** spoiler alert ** It almost hurts to give this book only four stars. But I must be honest. I just plain didn't enjoy it as much as I have others in the series.

Okay, my first disappointment would be this. Two significant changes occurred in the last volume, but this installment acts as if they were irrelevant.

For one thing, in Small Favor Michael Carpenter was injured severely; when last we saw him, doctors didn't even know how badly he was hurt, going so far as to warn his wife Charity that there might be brain damage. In Turn Coat, all we are told is that Michael is "crippled". Wow, no kidding, you don't say. But how badly? Please, Mr. Butcher, those of us who have been reading your books for THIS long have a lot of emotion invested in the characters. I was in a rush to pick up this book and see how Michael was doing, how the Carpenter family was coping. I find myself a tad anxious now, because I don't know the answer to either question. I'm sure Butcher wouldn't actually inflict brain damage or anything so drastic on a major recurring character, but still. I don't even know how the Carpenters are taking care of all those kids with the breadwinner off his feet.

The other change I wanted to watch develop was Karrin Murphy's possible calling as a new Knight of the Cross. Okay, she says she already has a job. Couldn't really expect her to say anything different. But what is the sword doing now? If Murphy officially refuses- which she hasn't done that I can see- the sword will have to wait for someone equally worthy. Dare I point out that Sanya is the only active Knight of the Cross remaining. That can't be good; one man doing the work of three is a good way for Sanya to get killed. Let's not get Sanya killed. So Murphy should either accept the sword's offer or officially refuse.

Now, these things may have been addressed in the latest novel, Changes. Admittedly, I haven't read that one yet. But there were months between the end of Small Favor and the start of Turn Coat (in book time, I mean). What happened during those months? The Carpenters and Murphy. I really wanted to know what was going on with those people.

Outside of that (this is probably a petty complaint, and everyone's mileage may vary), there were just too many unpleasant characters in this story. The White Council was exposed as the nastiest bunch of homicidal bureaucrats. I knew they were legalistic and stuck up, but for Heaven's sake. The Raith family was being gross, as usual. Morgan was a freakin' SOB. There came a point in the book at which I wanted him dead just so I wouldn't have to read about him anymore. I didn't actually expect Butcher to grant that wish... and when Morgan's big, poignant scene was over it crossed my mind that Butcher deliberately made the guy impossible to stand so no one would be too upset to see him gone. Once Morgan passed on, I think Harry and I had similar feelings on the matter. Strangely sad because a man did die while doing something heroic and good, but not exactly shedding any tears over him because nobody has the right to be that obnoxious.

None of these characters were new, and all had acted up before. But in this book the reader spends WAY too much time with these, some of the worst people in Harry Dresden's Chicago. There's little respite. With no Michael, Father Forthill, Sanya, and other such friends in sight, the book was a chore to read. It was like being forced to work 9 to 5 with nothing but people who hate you, or attending a family reunion for a branch of the tree populated by all the felons and loudmouths who just happen to share your last name.

None of this means the book should not have been written. It furthered the serial plot regarding the Black Council, and increased the tension in Molly's apprenticeship (she got very lucky when Morgan kept mum about her backsliding into warlock behavior, and by extension so did Harry). Harry experienced a great deal of loss in this volume, ripening Butcher's "to be human is to hurt" theme. So it's not like the book didn't do what it was supposed to do. If you're reading the whole series, you can't skip this installment.

I love the Dresden Files. That absent fifth star makes me feel like I'm kicking a puppy, or at the very least letting the author down. But in the end, it's an honest rating. It's all I have.