Anyone who reads my blog knows that while I enjoyed Peace Talks, I wrote that I wasn’t as enamored by it as I wanted to be because it was half a book. It was the pitch but not the swing. It was toss of a tennis serve, but the ball remained suspended in the air. In other words, it was the set up.
It was the set up for Battleground.
Battleground is everything you wanted. So much so that I’m going to tell you to buy the book if you can. As much as I love libraries, and I ADORE them, you might want to spend some of your hard-earned cash on this one if you are a Dresedenfile because you’re going to read this more than once. There are so many details you won’t get it all the first time. If you can’t afford to do that, I totally understand. Borrow it, and then put yourself back on the list.
Here’s the set up: A Titan comes to town with a heck of a sty in her left eye and instead of seeing an ophthalmologist, she gets hangry. All the signers of the Accords must work together to defeat her and times of trouble make unholy alliances possible. As always, things are waaaaaay more complex than they seem, and just when you think you know what’s going on, you don’t.
One of the great games you can play while reading is wondering which character Jim is going to bring onto the chessboard next. Every chapter brings in a new player and I kept trying to imagine who was going to show up, and when. I only guessed right some of the time. Jim’s developed such a huge cast of characters over all of the books that he has so many to play with it is hard to remember them all. He’s the cackling madman moving his toy soldiers around the battlefield laughing hysterically while we wince in pain.
And we love him for it.
The key here is this: The entire city is the Battleground, and we are seeing it from a very particular point of view—Harry’s. Harry’s point of view is narrow, because he is one individual. He’s the key player and central to the action so this is his story, but keep in mind as you are reading that every single person in Chicago is fighting in this war. Every character that we’ve ever met is doing something, even if we don’t know what that is. They’re all—paranormal and plain vanilla human—fighting for their lives and protecting their loved ones.
In a private chat, Jim indicated that he may visit some of these stories in the future, such as Goodman Grey’s and Paranoid Gary’s, since they all have stories to tell but couldn’t take center stage in Battleground. (And yes, I received permission to share that.)
There are ups and downs, revelations and confirmations. Have your favorite drink handy. Read it fast and then re-read it. You are in for one wild ride. 5 stars. 6 if there was such a thing.
If you haven’t seen the book trailer by incomparable Priscilla Spencer, watch it before you read the book, and then watch it again after. Totally different perspectives.
