A grown up Harry Dresden?? | Dead Beat (The Dresden Files, Book 7)

Slow start leads to a rip-roaring climax | Dead Beat (The Dresden Files, Book 7) | Jim Butcher

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	• Dead Beat (The Dresden Files, Book 7) Jim Butcher Roc, 2006 - 448 pages average customer review:based on 100 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Not his best one of the series.

Good book. Great twists in the plot. Harry is gaining strength and his opponents are getting tougher to dispatch making for some interesting battles. I wish he could have fleshed out the bad guys a little more it would have been nice to know more about Cowl and Komuri.

A grown up Harry Dresden??

I'm sure a lot of people will disagree with me, but I actually think this may be the best of the Harry Dresden books so far. Harry in this book is facing up to some serious issues: He's looking at the consequences of past arrogance; he's looking at serious questions of the temptations and corruption of power; he's looking at relationships and what they mean to him (friends, family, love); he's facing some serious questions of his own mortality and what it means to really put others before himself. To me, the book has less of the "explanatory" phases of prior books and does a good job of moving the story along with lagging very much at all in any particular place.

All in all, a very good book.

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Slow start leads to a rip-roaring climax

Dresden is one of my favorite characters, and I was thrilled to see a new book. He's blackmailed into helping the Red Court vampires get "The Word of Kemmler," a book that everyone else in Chicago suddenly wants. The person who gets it will obtain the secrets to ultimate power and become a god on Earth.

This book starts slow as all the players jockey in their search for "The Word of Kemmler," but when Dresden decides he's had enough of everybody taking potshots at him, the book really takes off. The climax is truly unforgettable! (And very much in the Dresden tradition of giant scorpions and tree monsters from past books. Incredibly fun!)

If there is any true fault to the book, it's that Dresden seems to take more damage in the few days of this book than Bruce Willis took in the "Die Hard" movies. He's beat up, stabbed, and tortured, and that's all within the first 2/3 of the novel -- yet he keeps getting back up and trudging onward. At a couple points, I found myself wondering when he'd lose his shoes and walk over shards of glass. But if you look past his virtual indestructability this time around, he's still the same wise-cracking, heroic Dresden, and he's always a blast to be around.

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A Fun Read - Hard to put down

I didn't read any of the previous works in the series - just Dead Beat. This book stands on its own extremely well. Harry is an affable character that is easy to like. He reminds me of so many people I know - you know the type: hell-bent on doing what is wrong because it is right. The book is laced with all types of interesting characters. There is a half-blood brother that also happens to be a laid-back vampire. Butcher also introduces us to a goofy medical examiner that reminded me of the quirky professor in the animated film Titan A.E. This list goes on.

All-in-all the book is just plain fun to read. I can't wait to dive into the next in the series. If it is anything like Dead Beat, I'll most likely read the entire series from the start. Besides, I need to find out more about the origins of that whacky skull.

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Harry Dresden is my hero....

Jim Butcher's Harry Dresden series is arguably one of the best out there!

Harry Dresden is a wizard who claims Chicago as his territory, regardless of what the Wardens or anyone else says. He's also extremely protective of his friends so when Black Court vampire Mavra blackmails Harry with ruining the career and future of Karrin Murphy, Harry agrees to cooperate. Murphy is the Director of Chicago Police Department's Special Investigations division and as such, she and Harry have worked closely together. Mavra wants only one thing from Harry- the Word of Kemmler. But what is it?

Harry, his dog Mouse, Bob the talking skull, and his half-brother and White Court vampire, Thomas, will have to save both Murphy's career as well as the entire city of Chicago and possibly the world. Acolytes of Kemmler have entered the city and everything from ghouls to zombies is determined to find the Word of Kemmler and become a god. In addition, Harry is stuck with protecting cowardly Medical Examiner Waldo Butters after rescuing him from an attack at the morgue. Will Harry be able to save Murphy and Chicago? And where are the Wardens when you need them?

DEAD BEAT is more introspective than many of the other books in the Dresden Files series. Harry is growing in both his abilities and knowledge and yet his desire to remain a force for good is apparent. Harry bears the mark of Fallen Angel, Lasciel, and therefore has untapped powers yet he consistently tries to do the right thing even to his own detriment. Harry is heroic despite his faults or perhaps even because of them.

However, the characters of Butters and Mouse really made DEAD BEAT stand out. Butters is your stereotypical geek who can't do anything right socially. Heck, he's not even successful when he enters the big polka festival in Oktoberfest! Mouse, meanwhile, was once a small dog but is now described as the size of a woolly mammoth. Both Butters and Mouse are minor characters and yet are central to Harry's success in DEAD BEAT. An important lesson about life in general as it pertains to fear and cowardice is also given through the example provided by Butters.

DEAD BEAT is another thrilling installment in the Dresden Files that fans will not want to miss! This reviewer had been skeptical about the series entering hardcover as many series tend to fizzle out around the sixth or seventh book. However, Jim Butcher has demonstrated that his imagination knows no boundaries as DEAD BEAT contains some of the most creative scenes this reviewer has ever read. The only caution would be for readers new to the series; do not start with this book but instead immediately engross yourself in the first book as you will then be hooked as well!

COURTESY OF CK2S KWIPS AND KRITQUES

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