Wow the end of the book was such a complete mindf**k. I never in a million years would think that Dresden would arrange to kill himself. I knew Kincaid did the actual shooting because of all the forshadowing on how he would kill Dresden, but I never thought that he would arrange the hit to cheat out of the deal with Mab. On top of that, not even stopping to even thinking about what he was asking Molly to do, finally realizing how much she felt for him, then to ask her to wipe his memory of the conversation and store it inside her own memory bank. I mean, he had to have known that would just completely tear apart Molly. But wow yeah, this book leaves me even more questions than Changes did.
When the book ended, I wanted that cheesy moment where he shows himself to his friends, alive and see the emotional rollercoaster they would feel. Other than that though, the book ended on a perfect note, and Harry waking up and say "Oh, That Hell" had me laughing my ass off. First recognizable words after he is resurrected, and it is a smart as comment. It was great.
Things I really love about this book.
1. Bad Ass Molly - Dividing herself into 6 illusions is extremely badass.
2. The Star Trek Compartmentalized Area of Molly's mind - I am not a big star trek fan (as Dresden said in the book you are either a Star wars or Star trek person, and I am very much a star wars person), but that scene in the book was friggin genius. All the different Molly's playing the different roles of Star Trek Characters was awesome.
3. Waldo Friggin Magical Theory Butters! - He is starting to grow into his backbone, yet still has moments of his woosy self. Also great that he was the voice of reason among everyone.
4. Bob's Pad - That scene with Bob in his skull was great.
5. Dresden's Self Reflection - I loved all the soul searching and him realizing how much impact the decisions he has made effect not just him, but his friends and the world around him.
6. Mortimer Lindquist - Before this book, I saw him as someone who only cared about self preservation, but is obvious his self preservation was to protect his work of protecting his spirits from going mad or getting eaten. Mortimer, to me was the heart of the book.
Things I did not like about the book.
1. Murphy - Murphy is my favorite character in the series, but she really, thoroughly annoyed me in this book. I understand it was written this way because Butcher wanted the reader to see just how much Dresden's death, and her losing her badge has affected her, but I would never in my life imagine her becoming paranoid as much as she has. She was definitely not herself in this book, and I wished she had any redeeming quality in the book.
2. Daniel Carpenter - The biggest freaking douche bag this series has had so far. He tries to be self Righteous as his dad, but he ends up acting more like his Mother when she is in the I hate Dresden mode. He is whiny, arrogant, and thoroughly annoying.
3. Only a Glimpse of Mister and Mouse - Again Mouse is another one of my favorite characters in the series and he is relegated to the very end of the book. I wanted more mouse.
But yeah, I loved reading this book.
