Chicago's nights are becoming chaotic and Harry can't reconcile his crazy work schedule with his relationship with Susan. Helped by his good friend Michael, who acts in the name of God as a Knight of the Cross, Harry tries to calm down the spirit world as ghosts appear every night more violent and powerful. Things get out of hand when Harry's close friends begin to be targeted by the "nightmare".

When I first started reading this book I thought I had picked the wrong one in the series. New characters and references to people and cases I had never heard of made me think I was reading this book out of order. Then I realised this was indeed the third book and the introduction by Jim Butcher saying this story is a turn point in the series made total sense. I enjoyed the first two, but if I were to advise anyone to start reading this series, I would probably recommend them to start here. Filled with action, ghosts, a fairy godmother, vampires, Harry's family and way too much for Harry (and myself) to handle, this novel is surprisingly good. As Harry puts it, "I'd hate to find out that the universe really wasn't conspiring against me. It would jerk the rug out from under my persecution complex."