I'm very disappointed, too. I've been a big fan of the books for many years and I got very little of what I love about the series from Peace Talks and Battleground. I liked the snarky PI stories. I don't like endless descriptions of a battle. I want character development and plot. One of the things I have enjoyed previously, is that JB has gone his own way and given me plot twists and characters that I didn't see coming. This time I feel he had a tick list of fan favourites to include and it took the novelty away (although I did enjoy one or two of the Marcone fan fic references).  I found some of the scenes repetitive, too. Not another fight in the harbour! I hope he explains in the next book why Marcone has taken up a coin, because I find that hard to accept given what's happened previously between Marcone and the Denarians.I didn't feel that these books were fun. I'd like to see both of them combined into one with the word count halved. I have read and re-read the Dresden Files so many times and I'm really not sure if I will every re-read these two.