"Urban fantasy that is fantastic"
It has been a tough two weeks on Harry Dresden,
Chicago's only known wizard (check the phone book if you
are a non-believer). It seems he and his good soul partner
Michael Carpenter, a knight with a holy blade, have spent
the previous fourteen evenings fighting terrifying ghosts
that crossed the barrier between here and Nevernever land. When Harry finds the same barbed wire on a human
being's soul that he found inside a ghost, he knows he is
fighting a dangerous enemy who breaks all the known rules
of supernatural physics. This foe can enter homes without
permission, wreak havoc on holy land, and tie mortal and
spirit together with otherworldly barbed wire. While Harry
gets ready for battle with this unknown superior creature,
he also struggles to uncover who is destroying the barrier
between earth and Nevernever and must deal with the Vampire
Court as their leader has summoned him. Book three of the Dresden Files, GRAVE PERIL, is a
great supernatural who-done-it. The key to this tale and
its predecessors (see STORM FRONT and FOOL MOON) is that
every character and situation feels genuine. For instance,
readers will feel what technology-machinery impaired Harry
feels when he removes the barbed wire from the soul of a
friend. Anyone who enjoys an offbeat but cleverly written
urban fantasy will want to visit the Windy City's only
advertising wizard because few horror, fantasy, or mystery
tales get any better than this wonderful plot that smoothly
combines all three genres into one novel. Harriet Klausner
Reviewed by PNR Group Member
Posted July 9, 2001
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