I've come to the conclusion to stop reading Kim Harrison after this. It's not that she can't write, plot, develop interesting characters or create an interesting setting, those are all within her capability completely. It's the philosophy I find in what she writes.

The Rachel Morgan series is, at its central core, about relationships. I don't know the author's concept of such, but I've got to say that her main character is dragged through relationship hell over and over again. As are the people around her.

Everyone who develops a relationship in the books is doomed. All relationships, nearly, turn out the same. People are either monsters beneath the illusion of civility (sometimes literally sometimes just in personality) or, if they are not, they will be cannon fodder for her plot mill to kill and leave others in pain. And they will die in senseless, merciless ways. Ways meant to torment the characters and to drag an emotional response from the reader.

She, as an author, over this series of books, has done it once too often. It's becoming a pattern, one that hurts. One that psychologically exists to torment the reader.

The series long ago lost the original promise of urban mystery fantasy, crossing back in forth into horror and romance as if sex and violence must always be entwined. Worse, as time as gone on, the main character has gone from interesting to a "Mary Sue" of sorts who goes from one bad relationship to another (never actually leaving any of them unless the character ends up dead and buried, but just re-adjusting them in their life from book to book).

And no, I didn't finish reading this entire book. I had enough when I hit the 3/4 point this time and decided no more.