Dead Beat (The Dresden Files, Book 7) by Jim Butcher Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Dead Beat (The Dresden Files, Book 7)
Book Review: Unique Fantasy Fiction
Summary: 4 Stars
I really enjoy Jim Butcher's Dresden File books. Each book develops the characters a little more and you learn a little more of their histories. I like that in a series. "Dead Beat" was as good or better as its predecessors.
I find the Dresden File's combination of Fantasy and real modern life unique and interesting. Most Fantasy takes place in a Fantasy world and in time before electricty, cars etc.
Book Review: One of Jims Best (so far)
Summary: 5 Stars
I'm in the process of reading all of the Dresden Files books by Jim Butcher, and have just finished Dead Beat. So far Harry has dealt with demons, Faries, vampires, with relative success, but now he is up against the undead, and almost meets his match. Ever since his war with the Vampires of the red court, Harry has been receiving more and more heat from the white council. The turn of events on the final chapter are not to be believed. A must read book for all of Jim Butcher's fans out there. Hey out there in TV land, please bring out season 2 of the Dresden Files. There are more than enough plots in these books for several seasons.Book Review: What a ride!
Summary: 3 Stars
I have only read "Storm Front" before this. I liked it better. There are so many villians in this book and Harry is threatened in so many ways and injured in so many ways, it almost becomes laughable. The ending is good and exciting, even though I knew pretty much what was coming about chapter 3. The book is starting to have the "Da Vinci Code" syndrome: a cliffhanger at the end of every chapter. He is not as bad as Brown yet, but he is definitely headed in that direction. The friendship of Harry and Butters is pretty cool. The magic becomes convenient for plot devices. The humor is still there in spots.
The series is good. I was just slightly disappointed in this one.
Book Review: Days of the Dead
Summary: 5 Stars
Dead Beat (2005) is the seventh urban fantasy novel in the Dresden Files series, following Blood Rites. In the previous volume, Harry burned his hand rescuing children from the Black Court vampires. He also discovered that paintball guns work well against the Black Court when loaded with holy water.
Lara Raith discovered the results of the curse on her father and Thomas learned that Justine is not dead. Jake decided to go into Feng Shui consulting while he took care of Emma's kids. Harry named the puppy "Mouse" and wondered why Thomas had bought large breed Puppy Chow.
In this novel, Thomas is living with Harry in the basement apartment. Thomas is frustrated because he cannot find a permanent job and Harry is frustrated because he cannot find a permanent girlfriend. Mister and Mouse are frustrated because they don't get fed on time and they are both oversized enough to really need the food.
It doesn't help that Thomas has women coming into the apartment when he should be running errands for his brother. Maybe Thomas and his lovers have a great time, but they do trash the place. Even the books are pulled out and scattered on the floor. And Thomas doesn't clean up behind himself.
After Thomas bares his soul and leaves in a huff, Harry takes Mouse out for a walk and Murphy pulls up just as he returns. Karrin is going on a vacation -- the first one in forever -- to Hawaii with Kincaid and wants Harry to water her plants. Harry tries to talk her out of doing anything with Kincaid, but doesn't try that hard since Karrin is not his girlfriend. Later, he wonders if Murphy had wanted him to try a little harder.
After pocketing the keys to her house, Harry goes inside the apartment and heats up some soup. Sitting down to eat, Harry checks his mail and finds one envelope with only his name and address on it. He checks it out for magical spells and, finding nothing harmful, opens it and slides out two photos and a note.
The photos show Murphy blasting some vampire minions with a shotgun. Harry knows that the public will only see human shaped bodies in the photos. The note threatens to send copies to Murphy's bosses if Harry doesn't appear at a specified time and place. The note offers a truce for the parley and is signed "Mavra". Dresden has little choice in the matter.
At the meeting, Mavra demands that Harry find a book -- The Word of Kemmler -- or the photos get mailed. Mavra has also taken precautions to ensure that the photos will be mailed if Harry destroys her. Harry still doesn't see any way out of this mess.
In this story, Harry gradually finds out more about Kemmler and his books -- at least two earlier works had been self-published -- and he soon discovers that Kemmler had been the most dangerous necromancer suppressed by the White Council. They had finally terminated Kemmler himself and several apprentices, but they hadn't gotten them all. Now the last work of Kemmler has suddenly reappeared and Harry soon runs into three separate necromancers looking for the book.
The first necromancer encountered is Grevane, who raids the Forensic Institute -- commonly called the morgue -- looking for something. The security guard is the first through the door into the examining room, his throat cut from ear to ear. Then Grevane and two other zombies enter and face Butters, the medical examiner. Harry intervenes to save Butters and they barely escape from the dead men. Harry takes Butters home to his warded apartment.
Later, Harry meets Shiela -- a clerk at Bock Ordered Books -- and buys a copy of a rare book that he needs for his research. When he steps out of the bookstore, two hooded figures are waiting for him. They both know who he is, but the taller one introduces himself as Cowl and calls the shorter one Kumori. Dresden drops a Toyota on Cowl, but only the local pack of werewolves saves him from the more powerful wizard.
When he later returns to the bookstore, the front windows have been replaced with plywood. Bock asks him to never return, but Shiela asks him for a date. Then the third necromancer -- Corpsetaker -- comes into the store asking about the buyer of the rare book and Harry steps out to confront her. She almost snares him with her mind magic, but he gets away with a little help from John Marcone.
This story has Harry facing three necromancers who are each much stronger than him. Moreover, he doesn't know what they want and how they expect to get it. Obviously, The Word of Kemmler is important, but so is the other book. He desperately needs more information.
Harry spends some time explaining the facts of the preternatural world to Butters. At first, Butters is skeptical, but too much is happening around him to deny the facts. Harry also divulges various White Council secrets and even shows Butters how to power a magical circle.
Harry also has several frank discussions with the shadow of Lasciel dwelling within his mind. Naturally, Dresden knows that the fallen angel is trying to seduce him to the dark side, but she is so convincing. He is definitely NOT going to dig up the blackened denarius in the cellar, but maybe they can work out a compromise to help protect his friends and neighbors.
Highly recommended for Butcher fans and for anyone else who enjoys tales of magical powers, dinosaur skeletons, and other exotica.
-Arthur W. Jordin
Book Review: Wild Ride
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a great story. I especially like the character Butters in this book, as he is really just an average guy, and he finds out some stuff about himself. All the Dresden File books are exciting, and the ending to this one is literally a really wild ride. Anyone who likes action with a sense of humor will really enjoy these stories.