If you missed my review of Peace Talks, you can find it here.
I am a terrible Harry Dresden fan. I haven’t read Battle Ground because I knew someone died and thought someone else did too. I hoped that in vain, if I didn’t read it, they didn’t die. Spoiler alert: they still do. I will read Battle Ground and review it very soon. I promise. It’s been long enough. I am so disappointed not to know about it. I didn’t know this book was a thing until I saw it on Kindle Unlimited. My jaw dropped because I never see authors like Butcher on KU. So yeah, this could be a KU review, but I decided to keep it with the rest of the Dresden verse books.
Back to the book at hand. The Law may not be a full-length novel, but it is a satisfying read. Harry gets back to his PI roots. It has been a while since we have seen him there. We all know that Harry fights on the side of the underdog and his highest sense of right. He’s just been doing it on a bigger scale than the streets of Chicago. In this book, he gets back to all that. Plus, the underdog in question is a woman, which makes Harry’s protective instinct kick into high gear.
The Law takes place after the events of Battle Ground. Chicago is slowly rebuilding after the short War that just happened. The city is saying it was drugs in the water that made everyone see stuff, but the damage is real. Like I said, I will read Battle Ground and let you know the fallout. Harry is dealing with the loss of Murphy, dating Lara, and helping his community. There wasn’t a mention of Maggie or Mouse, so I wondered where they were, but Mister was there, and Harry’s life looks very different now.
Bob is so very different now as well, so I know I need to read Battle Ground because I gotta know why. The last I knew, Butters had him, and he wasn’t allowed to give him back to Harry. So…? This updated (upgraded?) version of Bob is helpful but weird. Though, he is still a perv, so at least there is that, right? Harry can access the internet through Bob, which, in this book, came in handy. Harry spoke to him differently, too, though. He called him buddy. Since when? I have to know.
Ok, so, anyway, Harry sees a woman, Maya, in an appointment, asking for a miracle. She is a tutor and owns a tutoring chain that helps underprivileged kids. Maya is a former sex worker who started this organization and is helping other women do the same. Maya’s former pimp is out of prison and suing her for half her business profits saying they are partners and she owes him. She isn’t making much money in this business and can’t afford to pay $500,000.00 to a low-life mafia pimp. Cue Harry walking in with beat-up armor. Turns out this tiny human woman, utterly oblivious to the magickal world around her, stumbled upon it. This case takes both mundane and mystical means to solve.
I loved this book. I loved the twists and turns. When I thought brute force might work, a monkey wrench was thrown in. Then, more beings came into play, and I was sure magick was the answer, but I was so confused. I happily read on to get to the end. I wanted to snarl at people when they pulled my attention away from my book. Watching Harry pull punches to save the fragile human but do enough to scare him off is comical. What’s sad is the reaction to the theatrics.
Have you read Battle Ground or The Law? What are your thoughts? If anyone wants to roast me for not reading Battle Ground, I look forward to seeing it in the comments. Let’s see what you got. Until next time, have fun storming the castle!
