To be a good recurring nemesis, a villain must be cool on some level, and it's hard to think of Nicodemus as such when he tortures a twelve-year-old kid as in this book. The character is further hurt by the fact he is as close to a loyal servant of evil, which is a questionable motive at the best of times, as the series possesses. Harry and company run rings around him and there's even a moment which lampshades the wizard has a much more formidable foe facing him in the Black Council. One thing I dislike about Nicodemus' portrayal in this book is that a character who was initially defined as one of the most intelligent men in history, one of the greatest villains the world has ever seen, and a reader of the Evil Overlord List suffers a great deal of "Badass Decay" (thank you ). I really think this should have been his last appearance in the franchise as there is a great moment in this somewhat unremarkable entry in this series which would have been a fitting finale for the demonically possessed mortal. While only the second time he's used, the character doesn't really have that much over Harry's other foes and his returns will become dreaded rather than enjoyed.
Likewise, I'll be honest, Nicodemus is not that great of a villain. While this is a feature, rather than a bug, for those familiar with series, it means this book would be less enjoyable for a starting volume. Small Favor is a book which suffers for the fact it is heavily-reliant on continuity. The Knights of the Blackened Denarius, composed of Hell-serving fallen angels, are signatories but don't think much of the rules. There is much focus on the Unseelie Accords, those nebulous documents created by Queen Mab which are designed to limit the amount of chaos supernatural beings can cause in the modern world. Harry is recruited by Queen Mab to protect Marcone who is under attacks by a foe who turns out to be the aforementioned Nicodemus. Given the book focuses on the Denarians, it also has a big role for the Knights of the Cross, as well as Gentleman Johnny Marcone a.k.a Chicago's biggest crime-boss and the second most important human who knows about the supernatural in the series. It also follows up on the "three favors for Mab." A plot point which was introduced in Summer Knight and would continue to have a major impact on the series up until Changes. Small Favor is the tenth novel of the Dresden Files, following Harry Dresden as he has his second encounter with his arch-nemesis, Nicodemus, from Death Masks.
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