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Guests | October 15, 2009

Michelle Wildgen: IMG A Few Initial and Not-Comprehensive Meditations on Group Novels

1 comment By Michelle Wildgen

I am a sucker for a book about a group. What reminded me of this was Joanna Smith Rakoff's A Fortunate Age, her homage to Mary McCarthy's endlessly re-readable... Continue »

Dead Beat :Dresden Files #07

by Jim Butcher

Dead Beat :Dresden Files #07 Cover

ISBN13: 9780451460912
ISBN10: 045146091x
Condition: Standard
All Product Details

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Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments:

Jim Butcher's Dresden Files novels have been compared to Harry Potter with an adult tone and attitude. Now, in his first hardcover adventure, Harry Dresden must save Chicago from black magic and necromancy — all in a day's work for the city's only professional wizard.

Review:

"Butcher's seventh comic supernatural Dresden Files novel makes a welcome leap to hardcover (after 2004's Blood Rites). Harry Dresden, a wizard PI living in Chicago with his half-brother, who's an incubus, and his dog, Mouse, learns that his girlfriend, a Chicago police officer specializing in occult investigations, is being blackmailed by a vampire. Unfortunately, every dark-magic wielder in Chicago apparently wants the same thing as the vampire — the spells of an unpleasant necromancer, Kemmler, whom Dresden's employers, the White Council, eliminated some years earlier. With Kemmler's spells one can summon the Erlking, the leader of the Wild Hunt, and draw on his magic to achieve godlike powers — at the cost of thousands of lives. To thwart the various ghouls, sorcerers and body-stealers in their evil quest, Dresden must turn for help to a reluctantly heroic medical examiner, Waldo Butters; a pack of werewolves, the Alphas; and a fallen angel, disguised as a bookstore clerk. Horror fans with a sense of humor will be pleased. Agent, Jennifer Jackson at DMLA." Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)

Review:

"Mixing offbeat humor, a hard-boiled style, and rich detail, Butcher's first hardcover...deserves a spot in every library's fantasy or dark fantasy collection." Library Journal

Review:

"A fun-loaded series." Kirkus Reviews

Review:

"Butcher's latest maintains the momentum of previous Dresden outings and builds the suspense right up to a rousing conclusion." Booklist
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About the Author

A martial arts enthusiast whose résumé includes a long list of skills rendered obsolete at least two hundred years ago, Jim Butcher turned to writing as a career because anything else probably would have driven him insane. He lives with his wife, son, and ferocious guard dog.
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What Our Readers Are Saying

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Average customer rating based on 1 comment:
Ealasaid, April 24, 2007 (view all comments by Ealasaid)
I failed to make sure I had gotten the first book in the series before I picked "Dead Beat" up off my to-read shelf and headed for an all-day workshop. It turned out okay, though, because Butcher wrote this well enough that a newbie can do pretty well just going with the flow. I really enjoyed it a lot. The basic premise of the book is that magic is real, and the hero (Harry Dresden) is a wizard. Big staff, air elemental servitor, the works. But it's narrated in first-person, and has a very noir feel to it. Harry's a gumshoe who just happens to be a wizard too, and it works a lot better than you might think.

The plot is a bit video-game-ish: six disciples of a long-dead Evil Sorcerer are in Chicago looking for their late master's last book so they can do a big nasty ritual that will turn one of them into a god. Harry and the rest of the good guys have to stop them. That's standard fantasy stuff, but Butcher has an awesome sense of humor and pulls you through the plot by your lapels with lots of action. One of the best scenes in the book involves a zombie T-Rex rampaging around. It was a blast! I really dug "Dead Beat" and am looking forward to reading the stories leading up to it.
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Product Details

ISBN:
9780451460912
Subtitle:
A Novel of the Dresden Files
Author:
Butcher, Jim
Publisher:
Roc
Subject:
Chicago (Ill.)
Subject:
Fantasy - General
Subject:
Fantasy - Contemporary
Subject:
Wizards
Subject:
Fantasy fiction
Edition Description:
Paperback
Series:
Dresden Files
Series Volume:
07
Publication Date:
January 2006
Binding:
Mass Market Paperbound
Grade Level:
General/trade
Language:
English
Pages:
435
Dimensions:
688x424x126 46
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