B-movie monsters (the A-listers were all booked) get fleshed, run amok, cause fear, get blasted by Harry, who, since he is now all official and Warden-cloaked, has even more impetus than his own over-large sense of nobility and do-gooderness to save the day. And at the end of this one, Harry gets a big ol' bonus - the kind that entails lots or responsibility and effort, not unlike a previous ending bonus, but less evil, hopefully. ( )

Proven Guilty eschews the past tendency of the Dresden Files series to focus on single-volume storytelling. Instead, Butcher presents a transitional novel which focuses on the series-spanning story lines rather than the current whodunit. Surprisingly mirthless, considering the excellent preceding volume Dead Beat, this novel expands upon politics within the White Council, unnecessarily probes into the Mulder/Skully dynamic between Dresden and Murphy, and ends up saddling Harry with an goth-glam apprentice. Kudos to Butcher for allowing Rawlings to survive the novel--like most beat cops in Dresden's Chicago, he was marked for a nasty, gruesome end.

The answers at the end of the story are few and far between, and as I near the end of the in-print run I'm afraid we'll be years from seeing them resolved. I'm also concerned that the weight of accumulated series-scale story lines will strangle plot momentum in later volumes. ( )

When Harry is called in to help out the daughter of an old friend it leads him to a horror convention where the monsters have come to life.

This is another great read of this compulsively addictive series. Harry has certainly become one of my favorite literary heroes ever, a character even more compelling because he's not perfect and makes mistakes. In this entry Harry discovers hidden depths in a person he formerly avoided and learns that one of his companions is apparently more than he seems to be (wag, wag). As always, I'm thrilled with any story that both Murphy and Thomas participate in. I'm really looking forward to the next adventure! ( )

For me this was the first Dresden Files book that really made apparent the passage of time between books. For all practical purposes both Harry and his brother Thomas are immortal, and through the entirety of the series Murphy has been at the prime of her life. So, seeing a grown up Molly was a nice thing to add.

I personally did not care for the overarching plot as much as the previous books - anything involving Summer and Winter are always layers on layers on layers. The reader has very little hope of figuring out what is going on, which is frustrating.

However, the action was interesting, Harry continues to be a fun protagonist, and Butcher does a good job of both bringing the wizard's life full circle and using the powers vested in him as a Warden for good purposes.

One thing that is really striking is Harry's attachment to the hapless teenagers who find their new gifts blossoming and being sentenced to death as a result of breaking laws they don't know exist - people like himself. The White Council is overextended and lacking allies. Their enforcement arm - the Wardens - have been reduced to almost nothing through the war with the Red Court. Yet, they continue to execute practitioners without consideration of the gravity of their crimes.

Something has to come to a head with this. ( )

General Background
Proven Guilty is Book 9 in Jim Butcher's "Dresden Files" set. The previous books in the series (along with a couple of posts sparked by the books) are reviewed here

The Characters
In addition to our regular cast (Harry, Murphy, Bob (at least a little), Michael, Charity, Mouse, and even a little of Morgan), we have various Faerie courtiers we've met already - both Summer and Winter, and a new character in Michael's daughter, Molly.

The Plot
The A plotline in Proven Guilty starts with Molly coming to Harry to ask for help because her boyfriend's been arrested. From there, it turns into a battle against phobophagic (fear feeding) fetches from the Faerie realm. Meanwhile, in the background we have the struggle between the Summer and Winter courts (and how that impacts each of their ability to help or hinder the White Council in its battle with the Red Court), some *kickass* backstory for Charity, and the simmering tension between Murphy and Harry finally coming to some kind of resolution (or does it?)

Good Stuff
OK. This was a Dresden Files book. So, y'know, take it as read that I'm going to have enjoyed a significant portion of it. Everything I love about the Dresdenverse is here, but there were particular things that made me squee out loud. Without giving away too much in the way of spoilers, interactions between Harry and Molly, the scene between Harry and Michael when Harry finally makes the confession he hasn't been able to make for at least two books now, and way the relationship between Harry and Charity develops are just things of beauty.

Also, for sheer style points, the scenes of Harry outmanoeuvring authority - whether that of a faerie queen or of the White Council's Merlin himself - made me squee out loud in delight. And yeah, again, Harry willing to go as dark as he needs to go to get the job done did all kinds of interesting things to my hormones. But of course, I am a Starfire, so these kinds of things do kinda go without saying.

Bad Stuff
Hmmmm... there was a particular scene that made me a world of not happy, but I can't go into it without giving away spoilers. Let's just say that someone I'd developed an emotional investment in appeared to have been taken out of the picture and I was NOT well pleased with this. I was, however, willing to keep reading, and that willingness was rewarded when things were later resolved in a way I could live with.

Ratings and Recommendations
Proven Guilty, for me, continued the trend of each Dresden Files book being better than the last. Which means I can happily give it a 9/10 - absolutely loved the book, and can't wait to head down to the library this afternoon and pick up Book 9 to continue Harry's adventures.

( )