The chaotic events in his life may have Harry Dresden feeling Dead Beat...but his books have never been more energized!As an accountant, when I have a bad day at work, it often means I spent hours poring through various mind-numbingly dull spreadsheets trying to rectify a discrepancy. Now here's Harry Dresden's version of a bad day at work. One of his most dangerous enemies has pictures that could destroy the life of Harry's closest friend and ally. In order to stop the evil vampire-sorceress Mavra from releasing the incriminating photos of Special Investigations director Karrin Murphy, Harry must bring Mavra something called "The Word of Kemmler". Harry has no idea what The Word of Kemmler looks like or even what it is, all he knows is that he's not the only one trying to find it. Three dark wizards who are more powerful than anything Harry has ever faced before are also seeking The Word and are more than willing to kill Harry if he gets in their way (in fact, at least two of them welcome the opportunity)! Add to that an ongoing war between the wizards' council and the vampire court, and a fallen angel trying desperately to ensnare Harry in her web, and you have the makings of a really bad day at work! Y'know, suddenly being an accountant doesn't seem so bad...I was very exciting going into this book, as I knew that "Dead Beat" is where the larger story that was threaded throughout the earlier Dresden Files books really begins to unfold. The first novels of the Dresden Files were more stand-alone stories, with larger themes being introduced as the series went on, but "Dead Beat" is where many of those subplots begin to come together to make Harry's adventures one continuing epic drama! The war with the vampiric Red Court that began in "Ghost Peril", the debt Harry owes the Faerie courts from "Summer Knight", the bond with fallen angel Lasciel from "Death Masks", and the revelation of who Thomas is to Harry from "Blood Rites", all these events play a major role in this book, and it was a lot of fun to watch something that began as simple supernatural mysteries evolve into something so much more complex. If you read any of the previous six books in the Harry Dresden series, you already know that you can count on plenty of excitement and humor, but this time around it's become apparent that Jim Butcher is truly growing as a writer. His fight sequences are now so beautifully detailed, they rival even R.A. Salvatore's! Also, Butcher really ups the ante in terms of action and suspense. The battles are larger in scale than ever before, including one involving zombies dueling with specters, and the grand finale features what may just be Harry's most epic moment to date. Also, the odds have never been more stacked up against Harry before, which made for a gripping tale. In addition, I noticed even Butcher's prose has matured. One sequence in which Harry describes seeing through the point of view of both predator and prey is so masterfully written, it's actually poetic. And then there's the twist...many an author has stumbled and fallen trying to yank the rug out from under the reader, but Butcher manages to come up with a moment that not only shocked me, but made complete sense when I thought back on previous events. Yes, almost everything I love about the Dresden books was bigger and better...almost...As much as I enjoyed reading "Dead Beat", I found myself rolling my eyes far too many times to give the book a perfect score. For one thing, there's Butcher's annoying habit of turning Harry Dresden into...You know who I'm talking about...that guy! The one who got a laugh once doing a weak Austin Powers impression and now feels the need to incorporate it into just about every conversation! In all fairness, a lot of Harry's witticisms work, but Butcher has a tendency to overdo it to the point where Harry stops being funny and starts getting annoying, and this book was no exception. Even Butcher himself seems to acknowledge this when he has another character tell Harry, "You're not nearly as funny as you think you are." I'm not trying to bash Butcher, as I really do think most of his humor works, but it does get tiresome when Harry has to be a complete wise-ass in every single situation (even in ones where he should be focusing on trying to save lives)! I had some other minor grievances with this particular story. One was that Karrin Murphy was almost completely absent this time around. Murphy has always been one of my favorite characters, and her chemistry with Dresden worked brilliantly in previous novels, so I thought it was a rather odd choice by Butcher to leave her out of the book...especially considering Harry's whole reason for originally entering into the search for The Word is to protect Murphy's career! With so many things other things going on, Mavra's blackmailing of Murphy becomes little more than an afterthought, and I can't help but feel that this plot point would have been far more effective had Murphy and Mavra actually been in the book for more than a few pages. Instead of Dresden teaming up with Murphy, we get a "bromance" between him and medical examiner Butters, but Butters isn't nearly as charismatic as Murphy. Harry's half-brother Thomas is along for the ride as well, but as he doesn't really have much to do with the story and even disappears without a mention for several parts of the book, he doesn't really serve much more purpose than giving Harry a chance to get out a few more quips. Another minor grievance was one too many James Bond moments, where the villains have Harry completely at their mercy but inexplicably give him more than enough time to escape instead of just killing him when they get the chance...Still, even with its minor faults, I would recommend this book to just about anyone who enjoys urban fantasy. If Butcher continues to grow as a writer, I see a lot of five-star reviews for the Dresden books in the future! One last thing, I have a question I want to ask anyone who's read this book...if you haven't read "Dead Beat"yet, I urge you not to click on the spoiler, as it could potentially ruin the big twist for you...(view spoiler)[I was convinced that Shiela would actually turn out to be Cowl's assistant Kumori...did anyone else have this same theory, or am I really the only one who fell for this particular red herring?!?" (hide spoiler)]
Necromancy! Dinosaurs! Polka?!Dead Beat isn't my favorite of the Dresden Files, but it had a rousing conclusion and countless developments that will affect the rest of the series. Harry battles a pack of power-hungry necromancers in this one, and where death magic is involved, what are we likely to see? That's right, folks. Zombies! Butcher's version are all about obeying the will of the wizard animating them, an aspect that is more terrifying to me than the thought of a mindless, brain-lusting horde. While the dead are banging down his door, Harry scrambles to find a book, preserve Murphy's reputation, and keep a polka-obsessed M.E. from joining the ranks of the dead. The result is about what you'd expect: Heaps of physical pain for Harry, some disappointment, and the usual steady stream of corny quips. It was great to get back to Dresden's Chicago, though there were quite a few references to previous plot points that I'd just plumb forgotten. I haven't read the synopses for the coming books, but with all the nods to past cases and old foes, Dead Beat left me with the distinct impression that Butcher is repositioning everyone for something big. As much as I love following Harry on a case-by-case basis, I'm eager to see how his world will expand and how he’ll be challenged in the near future. There were so many new developments in this installment, highlighting what I really love about Butcher’s writing: He never lets his lead character stagnate. Harry is constantly changing and adapting as powerful temptations come his way. He’s increasingly cynical, while at the same time, his personal ties to the world grow stronger with each book. He’s becoming fiercer and more formidable and since he was already a force to be reckoned with, I see a lot of drama on the horizon. As an aside, I hope that drama comes with a better editor. I don’t recall many inconsistencies in the previous books, but when there’s a power outage and the wizard is taking an elevator…
What do You think about Dead Beat (2006)?
This was without a doubt my favorite of the Dresden files. It had everything - especially zombies, and lots and lots of them!This book made me really think about what I like about the Dresden files. The author develops multiple story lines and then weaves them together plausibly - at least as plausible as zombies in present day Chicago. The quest for the book of Kemmlar places Harry in a very bad position. Mavra is threatening to get Murphy arrested. Powerful necromancers are seeking to upend the fabric of the universe. And Lasciel begins to exert her influence over Harry. It's about at that point that the Wardens show up.The main knock on the story is that Harry is almost too good. The stakes are raised higher than ever, yet Harry keeps pulling through. Great stuff though. I loved the book.Downgraded to four stars after some reflection.
—Mr. Matt
Dead Beat is probably my favorite read of the series so far. You can actually see Butchers writing and character development skills improves as he goes with this. I feel that we are embarking on a whole new level of story telling. Gone are the shallow, resolve in half hour stories, in comes foreshadowing, character building and relationships worth reading. What hasn't changed is that Dresden spends two days getting his ass kicked, nearly dies half a dozen times and has to fight all level of bad guys. The fun, humour and quirky lines still resonate through the story, but there is a complex building of key relationships that add so much more to this story.In Dead Beat, Dresden starts going up against necromancers, the real bad guys. Guys so bad, that they make him look like the local circus magician, but are all Necromancers bad? What if the're skill could be used for good? What if someone could become a god (not God, just a god), what if ..........There is plenty to like in this book for Dresden fans, it is also one that I think that you could try if you havent read any of the others in the series as it introduces (well, develops, not introduces) new-ish characters and builds the story there, so if you want to try some Dresden, but can't be arsed starting with the weaker book one, then this is a great place to start. I particularly like the fact that the Red Court Vamps and the White Council are still at it and we are introduced to new Wizards that are not as anal as Morgan. In particular, Rodriguez sounds like a very cool Wizard and I hope we see more of him. Likewise Butters, the Chicago Medical Examiner plays a brilliant role in this, the reading of this character by Masters was awesome, some of the better character reading I have listened to in a long time. Butters' role as a socially challenged coward being dragged around Chicago taking on Vampires, Zombies, Necromancers, demons and spirits is a wonderful rollar coaster ride of emotion. There are some way way out there outlandish moments in this book, that had me throughly enjoying it. I cannot express enough how much I think this series is growing, how much better the writing and story has become, I can fully understand why there are Dresden fans out there. Anita Blake fans seriously need to jump aboard the Dresden train, because Butcher does what Laurel Hamilton failed to do; develop building blocks for a bigger world.
—Lee
**Audiobook edition** Harry Dresden fans, do you know you can get special Dresden character tea blends like this Butters one?? Just food, er, drink for thought.Wonder what he tastes like. Corpses?? I'm 100% in love with the audiobooks for this series. James Marsters gets better and better with each book, and I'm addicted to listening to him narrate. His character vocal differentiation is improving with each story, and his inflections are spot on. He is amazing, really amazing. In terms of plot, this one was pretty freaking convoluted. There were dozens of bad guys and insurmountable odds, but Jim Butcher pulled it off in the end. It wasn't my favorite of the series thus far, but I had an excellent time listening. The storyline was unlike any that I've heard before, and it was somewhat brilliant in it's level of complexity. Bring on more Harry Dresden and more polka, please!
—Heather K (dentist in my spare time)
