Getting involved with a Sicilian when death is on the line

I actually like the movie

I picked up the Anita Blake series after having heard that it was at least a partial inspiration for the Dresden books. The first two books were a little rough, but I reminded myself that a lot of author’s first books are a little rough and I tried to stick it out. I think it was the third book that I realized the Mary Sue trope was just getting worse rather than better, and I just had to put the book down.