DEAD BEAT

TITLE: DEAD BEAT

AUTHOR: JIM BUTCHER

Pages: 498

Date: 08/11/2011

Grade: 4

Details: no. 7 the Dresden Files

Own

Being a wizard in Chicago in a world that doesn’t believe in magic or any other supernatural phenomena can be frustrating, but Harry Dresden has been doing it for years and should be used to all the complications this creates.

Still, as used as Harry is to this secret world within the world, it always manages to send new surprises and horrors his way. And this time is no different.

While his police buddy Karrin Murphy is away on holidays, Harry is approached by Mavra, a deadly vampire. She threatens that unless Harry supplies her with the “Word of Kemmler” she will use evidence she has to destroy Karrin’s career.

Determined to protect the woman who is his friend and for whom he may well have deeper feelings, Harry promises to find and deliver the Word. First however he has to discover what exactly the Word is and where to find it.

Soon he discovers that he’s dealing with the ultimate knowledge on necromancy and that he is by no means the only one looking for this Word. His opponents are powerful and more knowledgeable about this area than he is and for a long time he seems to be several steps behind his enemies.

With both Halloween and Marva’s deadline only three days away, Harry has a race against time as well as powerful opponents on his hands, and there is only him, his brother Thomas, a human mortician and a fantastic dog called Mouse to help him with what appears to be an impossible quest.

The Dresden Files are always an adrenaline fuelled sort of read. Lots of action, magic, impossible situations and last second reprieves keep me turning the pages. The fact that Harry is always fighting a battle with himself between light and dark makes these book more than just thrill upon thrill. I enjoy how Harry is tempted by darker forces and manages to either ignore them or use them in order to try and do good.

The writing in these books is fluent and keeps racing towards the last page, desperate to find out what could possibly happen next. Of course the whole supernatural element of the stories give the author opportunities to make the impossible believable, but that is part of the fun in these books. I’ll be reading number eight soon.