“Grave Peril,” by Jim Butcher

FM's ratings:

1. Premise 9
2. Prose 9
3. Plot 8
4. Characters 8
5. Overall 8

Comments (optional - but try to keep it under 3000 words!)

Yet another writer of Fantasy Horror that is just pure fun! His style compares to Laurell K. Hamilton, only the protagonist/narrator is a male wizard. Lots of great humor sprinkled throughout, like most of my favorite writers these days. The humor here, especially in the voice of Harry Dresden (I know; a wizard named Harry…), is very reminiscent of Jim Carrey. In fact…oh, never mind! I carp a lot about long books being stretched out into many more pages than they need to be; if anything, this book has the opposite drawback! Sometimes it feels like there’s a plot twist every three pages! The overall plot really is intricate and well mapped out. But it’s overkill for this reader; hence the “8” rating on Plot rather than a “9” or even a “10.” The ADHD surging of the plot also leaves little time for character development, though the characters are fascinating in their own right, revealed to be mostly supernatural beings. Well, is Butcher ADHD? One blurb about him says that he “turned to writing as a career because anything else would have driven him insane.” That’s a clue. This is probably a book that would read better the second time than the first. So I did the next best thing: I went out almost immediately and bought his latest release. I’m about 80 pages into it, and, if you’ll excuse me, I think I’ll go read some more!

Here’s the August line-up!

"The Last Olympian," by Rick Riordan [8-5-17]

"Moods," by Louisa May Alcott [8-12-17]

"A Prayer for the Damned," by Peter Tremayne [8-19-17]

"Her Royal Spyness," by Rhys Bowen [8-26-17]

(As always, if there are any books you’d like to recommend for next month, please do so. Also, if you have already read one on our previous lists, you are invited to send your ratings and or comments for that book!)