Thursday, June 17, 2010

Review: Storm Front - Jim Butcher


Storm Front - Jim Butcher

pages: 322

Harry Dresden is the best at what he does. Well, technically, he's the only at what he does. So when the Chicago P.D. has a case that transcends mortal creativity or capability, they come to him for answers. For the "everyday" world is actually full of strange and magical things—and most don't play well with humans. That's where Harry comes in. Takes a wizard to catch a—well, whatever. There's just one problem. Business, to put it mildly, stinks. So when the police bring him in to consult on a grisly double murder committed with black magic, Harry's seeing dollar signs. But where there's black magic, there's a black mage behind it. And now that mage knows Harry's name. And that's when things start to get interesting. -goodreads.com

Oh gosh...where to start. The Harry Dresden files are some of my favorite books. The way my sister described them was Harry Potter for grownups. In these books, your wizard is more likely to go for a drink than take a ride on a broomstick. Storm Front is only the first of many books in the series.

The basic plot of Storm Front is that Harry has a friend in the Chicago P.D. who asks him to investigate a murder, he goes in, assuming it can't be that bad, can it? Yes. It can be. Two people had their hearts explode out of their chests. One of them was a bodyguard to the biggest mobster in Chicago, John Marcone, and the other was a call girl working for a well-known vampire in the area, Bianca. Before too long everything gets tied up and interwoven and Harry finds himself caught in the middle of a great adventure involving not only the characters above, but a smart-witted talking skull, a sneaky interviewer for a paranormal magazine, and a police officer who doesn't know what quite to make of things. Oh, and those last two are both women.

Storm Front has a little of everything. It has fantasy, I mean the guy's a wizard, it has romance, but not too heavily, it has action, it has mystery, and it even has humor. Only a good author could make you crack up not too many pages after describing a brutal murder.

The characters in The Dresden Files are fun and very varied. Some of the ones who seem like minor characters in the first book, like Susan and Bianca, actually become major characters later on in the series. Also not mentioned was the Knight of the holy Cross, Michael. Michael is one of my favorite characters, even though he isn't introduced in Storm Front I'm pretty sure. Bob the skull is hysterical, but at the same time, somehow helpful to Harry.

Overall I really enjoyed Storm Front because it got me going into a really good series. Kudos to my sister for introducing it to me. As mentioned earlier, Harry Dresden is like Harry Potter...just for grownups.

Rating: 9/10

Until next time,

Harry

1 comment:

  1. I've always wanted to read these, alas I never knew which book was first! Glad they are as amazing as everyone makes them out to be! I shall have to hunt through my library to see if they have these books. Great review!

    ReplyDelete

Search This Blog