This book is a definite step up form the first.

The characters are far less two-dimensional than the first book. We learn more about characters introduced in the first book and I feel like we’re chiselling closer to the bigger story at play. Despite this, I feel like the story in this book isn’t thrilling. It feels like something I’ve read before a few times. Nothing is particularly surprising but it’s a reasonably fun ride.

I have a lot of hope for the rest of the series. Butcher’s writing is definitely improving and if it keeps improving at this pace I’ll end up reading all of these books. I will say I am not a huge fan of werewolves, in the sense that the story often devolves into a a good guy fighting a giant werewolf. It was well done in this case, I never found myself bored but I do think it stopped the book from being more original.

A definite improvement and I look forward to the next book.