Detecting is a Dirty Job

Blood Rites by Jim Butcher
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Another great Harry Dresden adventure. I listened to the audiobook read by James Marsters (the actor who is famous for playing Spike on Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel. He is a excellent voice actor as well as screen actor. I really like how he voices Harry and other characters, including Karrin Murphy, Harry's friend and oftimes client who leads the SI Unit of the Chicago Police Department. I listened to Death Masks and Side Jobs on audiobook and I think I'm now hooked on listening to the audiobooks, although this series is also great for reading.

The story reveals more about Harry's complicated life and sheds more light on his extremely complicated family background. I won't say more than that because it's a huge spoiler, if you are one of the folks like myself who is still working their way through the earlier books in this long-running series. Let's just say that Harry has more family than he even expected. Harry as a character is evolving, and yet he still has some character quirks that make him feel authentic in that if he was a real guy, you'd find yourself being annoyed with him even though you would also love him as a person. He is kind of a chauvinist, to be honest. That's why I think his relationship with Murphy is so good for him. She slaps him down and gets his mind right.

In this book, we learn more about the White Court, which are vampires who live on energy, sort of what we would think of as succubi and incubi (but not overtly demonic). There are also some nasty black magic practitioners in this book. Additionally, high tension moments in which Harry and Karrin and a couple of other pivotal characters have to infiltrate a vampire nest. That was a really intense scene, but there are several others as well. Harry is always in situations that puts his physical being in jeopardy. I think he gets injured the most out of almost all the urban fantasy novel series I follow.

I liked that the undercurrent romantic feelings between Harry and Murphy is apparent in this novel, and well it should be, as this book is about the spectrum between desire and love and the many ways those emotions intertwine with the heavy plotline about white court vampires. I do ship them together, quite frankly. I think they are good for each other.

The story is nicely plotted and I didn't find anything predictable, nor was the mystery easily solved. It functions as a very good mystery novel with some great supernatural elements. The ending was nicely climactic and it sets up future books in the series while ending in a satisfying manner.

I have the next book ready to listen to on Audible. :)



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Bloodfever by Karen Marie Moning

Bloodfever by Karen Marie Moning

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Granted, Bloodfever seems to have less forward momentum than Darkfever, but I still loved it. I like this voyage of self-discovery that Mac is on. She is growing up the hard way. I think the first person POV works beautifully, because this is fundamentally Mac's story. Of course, Barrons is a huge draw. He's delightfully enigmatic, querulous, and his feelings for Mac come through clearly, even though Mac doesn't really get it. I think Barrons is crazy about Mac. He is very possessive of her, and it's not just because she's his OOP detector. All the simmering jealousy pheromones are turning the air around Mac bright red and screaming "MINE". I could put a Supreme Court-winning case together about Barrons' feelings for Mac, but I won't belabor the point. Yes, he's a bit of a jerk, but I have to say I love him! He's a hard man, so he loves hard. I think I'm okay with that. Mac can handle it. I'm glad that KMM writes this series (thus far) in such a way that Barrons is compelling and desirable as a character, but he doesn't quite steal the show from Mac.

I like the writing here, with some elegance, but not overwritten. Emotions are conveyed through imagery and the intensity carries through to my heart as I read. I feel Mac's anguish over her sister, and it takes me to that dark place where I am sure I would live if something horrible happened to my own sister. It helps me to identify with Mac in a way that I probably wouldn't normally, since we don't have a whole lot in common. That's the sign of a good writer for me.

If there are any downpoints, I feel that some aspects are a bit too oblique. We get the whole "wink, wink, keep reading treatment" that I find irksome when it comes to series reading. Let's face it, I'm going to keep reading the books, so you don't have to lead me on. At the same time, I do think a little mystery is good, but maybe not so much mystery.

I won't go on and on about the faerie stuff. If you know me, you know already that I have a huge fascination with all things fae, so it's a forgone conclusion that I would love those aspects of this book. I believe that KMM and I share a kindred love for faerie legends, and this is lovingly inscribed throughout this series and her Highlander series to a lesser extent.

This won't be a long review like Darkfever. I think I've said enough about my feelings for this book. There were some parts that didn't really propel the story forward, but the writing, the characters of Mac and Barrons, and the city of Dublin are so engaging, that this one is a fiver for me. The emotional elements of Mac's story truly draw me in and don't let me go. And I'm totally down for more Barrons! I don't know when I'll get to Faefever, but I know I will be looking forward to spending more time with Mac and Barrons in the meantime.



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