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1. Storm Front - Jim Butcher - 352 pages (3 of out 5 stars)
I've been meaning to get around to this series for years, as I've heard rave reviews. After reading it, I'm lefting feeling how I almost always feel when I read a really popular mass market mystery series like this: Eih, it's okay.
After reading the book, I don't have much of a sense of who Harry Dresden is. He likes women. He's a wizard. He did something naughty in the past and the White Council and some shadow thing is dogging his steps. He's a private investigator. A couple of people have been killed mid-coitus with their hearts ripped out and Harry must find out whodunnit. He's a vehicle to move through the plot, rather than a fully-realized character within himself. Perhaps we learn more about him later on, but I like to know who my characters are right away.
Perhaps it's because I'm writing a mystery myself, but the formula seemed clunky and obvious to me. I guessed whodunnit pretty early on. The plot was event after event, and none of the characters jumped out at me other than his skull-computer-helper-spirit, Bob.
That's not to say I hated it; I just didn't find it anything special. It was entertaining enough that I could finish it, but I'm unsure if I'll ever bother reading the rest of the series.
