Dead Beat (Dresden Case Files)
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Product Description
Review
An intensely enjoyable series (SciFi Now )
Butcher's latest maintains the momentum ... builds the suspense right up to a rousing conclusion (Booklist )
The best novels in the supernatural PI subgenre (SFX )
Butcher's latest maintains the momentum ... builds the suspense right up to a rousing conclusion (Booklist )
The best novels in the supernatural PI subgenre (SFX )
Book Description
An action-packed case file from Harry Dresden, private investigator and wizard, by international bestselling author Jim Butcher
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
28 of 29 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Jim Butcher goes from strength to strength with his latest addition to the Dresden Files. I bought this in hardcover and devoured it in two days.
The vampire Mavra threatens to destroy Murphy's career if Harry doesn't find the Word of Kemmler for her. The word is a book, giving necromancers god-like power over the dead, and six necromancers are in town looking for it. Mavra can't use it herself, but being dead means it can be used against her.
Once again Harry does battle with the forces of nature, magic, and evil--in the form of ghosts and zombies--to defeat the necromancers and to save Murphy's life and career. This time, the entire city is in danger of destruction, as more and more power is brought to bear on Harry in an effort to prevent him interfering. I especially liked Harry's pet dinosaur named Sue :)
If you love Laurell Hamilton's Anita Blake, Kim Harrison's Rachel Morgan, Mark Cooper's Christine Humber, you will love Jim Butcher's Harry Dresden.
Dead Beat is book seven. The others in order are: Storm Front, Fool Moon, Grave Peril, Summer Knight, Death Masks, Blood Rites, and Dead Beat.
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
The Dreden Files deserve more exposure. Although I'm not a great fan of fantasy novels (although there's nothing wrong with them & I did go through a phase of enjoying them when I was in my teens) the adventures of Harry Dresden, resident of modern day Chicago and professional wizard transcend the genre and would appeal to anyone who likes their noir as black as possible and is willing to suspend their disbelief for a while.
Dead Beat is Harry's latest adventure, and like the preceding novels it skillfully combines a stand alone story with ongoing plot threads and the further development of Harry as a character. Set around the search for The Word of Kemmler, a book of enormous, dangerous power, it finds Harry once again standing (almost) alone against the forces of darkness and impossible odds in an effort to try and save a world that is mostly & wilfully ignorant of the threat to it.
As with the previous books the first quarter is a noirish detective story, with Harry trying to track down the Word of Kemmler whilst simultaneously tryng to work out what the hell (literally) is going on and to avoid dying at the hands of some very bad people. The narrative rocks along at a fair pace and is interspersed with some great moments of well written action. Harry is his usual, flawed, sarcastic self and acts as an excellent, world weary narrator. He is ably supported by a wide cast of colourful supporting characters, from his vampiric half-brother (you have to read the books to understand how that works) to his horse sized dog Mouse (ditto) to new arrivals such as the very human Butters.
In the final quarter events go from detective story to straight out action and the stage broadens out to include most of the City of Chicago. The denoument runs at such a quick pace and with such a sense of excitement that it becomes almost unputdownable, and the final storm drenched clash is action writing at its very best.
Through all this however, Jim Butcher doesn't forget to keep the many plot strands he has set up in previous books ticking along, and manages to establish a few more along the way. This is one of the great things about the Dresden novels; whilst the central story of each book is always by itself entertaining to one extent or another, the depth of world Butcher has created and the wider developments within it add even greater appeal for the reader.
In facy its very hard to find any real flaws at all with this novel. Maybe that's because, having read all the books published in the UK to date, I'm such a fan that I can't see them any more, but I also truly believe that there is very little to criticise here. Some might complain that the plot gets a little too convoluted at times, but its no more twisted than any other noirish-thriller. Others might dislike the way Butcher sidelines a major character from the previous books, but I think that having her take a break from the action is not a bad idea since it gives the book a fresh feel and she she will simply be more welcome when she returns next time.
Overall, for fans of Harry, Mouse, Thomas & all the other human and non-human characters who inhabit Butcher's world, Dead Beat is another nigh-on perfect installment. For those who have not discovered this series yet this is not the place to start (that's Storm Front, the first book) but by the time they do get here they'll be very pleased they did.
Dead Beat is Harry's latest adventure, and like the preceding novels it skillfully combines a stand alone story with ongoing plot threads and the further development of Harry as a character. Set around the search for The Word of Kemmler, a book of enormous, dangerous power, it finds Harry once again standing (almost) alone against the forces of darkness and impossible odds in an effort to try and save a world that is mostly & wilfully ignorant of the threat to it.
As with the previous books the first quarter is a noirish detective story, with Harry trying to track down the Word of Kemmler whilst simultaneously tryng to work out what the hell (literally) is going on and to avoid dying at the hands of some very bad people. The narrative rocks along at a fair pace and is interspersed with some great moments of well written action. Harry is his usual, flawed, sarcastic self and acts as an excellent, world weary narrator. He is ably supported by a wide cast of colourful supporting characters, from his vampiric half-brother (you have to read the books to understand how that works) to his horse sized dog Mouse (ditto) to new arrivals such as the very human Butters.
In the final quarter events go from detective story to straight out action and the stage broadens out to include most of the City of Chicago. The denoument runs at such a quick pace and with such a sense of excitement that it becomes almost unputdownable, and the final storm drenched clash is action writing at its very best.
Through all this however, Jim Butcher doesn't forget to keep the many plot strands he has set up in previous books ticking along, and manages to establish a few more along the way. This is one of the great things about the Dresden novels; whilst the central story of each book is always by itself entertaining to one extent or another, the depth of world Butcher has created and the wider developments within it add even greater appeal for the reader.
In facy its very hard to find any real flaws at all with this novel. Maybe that's because, having read all the books published in the UK to date, I'm such a fan that I can't see them any more, but I also truly believe that there is very little to criticise here. Some might complain that the plot gets a little too convoluted at times, but its no more twisted than any other noirish-thriller. Others might dislike the way Butcher sidelines a major character from the previous books, but I think that having her take a break from the action is not a bad idea since it gives the book a fresh feel and she she will simply be more welcome when she returns next time.
Overall, for fans of Harry, Mouse, Thomas & all the other human and non-human characters who inhabit Butcher's world, Dead Beat is another nigh-on perfect installment. For those who have not discovered this series yet this is not the place to start (that's Storm Front, the first book) but by the time they do get here they'll be very pleased they did.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Harry Dresden is the only wizard in the Chicago telephone directory. He does special jobs for the police dept and this keeps him busy.
The story begins with Harry being blackmailed by a powerful vampire who holds incriminating evidence that would destroy the career of a close friend. The vampire wants Harry to find The Word of Kemmler, but first Harry has to find out what that is. The answer very quickly becomes clear; The Word of Kemmler is something that a lot of people want. A lot of powerful, ruthless and determined people. Within a very short time Harry is up to his ears in scary bad guys and all hell is quite literally breaking loose all over Chicago.
This is loads of fun. Cross detective noir with a grown-up Harry Potter and you've got the idea. The story is driven along at a cracking pace, you're never too many pages away from a big action scene yet the central characters are well enough developed that you care and understand them.
Not read any of Jim Butcher's work before - not a problem. Everything you need to know is there. Just sit back and enjoy.
The story begins with Harry being blackmailed by a powerful vampire who holds incriminating evidence that would destroy the career of a close friend. The vampire wants Harry to find The Word of Kemmler, but first Harry has to find out what that is. The answer very quickly becomes clear; The Word of Kemmler is something that a lot of people want. A lot of powerful, ruthless and determined people. Within a very short time Harry is up to his ears in scary bad guys and all hell is quite literally breaking loose all over Chicago.
This is loads of fun. Cross detective noir with a grown-up Harry Potter and you've got the idea. The story is driven along at a cracking pace, you're never too many pages away from a big action scene yet the central characters are well enough developed that you care and understand them.
Not read any of Jim Butcher's work before - not a problem. Everything you need to know is there. Just sit back and enjoy.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Not my favourite Dresden...
I'll start by saying this was the worst Dresden book yet. The single reason it did not receive only two stars was that amidst the dull tedium, were planted a few snippets of... Read more
Published 4 months ago by Leo Elijah Cristea
Another brilliant edition to the dresden series...
Dead Beat by Jim Butcher is another fantastic edition to the Dresden series.
In this installment we see Dresden racing across Chicago to save Murphy's life and career from... Read more
In this installment we see Dresden racing across Chicago to save Murphy's life and career from... Read more
Published 5 months ago by veggie_grasshopper
Zombies Have Never Been So Much Fun
Harry Dresden's life is complicated enough on a normal weekday; imagine what he has to deal with on Halloween. Read more
Published 6 months ago by David Ford
Jim Butcher Dead Beat. partof the Dresden files
Absolutly love Jim Butcher books. If you enjoy fantasy with a twist of wisdom you carnt go wrong with any of his books. Very clever and exciting. Read more
Published 13 months ago by HAG
bring back the dresden files to tv please
when the tv series was cancelled after only one season i was gobsmacked, how could such and entertaining set of stories not make good telly, dead beat makes a great read, zombies,... Read more
Published 19 months ago by P. barton
Thoroughly enjoyable
This is book 7 in the "Dresden Files" series and another good book from the author. It is a fun book to read, thoroughly enjoyable. Read more
Published 21 months ago by A Regular
Polka will never die!
There are seven laws of magic in the world of wizards -- and one of them is "Thou shalt not reach beyond the borders of life. Read more
Published on 18 Mar 2010 by E. A Solinas
The dream of Dresden, or how to like a "Butcher."
This book forms part of an 11 book (thus far) on-going series, read in order for the best results, wherein the main characters are well rounded, the plots, while slightly... Read more
Published on 30 Oct 2009 by Dr. Nicol J. Murray
Solid and entertaining
A solid read that's entertaining and Butcher handles his backstory in a competent and interesting way. Read more
Published on 26 Jun 2007 by quippe
Stars and Stones!!!!
Please dont even think about reading the reviews just buy the damn thing. Harry rocks, jim butcher is a demi-god. i wish harry was real and that i could work with the man. Read more
Published on 21 Oct 2006 by R. P. Langdon
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