metropolitan Police. The Folly is also the nickname for their headquarters. Either use works for this collection.

There are seven short stores (or one novella and six short stories) told from Peter Grant’s perspective—just like the series. Then there are four stories from the point of view of other characters in the series and three “moments” (Aaronovitch’s term for “something that is more of a mood than a story, something that will last a page or two and conjure an atmosphere).

Peter Grant Stories

Obviously, this is Peter’s series (at least so far…), so he gets the bulk of the space. Most of these take place around the time of the first few books in the series, but at different stages of Peter’s development. I enjoyed them all and most of them are good enough to justify the purchase price on their own.

I can’t put my finger on why, exactly, but the first story “The Home Crowd Advantage” is my favorite. It’s about a French practitioner who got up to no good during the 1948 London Games who revisits the scene of the crime in 2012 when rookie apprentice Peter Grant is the only one around to deal with him.

The last entry in this section is the novella, A Rare Book of Cunning Device that I talked about when it was released as an Audible Original in 2017. It’s rare for me to go from hearing a work to reading it, so it was interesting that way. I enjoyed it just as much this time around, but I think Holdbrook-Smith’s voice is a better one for this series than whatever is echoing around in my skull.

Everyone Else

The fact that Aaronovitch is able to tell stories outside of Peter’s perspective shows the strength of the series in my book, he’s built the world and the characters out enough that they can carry the weight of a narrative for at least a little bit.

We get a story from the perspective of one of the Rivers, one from Abigail’s perspective that will warm the cockles of your heart (and maybe make you a little sad for a bit), a nice one featuring Vanessa Sommer from Germany (making me hope we get back to Germany for another novel soon), the answer about what happened to the River Lugg after Foxglove Summer. Then there are the moments, one featuring Nightengale, one with Reynolds and one with Sommer’s pal Tobias Winter years before The October Man

So, what did I think about Tales from the Folly?

That’s easy, I thought it was great. I’d buy volume 2 tomorrow, and volume 3 next month. If Aaronovitch wrote that quickly, anyway. They’re like the comic series in a way—a nice way to spend some time in this universe without having to put in the time of a novel.

The collection covered the gamut of emotions and types of story typical of the series with Aaronovitch’s evident charm and skill. It’s a must for every Rivers of London fan.

4 Stars

Dark Jenny (Audiobook) by Alex Bledsoe, Stefan Rudnicki: Eddie LaCrosse Meets a Legend

By HCNewton

On August 25, 2020

In Alex Bledsoe, Audiobook, Eddie LaCrosse, Fantasy, Fiction, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller, Reread Project

Dark Jenny

by Alex Bledsoe, Stefan Rudnicki (Narrator)
Series: Eddie LaCrosse, #3

Unabridged Audiobook, 8 hrs., 45 min.
Blackstone Audio, 2012

Read: July 24-28, 2020
Grab a copy from your local indie bookstore!

What did I say about Dark Jenny the first time I read it?

I have only the vaguest of memory of what actually happened in the first Eddie LaCrosse novel (The Sword-Edged Blonde), and only somewhat better recall about the second (Burn Me Deadly). That’s a reflection on the amount of stuff I’ve read in that time, and is in no way a reflection on Bledsoe. I do have a very clear recollection about what both books told me about Alex Bledsoe’s talent and that I enjoyed them a lot. I’m equally certain that Dark Jenny won’t suffer from that same fading from memory/excuse to reread them. This one is gonna stay with me for a while.

Essentially, this book is a variation of an Arthurian story—ideal king, queen rumored to be less than ideal, noble knight corps with a few rotten apples thrown in, a wizard figure, wicked half-sister, and a whole lotta intrigue—with a few unique twists of Bledsoe’s own thrown in for good measure. Not a sour note to be found here—some notes that were hard to listen to, sure, but…okay, there’s a metaphor that went awry. I was trying to say that yes, there were things that were less pleasant than others—this book goes to some dark, nasty places–but it all worked well.

We get this Arthurian tale via an extended flashback—in the middle of a nasty winter storm, with nothing else to occupy the attention of his neighbors, Eddie receives an interesting package. One so interesting, there has to be a great tale that goes along with it—which he ends up telling to the crowd at his favorite tavern (with only the tiniest of breaks to remind us that this is all in Eddie’s past). By making this all an extended flashback, Bledsoe is able to give us a slightly different version of Eddie—one on the way to being the guy we’ve seen in the last two books. It also gives him the excuse to have a great femme fatale to grab Eddie’s attention without having to write around his lovely lady.

A great, riveting fantasy noir. Can’t wait for the next one already. A decent jumping on point for those new to the series, and a great third installment for those who’ve been around for awhile.

Thoughts this time through

In the nine years or so since I read Dark Jenny I held on to a vague recollection of the plot, I remembered it was a clever twist on an Authurian Legend, and that it knocked me for a loop. But that’s really all I remembered.

So when I started it on my Eddie LaCrosse re-listen, I was excited. And spent a lot of time pretty disappointed. I couldn’t see why it knocked me for a loop.

It was a very clever way to tell an Authurian story while critiquing the Authorian stories. Bledsoe got the best of both worlds there, he got the utopia, the glory, the all the trappings. And he got to show the inherent problems with them, how short lived the utopia was (and if that’s the case, just how “eu” was the topia?)

And it was a fun story about a younger Eddie LaCrosse, sword jockey at large. I wasn’t blown away, but I was having a good time.

And then I got to the part that I must’ve been thinking about when I wrote my original post about it years ago. It’s not long after we learn why the book is called Dark Jenny, if you’re curious. And then I remembered exactly what I felt in 2011 and why the impression lingered even if the details had faded.

What about Dark Jenny as an audiobook?

Once again, Stefan Rudnicki, isn’t who I’d have guessed was a good fit for LaCrosse. But I’d have been wrong, he’s a great voice for this series and I can’t imagine anyone else doing it now. I can’t put my finger on why, but I think this novel works better in print than in audio (which is not a reflection on Rudnicki, it’s something about the story)—but I have no complaints about this as an audiobook.

So, what did I think about Dark Jenny?

I guess I kind of gave it away earlier. At this point in the series, Bledsoe has locked it in. He knows who Eddie is and how to tell his stories. There’s the right mix of fantasy elements (including the Arthurian material) and hard-boiled PI elements; humor and grit; violence and sympathy.

I don’t know if this is that much better than it’s predecessors—but it is somewhat, at least. And it resonates on an emotional level for me far more than they did. I’m completely sold on it.

4 Stars

This post contains an affiliate link. If you purchase from it, I will get a small commission at no additional cost to you. As always, opinions are my own.

The Revelators by Ace Atkins: It’s All Been Leading to This

By HCNewton

On August 14, 2020

In Ace Atkins, Fiction, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller, Quinn Colson

The Revelators

by Ace Atkins
Series: Quinn Colson, #10

Hardcover, 386 pg.
G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 2020

Read: August 4-10, 2020
Grab a copy from your local indie bookstore!

“Place kinda looks like when you came home ten years back?”

“Nope,” Quinn said, placing the small bottle back in the glove box. “It’s a lot worse.”

What’s The Revelators About?

How is it already book ten?

The Revelators starts with Boom Kimbrough trying to keep his friend alive. Quinn Colson has been responding to a call about a domestic dispute and had been ambushed by The Watchmen—the far-right vigilante militia beating him and then someone shooting him. When a book starts off with your series’ protagonist clinging to life, you know it’s going to be a grim time and it is.

A year passes and Quinn’s rehab has gone pretty well. The governor has appointed someone to fill in as Sherriff, and that man is everything that Quinn isn’t, he make’s Quinn’s crooked uncle look like a fine lawman. He’s not entirely physically ready, but he can’t wait anymore—Quinn’s got to step up and do his job before it’s too late and criminal elements have completely taken over. Quinn, Boom, Lillie Virgil, and the Jon Holliday (plus who knows how many undercover agents he has—he won’t tell anyone) prepare for a significant move that’ll put most, if not all, of the major elements in prison.

Meanwhile, the new Sherriff and ICE raid a local chicken processing plant (to the surprise of almost everyone in the county), arresting everyone, not allowing anyone to provide their immigration papers (of those who have them), merely sending them off somewhere to await deportation. Lillie and her church have their hands full with the children left behind by this move. If anything, this action galvanizes Quinn to step up his work.

Fannie Hathcock is making moves of her own, securing her position not only in Tibbehah County but the entire state (and beyond). And…well, I don’t have the space to keep going. There are so many moving pieces in this book I’m not even going to attempt to summarize.

There’s at least an allusion to the previous books, and many characters/crimes/events from them directly impact what happens here. The Revelators is the culmination of ten novels’ worth of events and nothing’s going to be the same after it. It’s clear from the get-go that Atkins has something major in mind and the atmosphere of the whole book reflects that. At various points in the novel, I have notes like “please don’t do anything to X and Y.” And at times it feels like this could be the series finale, and I spent a little time wondering how there’ll be any way for it to continue.*

* I’ve heard/read enough interviews of Atkins at this point to know he’s not keeping the next novel a secret, so I don’t feel bad about saying that.

Is this Fiction?

From the ICE raid on a chicken processing plant—and the way that parents are kept from their children afterward, to the police corruption and abuse of power, to the militant (and well-armed) right-wing group pushing their way around, and a few other spoilery actions—these “ripped from the headlines” storylines made me wonder time and time again how little fictionalization/sensationalism Atkins was pouring int this. I’m so relieved that it is fiction but at far too many points, it doesn’t feel all that fictional and you get a little sick wondering just how much of this could really be happening in Mississippi (or your own state).

Lights in the Darkness

In the middle of all this corruption, crime, inhumanity, and impending doom, there are moments of hope, joy, and family. Quinn’s nephew, Jason, falls for a girl (who falls right back). Quinn and Maggie are expecting. Maggie’s son Brandon grows closer to his new family—there’s one very sweet scene between Brandon and Quinn. Caddy seems to have found another chance at love.

And an old foe realizes how far down the wrong road they’ve gone and seeks to make it up to Quinn. I had to read a couple of scenes twice to make sure I understood what was going on.

Not only does that kind of thing keep Quinn and his allies going—it’s a reason to keep fighting, even if things are worse in the ten years since he came home. But, it also makes it easier to read. If it was all crime, corruption, racism, impending doom, and the rest, sure, it’d be worth reading, but these brief reminders that even Tibbehah County isn’t as bad as it could possibly be make it so much easier to keep reading.

So, what did I think about The Revelators?

“Johnny Stagg, J. K. Vardaman, the Watchman—all of them come from the same place,” Quinn said. “Me and you been fighting them over since we came home.”

“Been here long before me and you were born,” Boom said. “And they gonna be around long after we die.”

“That’s a hard take,” Quinn said.

“Do I lie?”

That is a hard—and honest—take. But what Quinn leaves unspoken is that it really doesn’t matter how long this kind have been around, people like he and Boom have been around resisting, fighting back the darkness, and trying to make it easier for light to shine. That’s why readers have kept coming back to this series for ten years. And they’ll keep coming back as long as that fight’s being waged.

Atkins has outdone himself this time—there are so many moving parts, so many interweaving plotlines, so much that he has to reveal slowly (or not let us see) so that he can let it all loose at the right time.

While reading it, I kept muttering about how good it all was, how fantastically Atkins was pulling off this very ambitious novel—and he made it look easy while keeping the reader white-knuckling the cover.

Book 11 in this series is going to look pretty different than the ten that came before, but it’ll be Quinn facing off with the same type of people—and as long as we get books of this caliber (or near it), that’ll be more than good enough.

5 Stars

This post contains an affiliate link. If you purchase from it, I will get a small commission at no additional cost to you. As always, opinions are my own.

Catch-Up Quick Takes Timeless; Point Blank; Smarter Faster Better; Heartburn; In Plain Sight; Wonder Woman: Tempest Tossed; The Bitterroots

By HCNewton

On August 4, 2020

In Audiobook, C. J. Box, Comics, Fiction, General Fiction/Literature, Joe Pickett, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller, Non-Fiction, Steampunk, YA/MG/Children's Books

The point of these quick takes post to catch up on my “To Write About” stack—emphasizing pithiness, not thoroughness. Half of this particular group bothers me to include here, but I’m afraid I’m about to lose track of them. The other half? Well, I might have trouble coming up with enough to talk about even in this format.

Timeless

by Gail Carriger, Emily Gray (Narrator)
Series: The Parasol Protectorate, #5
Unabridged Audiobook, 11 hrs., 25 mins.
Hachette Audio, 2012
Read: May 13-18, 2020
Grab a copy from your local indie bookstore!

(the official blurb)
I won’t deny that there were a couple of moments that had me on the edge of my seat, but overall this concluding novel felt like a letdown. There was just a lot of treading water going on, the plot just wouldn’t move for ages, it seemed.

An audiobook narrated by Emily Gray Unabridged Audiobooks a multitude of shortcomings, however. She’s just so much fun to listen to.

I’m glad I listened to this series, but I’m also glad that I’m done. It started strong, but over the course of the series, it kept getting weaker and weaker. A fun mash-up of Urban Fantasy and Victorian Steampunk, but ultimately unsatisfying.

Point Blank

by Anthony Horowitz, Simon Prebble (Narrator)
Series: Alex Rider, #2
Unabridged Audiobook, 5 hrs., 42 min.
Recorded Books, 2013
Read: May 29, 2020
Grab a copy from your local indie bookstore!

(the official blurb)
Alex Rider is back with another dose of escapist spy fiction for the MG set. It’s fun, but disposable. It’s the audiobook equivalent of NCIS, an entertaining way to spend some time, but that’s about it. I liked what Horowitz did with his character and I appreciated the growth in Alex.

This time, Alex is sent to an exclusive private school in the guise of a child of a rich and powerful man. Two similar fathers, from different parts of the world, with sons at this school, had recently been assassinated and M16 wants to get to the bottom of it.

Prebble did a fine job with the narration, I hope he continues.

This was clever and pretty exciting, I hope the series continues in this vein—I can absolutely see why my son tore through them (and re-read them, probably the only things he re-read). I’ll be back for more (just wish I’d made myself do this back when he was reading them).

Smarter Faster Better: The Secrets of Being Productive in Life and Business

by Charles Duhigg, Mike Chamberlain (Narrator)
Unabridged Audiobook, 10 hrs., 23 min.
Random House Audio, 2016
Read: July 2-6, 2020
Grab a copy from your local indie bookstore!

(the official blurb)
My chief complaint about Duhigg’s book, The Power of Habit, was that I expected something the reader could use for themselves. This isn’t as easy to apply as you might want, but it’s clearly written with an eye for the reader not just to understand the principles of efficiency and productivity, but to show some ways to bring the lessons home.

That said, it’s not a how-to book, it’s not self-improvement, it’s largely about the science/study/understanding of productivity. I found it just as fascinating as the last book, and can see where it’d be a useful guidebook for people in some sort of position of authority in an organization.

Duhigg also shows us his process while illustrating his own application of the book’s lessons—which I really enjoyed.

I’m absolutely on board for whatever book Duhigg puts out next, Chamberlain is a great narrator for his material, too.

Heartburn

by Nora Ephron, Meryl Streep (Narrator)
Unabridged Audiobook, 5 hrs., 30 min.
Random House Audio, 2013
Read: July 7, 2020
Grab a copy from your local indie bookstore!

(the official blurb)
A very pregnant cookbook writer/TV host/new mom’s marriage crumbles around her, as she attempts to salvage it, protect her children, and make a way for herself in the world. Really, she’s trying to do it all, and do it well. (that’s a lousy summary, just click the link above, will ya?)

The narrator? This Meryl Streep person? I tell you what, I think she’s going places—there’s something special about her performance. Seriously, she did a great job, no surprise there.

Nor is it a surprise that Ephron can write a clever little book. I’m a long-time fan, I knew I should’ve picked this up when it was released. I don’t know that it’s necessarily deep, or that you walk away with new insight into the human condition, marriage, or love. But it was funny, it felt honest and real, and you get caught up in the life of Rachel Samstat right away. Solidly entertaining.

In Plain Sight

by C. J. Box, David Chandler (Narrator)
Series: Joe Pickett, #6
Unabridged Audiobook, 8 hrs., 23 min.
Recorded Books, 2008
Read: July 22-24, 2020
Grab a copy from your local indie bookstore!

(the official blurb)
So this is all about chickens coming home to roost—almost everything that happened in this novel ties into one or more of the previous novels. And never the fun stuff from those novels. There’s the marital issues we got a glimpse at since Day 1 (and getting worse all the time—especially in the last book), the dead former Sheriff, the new Sheriff and his issues with Joe, Joe’s new boss—and more that I will just gloss over and let you read.

There’s a truly disturbing secret unearthed that really sheds light on so much of what happened in the book, most authors would’ve spent a lot more time on it than Box did here, he just let it be something that happened on the way to the major showdown. I like that he did it, but also kind of wish he’d given us a little more about it.

I did like the new governor and hope we get to see him again. (I especially like the fact that he’s a fictional politician and governs a neighboring state, not my own, I don’t even think I could enjoy him as a fictional Idaho governor).

There’s a lot left hanging at the close of this novel, I know the series continues (for many, many books to come), but I really have no idea what it’ll look like when I come back for Free Fire. Joe will be different, too, no matter what the circumstances around him are like. I assume Box is going to address it and I’m very curious about it.

Wonder Woman: Tempest Tossed

by Laurie Halse Anderson, Leila del Duca (Art)
Paperback, 208 pg.
DC Comics, 2020
Read: July 25, 2020
Grab a copy from your local indie bookstore!

(the official blurb)
I really didn’t need this book, Leigh Bardugo’s YA retelling of Wonder Woman’s origin was good enough, and superior to this one. But I’d read some largely positive reviews and decided to give it a shot.

It felt less like a Wonder Woman story, and more like Anderson wanted to find a way to talk about certain issues and shoved Diana into the necessary circumstances and then shaped the character around that, rather than making it feel organic and earned. Also, there was too much left unexplained. There was so much I didn’t understand about what was going on with Diana on the Themyscira and physically that it felt more like Anderson dropped the ball and less like she was being understated.

It wasn’t bad, but it sure wasn’t good.

The Bitterroots

by C. J. Box, Christina Delaine (Narrator)
Series: The Highway Quartet, #5
Unabridged Audiobook, 9 hrs., 49 min.
Macmillan Audio, 2019
Read: July 30-31, 2020
Grab a copy from your local indie bookstore!

(the official blurb)
Cassie’s done with law enforcement (but like Harry Bosch, will always think like a cop), and is making a living as a PI. A blast from the past calls in a favor owed and hires her to do some work as an investigator for the defense in a criminal proceeding. Cassie hates the idea in general, and loathes it in particular—the client is clearly guilty. Clearly guilty of raping his teenage niece, no less. He’s also a highly unpleasant person—she wouldn’t want to work for him even before the rape charge. But a debt’s a debt, and she figures she’ll find enough evidence to get him to switch his plea to guilty and work out a deal.

Readers/Listeners know all too well that the clearly guilty part guarantees that Cassie will eat some crow on this point, but that’s for later.

So Cassie travels to the very small town in northern Montana where the crime took place and the client’s estranged family runs everything from their ranch to the school board and all things in between—including the Sheriff’s Office and Courts. Things do not go well for her and her investigation—which just makes her think there’s something for her to find to help the client after all.

I definitely listened to this too soon after In Plain Sight, one of the themes of it is repeated here—not something I’d have noticed (at least not as much) if a few more weeks had passed.

Box ultimately won me over, but I came close to DNFing this a time or two, and I really didn’t enjoy most of the book. It was just a little heavy-handed, and the tie-in to a prior nemesis really didn’t work for me at all (and I’m not sure the introduction of the tie-in works now that I’ve seen where Box was taking it—it’s too complicated to explain, especially for this post, let’s just say I didn’t like it). But by the end, I liked what Cassie got up to and how she handled herself—and I like the way that Box dealt with the climax and denouement—both were really strong (and semi-unexpected).

This post contains affiliate links. If you purchase from any of them, I will get a small commission at no additional cost to you. As always, opinions are my own.

Peace Talks by Jim Butcher: Family Complicates Everything

By HCNewton

On July 20, 2020

In Fiction, Harry Dresden, Jim Butcher, Urban Fantasy

Peace Talks

by Jim Butcher
Series: The Dresden Files, #16

Hardcover, 340 pg.
Ace, 2020

Read: July 15-17, 2020
Grab a copy from your local indie bookstore!

Ever since the Red Court had taken my daughter, I’d been reeling from one disaster to the next, surviving. This entire situation was just one more entropy barrage hitting my life, forcing me to scramble once again, maybe getting me killed. (Again. Technically.)

Things were different now. I was a part of Maggie’s life. And she might need me to walk her down an aisle one day.

Maybe it was time I started getting ahead of this stuff.

Maybe it was time to get serious.

What’s Peace Talks About?

So, as per usual, there are a lot of balls in the air here—Harry has to juggle getting used to being an active and involved father, there’s a budding romance, there are his duties as a Warden, his duties as Winter’s Knight, his duties as Warden of Demonreach, and then…Thomas is in all sorts of trouble, there’s a threat to remove Harry from the White Council of Wizards, there’s something brewing with Chicago P.D., and then Baron Marcone is hosting a convocation of the Unseelie Accord signatories—requested by the Fomor—to hash out differences.

And that’s what I can say without spoiling anything.

Now, since their appearance, the Fomor have been a fantastic antagonist for everyone—really. I think even the Denarians pale in comparison to the threat they pose to humanity. So this meeting is a major happening—and promises to go very, very ugly. Which is why Carlos shows up to enlist Harry to help provide security and be an emissary to Winter. Mab wants Harry there as her Knight and—here’s the kicker—to help fulfill a debt by granting two favors (no questions asked) to Laura Wraith during the summit.

There’s just so, so much that can go wrong. And much of it does. And then other, worse, things happen. At one point*, I thought about closing the book and walking away—probably following Mr. Tribbiani’s example and putting it in the freezer. Skin Game would make a good, albeit inadvertent, series finale.

* If you’re curious, it’s around the time that Murphy starts to do something brave, foolish, short-sighted, and entirely in-character with a saw.

In the midst of all this—Harry does what he normally does. He tries to save the day, and along the way take care of those most important to him. Maybe the order there should be reversed, for accuracy’s sake.

Underneath a lot of the issues he’s facing are family issues, and they all complicate every other bit of what Harry’s up to in this book. Harry’s never really had much of a family, and while he’s pretty used to dealing with a brother now. His relationship with his grandfather, Ebenezer McCoy, could use some work (we get an idea how much work is needed in this book), and it’s clear that he’s new to the fatherhood thing. But when you combine the three? Harry’s just not ready for that. Particularly when you throw in some conflict between members of his family. This alone may be Harry’s greatest challenge. These things distract him, they sap his emotional and mental energy, they stop him from thinking clearly—and they give him a reason to keep going and to make sure that no one can hurt those he loves.

There’s one major clue to the myriad problems that he’s facing, one big question that he’s not asking…and if I’m right about this, Battle Ground is going to be worse than expected.

Two characters noted for their wisdom and approach to life even more than they are for their power and abilities to fight (which are significant enough to take note of), give Harry some advice partway through the book. I hope, hope that Battle Ground ends with him taking that advice. I fear he won’t, and that his choice will make his life a lot harder.

What about the Characters?

There are just so, so many here. Almost every regular is at least name-dropped, if they don’t actually put in an appearance (although I can come up with a list that of those that aren’t mentioned without much effort). And I don’t want to ruin anything for any reader that hasn’t had the chance yet. I enjoyed seeing unexpected faces—even when their presence boded ill—and the expected faces were good to see, too. (Although, I really could’ve lived without seeing Red Cap again)

The effects from a lot of what happened in the short stories from Brief Cases show up in these pages—to an extent that I don’t remember from Side Jobs. I hope everyone’s had the time to read Brief Cases, because he doesn’t explain a lot of those things. I loved that.

I miss Bob.

And then there’s stuff like this:

Home, like love, hate, war, and peace, is one of those words that is so important that it doesn’t need more than one syllable. Home is part of the fabric of who humans are. Doesn’t matter if you’re a vampire or a wizard or a secretary or a schoolteacher; you have to have a home, even if only in principle—there has to be a zero point from which you can make comparisons to everything else. Home tends to be it.

That can be a good thing, to help you stay oriented in a very confusing world. If you don’t know where your feet are planted, you’ve got no way to know where you’re heading when you start taking steps. It can be a bad thing, when you run into something so different from home that it scares you and makes you angry. That’s also part of being human.

But there’s a deeper meaning to home. Something simpler, more primal.

It’s where you eat the best food because other predators can’t take it from you very easily there.

It’s where you and your mate are the most intimate.

It’s where you raise your children, safe against a world that can do horrible things to them.

It’s where you sleep, safe.

It’s where you relax.

It’s where you dream.

Home is where you embrace the present and plan the future.

It’s where the books are.

And more than anything else, it’s where you build that world that you want.

When Butcher, via Dresden, says this kind of thing—where he taps into something universal (or close enough) about humanity. Something that will resonate with every reader. Butcher’s ability to capture these thoughts and feelings, to put the ineffable into concrete terms like that is ultimately what draws readers to him more than his flawed heroes, snappy dialogue, and action does.

(and then three pages later, he has someone utter some pablum about the nature and power of faith that reminds me that as much as I love this guy, he’s not perfect)

There are a couple of other things I wanted to talk about, but I can’t figure out how to work them in, so I’ll pass on them for the moment—this is getting too long. It’s time to wrap up.

So what did I think about Peace Talks?

While reading this, I had to keep stopping to remind myself to treat this as just another book. To try to think of this as merely the next book in a beloved series (just a little delayed). I wanted to treat this as An Event. We’ve waited so long for this*, you’ve got the whole 20th Anniversary of The Dresden Files thing, the fact that this novel was originally so big they had to split it into two, and everything we know/anticipate/fear about what’s about to happen thanks to the story, “Christmas Eve”—it’s really hard to keep it all in perspective. There’s a real sense in which it’s difficult, if not impossible, to live up to the hype—and that’s not really fair. As An Event, I think it falls a little short (but maybe if we think of Peace Talks/Battle Ground as the Event, maybe it won’t). But as the sixteenth novel is this beloved series? It delivers. It made me happy.

* And I get Butcher’s explanation for that, but it does tend to raise expectations.

Peace Talks is everything the Dresden fan wants—it’s packed with action, the cracks are wise, the choices are hard, the victories are Pyrrhic (and small), the (many) enemies are daunting, and the stakes really don’t get higher. While it clearly started life as the beginning of a longer book, Peace Talks is a complete novel, it doesn’t end on a cliffhanger—but, I tell you what, if we didn’t have a hard release date on Battle Ground I don’t imagine the fan-base would be quiet. In the meantime, I’m spending the next 71 days with bated breath.

5 Stars

This post contains an affiliate link. If you purchase from it, I will get a small commission at no additional cost to you. As always, opinions are my own.