Search - Proven Guilty (Dresden Files, Bk 8)

Each book just keeps getting better and this one did not disappoint. A number of events occur, some of them related and a couple left as mysteries for future books. I was happy to see Michael and his family again as I've missed them. And Harry and Murphy have the talk about "us" - but I don't believe either of them for a moment with what they said (and neither does Thomas). Perhaps the only disappointing bit was that there wasn't a lot of Bob - and at one point Harry was carrying him around in his backpack, so he was physically there but wasn't talking.

A nearly perfect book - well plotted, well written, a terrific story that stands alone while supporting the series arc story. Not to be missed, this installment draws on all the series supporting characters (other than Susan) to tie the White Council, the faeries, the Knights and Harry together against growing forces of evil.

I really need to stop staying up till the wee hours reading... but it's hard to put a Butcher down! Once again he gets the action flowing and doesn't let up - and he keeps the series fresh with different twists and turns that keep his characters developing. Harry is now, albeit reluctantly, a Warden of the White Council. But the war with the Red Court vampires is not going well, and he and his mentor Ebenezer still suspect there is a traitor in the White Council. So Harry has been asked to discreetly find out why the Sidhe are not doing more to help them against the Reds. As it never rains but pours, Harry gets a call from his friend Michael's oldest daughter Molly, asking him to bail her boyfriend out of jail. The rebellious teenager is helping out in a horror convention, and suddenly the horror becomes real as movie characters come to life on a killing spree. My only beef about this series is Butcher's penchant for putting Harry through his paces like he's doing a season of 24 - Harry never seems to get any sleep and is always on his last dregs, yet always manages to dig up some reserves to win the day. It's verging on the unbelievable, which is saying a lot in this series! But it's as always a thrilling rollercoaster of a ride, with a fascinating development in Molly's character that makes me eagerly anticipate the next volume.

I just can't get in to this series, it is probably really good - I just can't get involved enough.

This is urban fantasy at it's gritty best! I can't wait for the next novel in the Dresden Files to come out.

From back cover:
'What would you get if you crossed Spenser with Merlin? Probably you would come up with someone very like Harry Dresden, wizard, tough guy, and star of the Dresden Files.' The Washhington Times

There's no love lost between Harry Dresden, the only wizard in the Chicago phone book, and the White Council of Wizards, who find him brash and undisciplined. But war with the vampires has thinned their ranks, so the Council has drafted Harry as a Warden and assigned him to look into rumors of black magic in the Windy City.
As Harry adjusts to his new role, another problem arrives in the form of the tattooed and pierced daughter of an old friend, all grown-up and already in trouble. Her boyfriend is the only suspect in what looks like a supernatural assault straight out of a horror film. Malevolent entities that feed on fear are loose in Chicago, but it's all in a day's work for a wizard, his faithful dog, and a talking skull named Bob...

This is Book 8 of the Dresden Files.

I wish that I could go into detail about all of the reasons I really liked this book, but so much of this plot is truly a suprise. I don't want to ruin any of the fun.

The basic premise is that the first annual SplatterCon!!! is in town, a horror movie convention where horror movie villains are actually showing up to kill people. There is black magic afoot, and Harry is naturally right there in the middle of it, trying to solve the mystery.

As usual, what seems to be a simple case becomes infinitely more complex, as forces far beyond amateur black magicians are at play. Implications reach as far away as Faerie and as close to home as Harry's best friends. It really is a great book.

Harry and Murphy at least start to talk about what they are to each other, about whether or not there is or ever will be an "us." They come to a conclusion but I don't think anyone of them (Harry, Murphy, or even Thomas) actually believe it.

Each book has its own small errors in it. One book had Harry using an elevator during a city-wide power outage. This book said that a mini-van was "crushed as if with a wrecking ball" and yet two pages later everyone is piled into that same mini-van and driving down the street. Editorial errors aside, this book and this series is a real winner. I'm sad that I'm starting to run out of books.