What did I hate about this book?

Everything. Literally everything. The first time I tried to read this book, years ago, I dnf'd after a chapter or 2. You know when he's walking back to his office after leaving the crime scene at the hotel? Ya, that's as far as I got the first time. This time, I forced myself to finish it due to a fun little project I'm working on, and it was not a good time.

Glaring plot conveniences and outright plotholes abound. My disbelief was not suspended, not even for a moment. The entire climax of the story was so painfully forced, I wanted to start shouting at the book.

All Dresden had to do was walk upstairs and get his rod and staff before he took off, but he "couldn't" because...oh wait there wasn't a reason. All so the final showdown wasn't a complete one-sided blowout. *the strongest of eye rolls*

The women here were...just not good. The FBI agent, Murphy(?) who forgets that wizards can do magic so putting them in a jail cell is probably not very effective in detaining them, the drop dead gorgeous women who are for some reason really keen to get in Dresden's pants despite the fact that I can't think of a less attractive object of desire--cowboy boots, sweatpants, a leather duster, topped off with sleep deprivation and the desperate need for a shower, and the vampire madame who is incredibly scary and powerful but is defeated

because Dresden sees her true face and it's not pretty!

. Need I continue?
The entire conflict with the wizard council just seems entirely nonsensical.

They seem to think Dresden is responsible for the murders because they require a powerful wizard, which fine I guess. But they think he's somehow secretly accomplished this incredibly difficult and very big magic and yet they catch him trapping a fairy, which is almost against the rules and earns Dresden a lovely, and by lovely I mean over-the-top, cheesey threat from the guy assigned to watch Dresden and try to catch him breaking the rules so he can chop Dresden's head off. You catch him doing simple little shit that is almost enough to get him killed but you assume against all odds that he's able to hide big magic and it couldn't possibly be anyone else? Please.

Add to all of that the cringey dialogue, cartoon villains, and a main character with mysogynistic tendencies and I was left with a bad taste in my mouth that no amount of promises of improvement later in the series can quite resolve.

DNF'd at less than 100 pages. There wasn't anything particularly annoying, offensive or bad, just couldn't find the desire to pick it up and continue on.

DNF'd very early, less than 50 pages in. Bored. So bored.