Book Review: Dead Beat (Dresden Files #7), By Jim Butcher

Genre: Urban fantasy
Date Published: May 2005
Publisher: Roc
Number Of Pages/Listening Time: 517 pages/15 hours 7 minutes

Goodreads | Audible

Synopsis: Harry Dresden is the only professional wizard in the Chicago area phone book, and paranormal investigations are his stock-in-trade. Luckily, he's not alone. Although most people don't believe in magic, the Chicago PD has a Special Investigations department, headed by Dresden's good friend Karrin Murphy. They deal with the... stranger cases.
It's because of Karrin that Harry sneaks into Graceland Cemetery one night to meet a deadly vampire named Mavra. It seems Mavra has some incriminating evidence that would destroy Karrin's career. The vampire's demand is simple: find her the Word of Kemmler and all the power that comes with it. But first, Harry would kind like to know just what the Word of Kemmler is. Before long, he's in a race against time- and six necromancers- to get the Word. And to prevent the good people of Chicago from experiencing a Halloween night that will truly wake the dead...

My Rating:

★★★★ and a 1/2

....For being a fun and amusing reread.

My Thoughts:

Whenever you read a book from The Dresden Files you are guaranteed a good time.

I admit, I've read this book already; I'm just re-reading it for fun. That's how good these books are. Sure, they're not the most outstanding literature of our time, but they make for great entertainment. It's funny, exciting, and there are characters you can fall in love with.

When it comes to fantasy, what more can you ask for?

I think my favorite character (next to Harry Dresden of course) is Waldo Butters. He's so sweet and normal and terrified of the new magical reality he was thrown into, yet he does his best within his limits and is even able to help Dresden.

Bob the skull is also pretty darn fun. I love it when he's part of the story. He always makes me laugh. (I wish I had a talking skull.)

Anyway, if you love fantasy and you haven't read this series yet, you definitely should. If you started with this book, it wouldn't be the end of the world (Butcher is pretty good at explaining things), but I would strongly recommend starting the series from the beginning to get the full experience. The first book is Storm Front. I recommend the audiobook because James Marsters is narrating and he does an excellent job.

What are you waiting for? Start reading!