Bitten by Books

Like most of the Dresden books, Blood Rites starts out with a seemingly simple enough premise: the vampire Thomas asks Harry to look into who has put an entropy curse on his pal and renegade porn auteur Arturo Genosa. Sounds easy enough, but when is anything ever easy for Harry? The investigation leads Harry to a plot involving vampires of the White Court, from which Thomas himself hails, including Thomas’s father and two sisters.

Plus, Black Court vampire Mavra is back in Chicago and looking to put an end to Harry. He decides to take the offensive for a change rather than waiting to defend himself. To that end, he enlists the help of the head of Special Investigations for the Chicago PD, Karrin Murphy, Kincaid, a mercenary we met in the last book, and Ebenezar, his old mentor from the White Council.

As with all of the series’ books, once the action starts, the pressure just keeps building. The plot twists and turns, and Harry has a couple of monumental revelations thrown his way. One involves his family history; the other involves Ebenezar. What Harry learns about his former mentor might drive a wedge between the only man Harry ever felt deserved to be called “sir” as well as further alienating him from the White Council in general. Together, they could change everything about his motivations and how he views himself.

Karrin and Thomas both get considerably fleshed out in this novel. Getting a peek into Karrin’s personal life is especially satisfying since she is Harry’s closest friend. And Butcher plants a little seed of attraction between them; it will be interesting to see where it leads.

Blood Rites has all of the elements that have made the series so satisfying so far: fast pacing, excellent characterization, Harry’s trademark humor, and dynamic action. But despite the huge payoff in terms of finding more out about Harry’s past, this was probably my least favorite book so far. One of the problems I had was with the Big Bad of the novel. The power behind the entropy curse just was not all that interesting or scary and seemed too easily handled. Mavra from the subplot seemed a far more frightening challenge for Harry. The story overall seemed a little more clichéd and less inventive than what I’ve come to expect from Mr. Butcher.

Complaints notwithstanding, Blood Rites is still one page-turning good read. I mean, it opens with Harry dodging flaming poo thrown by a monkey demon while rescuing puppies - how can you not love that? The revelations and character-building add a new dimension to the series. Dresden fans won’t want to miss this one. The book is a very, very solid four Tombstones.

Reviewer’s Note: While any of the Dresden books can stand alone and serve as a jumping off point, it would be to the reader’s benefit to start at the beginning of the series with Storm Front.

Book Stats:

• Paperback: 372 pages
• Publisher: Roc; 1st edition (August 3, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0451459873
• ISBN-13: 978-0451459879

To purchase a print copy of Blood Rites click here.
To purchase a Kindle copy of Blood Rites click here.

Books in the Dresden Files series in the order they should be read:
Storm Front
Fool Moon
Grave Peril
Summer Knight
Death Masks
Blood Rites
Dead Beat
Proven Guilty
White Night
Small Favor
Turn Coat

To visit the author’s website go here.
To visit the author’s blog go here.

After the large scale events of book four, Summer Knight, Jim Butcher goes for a slightly smaller scale in Death Masks the fifth installment of the series. But that doesn’t mean that there is room on Harry’s plate. The war between the White Council and the vampires that Harry kind of started in book three is heating up. A Red Court warlord challenges Harry to a formal duel with Chicago as neutral territory being the prize if Harry wins. He can hardly say no since he will kill all of Harry’s friends and associates if he does.

Harry is also hired by the Catholic Church to track down the Shroud of Turin which was stolen by thieves and traced to Chicago. In hunting it down, Harry finds himself at odds with a group of demons known as the Order of the Blackened Denarius. The Denarians are actually humans who have been possessed by a Fallen angel after accepting a silver coin (there are thirty of these coins, hint, hint).

On top of that, Susan, Harry’s one-time sweetheart, is back in town and still struggling with her semi-vampiric nature; and Gentleman John Marcone appears to be gunning for him as well. As usual, Harry gets by with a little help from his friends Murphy, Bob the Skull, and Michael, along with Michael’s fellow Knights of the Cross Shiro and Sanya.

Death Masks delivers Butcher’s now usual blend of clever plotting, high-octane action and adventure, Harry’s wiseacre humor, and strong characterization. In many ways, it is the meatiest, as well as the most mature thematically, emotionally, and graphically book of the series so far.

Butcher does an outstanding job of developing his characters, the supporting cast as well as Harry. I especially liked the revelation about Marcone, who is a complex and not unlikeable major bad guy. In him, I think we see the kind of man Harry might be were he to give into his darker desires.

Butcher deftly interweaves the supernatural ass-kicking action with quieter, contemplative moments that show the humanity of the characters. There is some pretty serious stuff in here about the responsibility of power, love and loss, faith, family and loyalty.

I did have a couple of very minor quibbles with this book. One is that the Shroud of Turin apparently went missing on the down low. I’m all for suspension of disbelief, but it seems unlikely that the Church could keep such a theft out of the news. I was also left feeling vaguely unsatisfied with the way the duel played out; it was just kind of a letdown. Neither of these detracted any from the book. It was as rollicking of a page turner as any of the books so far and a blast to read. And after a genuine “Holy Crap!” moment at the end of the book, I can’t wait to see what happens next. I give it four and a half tombstones.

Reviewers Note: While any of the Dresden books can stand alone and serve as a jumping off point, it would be to the reader’s benefit to start at the beginning with Storm Front.

Book Stats:

• Mass Market Paperback: 378 pages
• Publisher: Roc (August 5, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0451459407
• ISBN-13: 978-0451459404

To purchase a print copy of Death Masks click here.
To purchase a Kindle copy of Death Masks click here.

Books in the Dresden Files series in the order they should be read:
Storm Front
Fool Moon
Grave Peril
Summer Knight
Death Masks
Blood Rites
Dead Beat
Proven Guilty
White Night
Small Favor
Turn Coat

To visit the author’s website go here.
To visit the author’s blog go here.

In Fool Moon, wizard for hire Harry Dresden is back for the second installment of this series. It is about six months after the events of Storm Front, and Harry’s situation seems to be par for the course. He is broke and work is non-existent, he has been getting the cold shoulder from his police contact Karrin Murphy, and there are rumors that he has been working for local crime boss John Marcone.

When Murphy comes to him with a string of especially brutal murders occurring around the full moon, Harry finds himself up to his amulet in human lycanthropes, hexenwolves, shapeshifters, and loup-garou. To complicate matters, the FBI has taken over and wants no help from them, Internal Affairs is on Murphy because of Harry, and Harry himself is facing a possible stint in jail.

The investigation leads Harry to two different packs (and types) of werewolves and environmental activist Harley MacFinn, all of whom could be responsible for the killings. And just for fun, the victims all seem to be tied to Marcone. With the help of Murphy, Bob the Skull, and some new allies, Harry is able to make things right.

Jim Butcher delivers another outstanding page-turner packed with all of the ingredients that made the first Dresden book so much fun: tons of supernatural action and thrills with a noir sensibility, tight plotting, natural, realistic dialog, a generous helping of humor and pop-culture references, and finely rendered characters that evoke strong reactions. The plot is smartly contrived with some nice twists. It all builds to a gripping finale that has a real sense of urgency.

Harry gets a little more flesh on his bones with more info about his past. We also get more of a sense of the tremendous burden of responsibility he feels for the magic he wields, its destructive potential, and his obligation to the innocent. He has charm and honor that make him likeable, but he is a flawed human which makes him interesting. The world Harry inhabits has smartly-crafted rules governing the use of magic and the limits of its power, which is one of the things that makes this series so compelling.

Fool Moon is a bit darker than its predecessor. Harry really takes a beating in this novel (both physically and emotionally), and Butcher ups the gore and violence quotient. But for all of that, it is still loads of fun and a rich and satisfying read. I had a…get ready for it…howling good time. I give it four and a half tombstones.

Reviewers Note: Fool Moon works perfectly well as a standalone novel, but readers will have a fuller appreciation by reading Storm Front first.

Book Stats:

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Roc (January 9, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0451458125
• ISBN-13: 978-0451458124

To purchase a print copy of Fool Moon click here.
To purchase a Kindle copy of Fool Moon click here.

Books in the Dresden Files series in the order they should be read:
Storm Front
Fool Moon
Grave Peril
Summer Knight
Death Masks
Blood Rites
Dead Beat
Proven Guilty
White Night
Small Favor
Turn Coat

To visit the author’s website go here.
To visit the author’s blog go here.

In Jim Butcher’s series introduction Storm Front, we meet Harry Dresden, Chicago’s only wizard openly for hire (certainly the only one with an ad in the Yellow Pages), in a genre mash-up where hard-boiled detective fiction meets magic and supernatural creatures in the modern day. In this universe, a magical realm called the Nevernever exists in tandem with the mundane Earth, although it goes largely unnoticed by the population at large.

Harry has problems. Magic disrupts technology, so he and it seldom see eye to eye. He has a negligible social life. Rent is overdue and he is broke. Business has been very slow. Then there’s the little matter of the wizard governing body, the White Council. They’ve been keeping close tabs on Harry ever since he violated one of their rules years ago, even though it was in self-defense.

We first come to Harry in his office, lamenting his finances. He gets two calls within moments of each other: the first case is the requisite mystery woman whose husband has gone missing; the second is from Lieutenant Karrin Murphy, the director of Special Investigations with the Chicago PD for whom he sometimes acts as a consultant. They have an apparent double homicide unusual enough in nature to seek his specialized knowledge.

As he investigates both cases, Harry runs afoul of the city’s crime boss and an upscale vampire madam, neither of whom are amenable to his snooping. He discovers himself in the way of a dark magician responsible for the grisly killings and a drug that grants users visions into the magic realm. Harry also manages to find himself at odds with his police contact.

Harry figures out that he is next on the dark wizard’s hit list; he is not just racing to solve his cases but to save his own life. He has to tread carefully, though. Morgan, the Warden assigned to bird-dog Harry by the White Council, is waiting in the wings for Harry to mess up so he can put him down. Not to mention sundry demons and thugs to battle, plus a giant scorpion!

The premise of the series is simple enough, and Butcher breaks no new ground in that department. He borrows extensively from the stories, films, comics, and television he (and a healthy chunk of his readers) was weaned on. While it is kind of familiar territory, that is not necessarily a bad thing. Butcher is a creative and engaging storyteller. Thanks to the excellent pacing and narrative, interesting characters, a tight plot and a generous dose of wry humor, he has created a really enjoyable, fresh book.

Told from Harry’s point of view, the writing is elegantly simple and intelligent. Butcher lets his protagonist tell his own story with Harry’s particular charm and wit. The tension escalates steadily from chapter to chapter as Harry bounces between encounters. Lots of pop culture references make the story fresh and relevant. His internal monologue as well as the conversations with other characters is modern and believable. Hardly anyone says something that seems unusual, out of context, or over the top.

As the character to base a series on, Harry is immediately likeable. Magical ability notwithstanding, he is a regular guy with regular problems – outside of work, anyway - that everyone can identify with. He suffers from all too realistic internal conflict when reality intrudes past his morality. In spite of his abilities, he remains practical – Harry carries a gun because sometimes it’s easier and more effective than a spell. As the story progresses, we get backstory in doses big enough to satisfy curiosity but small enough that the story never lags. And plenty of interesting questions remain that would be great for some sequels!

The supporting characters are all compellingly brought to life, from Harry’s friend Karrin on the police force, the dark magician, and Bob the skull right down to Mister, the cat who owns him. It is easy to get behind their motivations. Everyone acts in believable ways given the universe in which they reside. Butcher has created a cast that you care about and want to succeed…or fail as the case may sometimes be.

Anyone interested in the genre and looking for a fun and entertaining read should spend a few hours with Harry Dresden. A superbly crafted story, Storm Front will have readers itching to turn the page to find out what happens next. The worst part about the book is having to wait for the next installment after you finish. Storm Front is a metric assload of fun. I give it four and a half tombstones.

Book Stats:

• Mass Market Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Roc; First Edition edition (April 10, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0451457811
• ISBN-13: 978-0451457813

To purchase a print copy of Storm Front click here.
To purchase a Kindle copy of Storm Front click here.
To purchase an unabridged audio CD set of Storm Front click here.

Books in the Dresden Files series in the order they should be read:
Storm Front
Fool Moon
Grave Peril
Summer Knight
Death Masks
Blood Rites
Dead Beat
Proven Guilty
White Night
Small Favor
Turn Coat

To visit the author’s website go here.
To visit the author’s blog go here.