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"The wildest, strangest, best Dresden adventure to date...Butcher's blending of modern fantasy with classic noir sensibilities ensures that there's never a dull moment." –SF Site.
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Justin.T.Robinson Like any of the Dresden Files novels, The Good Fight features paranormal foes and action sequences set against the backdrop of a modern world-class city; in the case of TGF, it's Toronto rather than Chicago.
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Dead Beat is one of my favorite books in the series. Besides having a title that is not just a pun, but a double pun (groan), it is a return to the series' action-packed, adrenaline-filled noir roots. With Butcher's improved skills in characterization, I think Dead Beat is a great book to read if you just want to try a single book from the series; it is is exuberant, fast-paced, satisfying, and with just enough cynicism to keep it in the genre.
It's nearly Halloween, and as always, that means Chicago is about to get spooky. Harry is still recovering from the changes engendered in the last few books: he's now got his oft-unemployed, half-vampire brother as a roommate, a huge dog who seems unwilling to stop growing, a (literal) handicap, show more and a brand new set of worries and concerns. In the last book, Harry practically melted his hand off during an attack on a scourge of vampires. Although crippled and depressed about it, that isn't Harry's biggest concern. Inside the burned flesh of his palm, there is a tiny unburned patch in the shape of the sigil of the fallen angel that Harry encountered in a previous book. Combined with his inadvertent use of hellfire, Harry finally(!) realizes that the fallen angel might be exerting influence over him. (The reader, of course, realized this rather sooner, since Harry's bouts of fury took on a disturbing amount of malicious enjoyment right after his encounter with the fallen.) But most troubling of all, Harry has discovered he has feelings for Lt. Karrin Murphy--just in time to say goodbye to her as she heads out on a vacation to Hawaii with another man. Oops.
But then things start getting complicated. An old foe blackmails Harry into assisting her to find a terrifyingly powerful dark magical object, and he's not the only one after it. A bunch of highly skilled necromancers are in town after the same object. Harry employs his typical investigation methodology: poke around blindly, annoy everyone possible, and hope to force a reaction. In this case, however, he's irritating a bunch of necromancers, so his interference tends to ensue in frolics with zombies, ghosts, and ghouls. To make matters worse, Harry's skeptical, vanilla-mortal, and cowardly friend, Waldo Butters, has somehow become a target.
In Butcher's standard style, Dresden is catapulted from action scene to action scene, often with his terrified polka-playing friend Butters tagging along. Help from Harry's college werewolf buddies and interactions with the harsh justice of the White Council of Wizardry just adds to the fun. Morgan, the fanatical wizard enforcer who is definitely channeling the spirit of Javert from Les Mis, also gets some fun and character-deepening scenes. Not only that, but it turns of faerie politics are also in play, and we get to meet the Erlking, goblin king and lord of the wild hunt. It all culminates into one of the absolute most awesome action scenes in the entire series.
(It involves a fossilized dinosaur. No more need be said.)
For once, I don't really have many complaints about female roles, objectification of women, way too explicit "romance" scenes, etc, mainly because there are basically no women in the book. With Butters playing weakling companion, Thomas playing assist, and Billy the Werewolf as timely sidekick, the cast of protagonists is almost entirely masculine. (There are three female-ish villains, but one is a long-dead vampire, one is an apparently originally male body-snatcher, and one never takes off her(?) cloak, so I'm leaving them out of the equation.) The only major female cast member is Sheila, a librarian at a local bookstore. Sheila herself looks and acts a lot like the bookstore clerk in the old Bogart version of the Big Sleep--the type who flirts furiously with the PI and is "sexy" when she takes her glasses off. She proceeds to take on one of the traditional noir female roles; you need to read the book to discover whether she plays damsel in distress, plucky sidekick, femme fatale, or a combination of the three. hover for spoiler One thing that did bother me was a few slurs and jokes against homosexuals; once again, the cast is relentlessly heterosexual and overwhelmingly white, with one short bit part for a rather stereotyped (but likeable) African-American policeman.
One of the things that stood out for me in this book was the increased complexity of some of the villains. Harry is up against four sets of baddies: his vampire nemesis Mavra, the creepy fedora-wearing Grevane, the body-swapping Corpsetaker, and the enigmatic Cowl. The first three of the four are the standard ha-ha-evil-for-the-sake-of-evil-power baddies, but Cowl and his faithful sidekick Kumori are a little different. Cowl starts out by seeking the power to prevent the other "madmen" from taking it, but as events unfurl, it becomes clearer and clearer that he has been seduced by the potential power he could gain. Still an antagonist who isn't just "evul-4-te-gigglz" is a pleasant change.
Additionally, Harry's motives are much more mixed than they are in previous books. Yes, he wants to save Chicago, but his own actions are twisted by his desire to save Murphy and himself from Mavra's blackmail attempts. He is also forced to consider to what lengths he might go to achieve his goals. Troubled over his discovery in the last book of his mentor's hypocrisy, Harry begins to actually think about the consequences of his actions. There are several great moments when Harry realizes that he is making almost identical statements to the excuses used by the antagonists. Both Cowl and Morgan act as great foils for Harry as he considers where he wants to fall on the antihero scale.
Overall, a very fun book, with colorful, creative, unique characters, and one of the most awesome climaxes in the series. Chock-full of zombies, ninja ghouls, faerie deities, college werewolves, sword-swinging vampires, dinosaurs, one-man polka bands, and more, this is definitely an entertaining read. show less
It's nearly Halloween, and as always, that means Chicago is about to get spooky. Harry is still recovering from the changes engendered in the last few books: he's now got his oft-unemployed, half-vampire brother as a roommate, a huge dog who seems unwilling to stop growing, a (literal) handicap, show more and a brand new set of worries and concerns. In the last book, Harry practically melted his hand off during an attack on a scourge of vampires. Although crippled and depressed about it, that isn't Harry's biggest concern. Inside the burned flesh of his palm, there is a tiny unburned patch in the shape of the sigil of the fallen angel that Harry encountered in a previous book. Combined with his inadvertent use of hellfire, Harry finally(!) realizes that the fallen angel might be exerting influence over him. (The reader, of course, realized this rather sooner, since Harry's bouts of fury took on a disturbing amount of malicious enjoyment right after his encounter with the fallen.) But most troubling of all, Harry has discovered he has feelings for Lt. Karrin Murphy--just in time to say goodbye to her as she heads out on a vacation to Hawaii with another man. Oops.
But then things start getting complicated. An old foe blackmails Harry into assisting her to find a terrifyingly powerful dark magical object, and he's not the only one after it. A bunch of highly skilled necromancers are in town after the same object. Harry employs his typical investigation methodology: poke around blindly, annoy everyone possible, and hope to force a reaction. In this case, however, he's irritating a bunch of necromancers, so his interference tends to ensue in frolics with zombies, ghosts, and ghouls. To make matters worse, Harry's skeptical, vanilla-mortal, and cowardly friend, Waldo Butters, has somehow become a target.
In Butcher's standard style, Dresden is catapulted from action scene to action scene, often with his terrified polka-playing friend Butters tagging along. Help from Harry's college werewolf buddies and interactions with the harsh justice of the White Council of Wizardry just adds to the fun. Morgan, the fanatical wizard enforcer who is definitely channeling the spirit of Javert from Les Mis, also gets some fun and character-deepening scenes. Not only that, but it turns of faerie politics are also in play, and we get to meet the Erlking, goblin king and lord of the wild hunt. It all culminates into one of the absolute most awesome action scenes in the entire series.
(It involves a fossilized dinosaur. No more need be said.)
For once, I don't really have many complaints about female roles, objectification of women, way too explicit "romance" scenes, etc, mainly because there are basically no women in the book. With Butters playing weakling companion, Thomas playing assist, and Billy the Werewolf as timely sidekick, the cast of protagonists is almost entirely masculine. (There are three female-ish villains, but one is a long-dead vampire, one is an apparently originally male body-snatcher, and one never takes off her(?) cloak, so I'm leaving them out of the equation.) The only major female cast member is Sheila, a librarian at a local bookstore. Sheila herself looks and acts a lot like the bookstore clerk in the old Bogart version of the Big Sleep--the type who flirts furiously with the PI and is "sexy" when she takes her glasses off. She proceeds to take on one of the traditional noir female roles; you need to read the book to discover whether she plays damsel in distress, plucky sidekick, femme fatale, or a combination of the three. hover for spoiler One thing that did bother me was a few slurs and jokes against homosexuals; once again, the cast is relentlessly heterosexual and overwhelmingly white, with one short bit part for a rather stereotyped (but likeable) African-American policeman.
One of the things that stood out for me in this book was the increased complexity of some of the villains. Harry is up against four sets of baddies: his vampire nemesis Mavra, the creepy fedora-wearing Grevane, the body-swapping Corpsetaker, and the enigmatic Cowl. The first three of the four are the standard ha-ha-evil-for-the-sake-of-evil-power baddies, but Cowl and his faithful sidekick Kumori are a little different. Cowl starts out by seeking the power to prevent the other "madmen" from taking it, but as events unfurl, it becomes clearer and clearer that he has been seduced by the potential power he could gain. Still an antagonist who isn't just "evul-4-te-gigglz" is a pleasant change.
Additionally, Harry's motives are much more mixed than they are in previous books. Yes, he wants to save Chicago, but his own actions are twisted by his desire to save Murphy and himself from Mavra's blackmail attempts. He is also forced to consider to what lengths he might go to achieve his goals. Troubled over his discovery in the last book of his mentor's hypocrisy, Harry begins to actually think about the consequences of his actions. There are several great moments when Harry realizes that he is making almost identical statements to the excuses used by the antagonists. Both Cowl and Morgan act as great foils for Harry as he considers where he wants to fall on the antihero scale.
Overall, a very fun book, with colorful, creative, unique characters, and one of the most awesome climaxes in the series. Chock-full of zombies, ninja ghouls, faerie deities, college werewolves, sword-swinging vampires, dinosaurs, one-man polka bands, and more, this is definitely an entertaining read. show less
Dead Beat is the seventh book in The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher. In this week's episode... Chicago's only professional wizard, Harry Dresden, must save the good people of the city (and the world) from black magic and necromancy. That is, assuming he can figure out what the Word of Kemmler is and locate it before the bad guys do.
Fast paced, laugh out loud funny, a great cast of characters, an amazing climatic battle on Halloween night that works beautifully as a homage to Jurassic Park, this is Harry Dresden at its best. The plot is well focused on Harry's need to stop the necromancers from destroying Chicago in their attempt to take power while deftly layering in wonderful character building and potential hooks for future adventures show more all without loosing stride.
With Murphy spending most of the book on vacation, Harry ends up helped primarily by Butters, a medical examiner from the Chicago PD with a love of Polka, and to a lesser extend by Thomas. Mouse, the puppy from the previous novel, has grown up and there is definitely more to him than meets the eye. We finally learn a bit more about Bob's history and got to see some Wardens in action. There are a couple great twists that I can't wait to see how they play out in future books.
I think I have a new favorite Dresden novel. I wonder if I'm going to start saying that in all future Dresden reviews. Apparently I felt that way about book 6 also. Polka will never die! show less
Fast paced, laugh out loud funny, a great cast of characters, an amazing climatic battle on Halloween night that works beautifully as a homage to Jurassic Park, this is Harry Dresden at its best. The plot is well focused on Harry's need to stop the necromancers from destroying Chicago in their attempt to take power while deftly layering in wonderful character building and potential hooks for future adventures show more all without loosing stride.
With Murphy spending most of the book on vacation, Harry ends up helped primarily by Butters, a medical examiner from the Chicago PD with a love of Polka, and to a lesser extend by Thomas. Mouse, the puppy from the previous novel, has grown up and there is definitely more to him than meets the eye. We finally learn a bit more about Bob's history and got to see some Wardens in action. There are a couple great twists that I can't wait to see how they play out in future books.
I think I have a new favorite Dresden novel. I wonder if I'm going to start saying that in all future Dresden reviews. Apparently I felt that way about book 6 also. Polka will never die! show less
Six-word review: Halloween nasties challenge Harry and friends.
Extended review:
He just can't help himself. Jim Butcher. Like a hungry vampire, he gets hold of a word or expression and he just can't stop himself from using it over and over and over again. Repetitions swarm like swarms of swarming insects.
I can't be the only one who's bothered by this. Maybe, though, I'm one among a small number who make compulsive notes about it. Old editorial habits do die hard.
In the seventh tale of the Dresden Files series, which is replete with snarls (47 times) and growls (32) and numerous other animal-noise substitutes for "said," Butcher is plagued by hordes of word zombies, mindlessly commanded to appear in force.
And they do seem to be show more unstoppable.
Butcher has shed the very odd "quirked an eyebrow" that quirked several earlier volumes. Now eyebrows, which seem to have a life of their own, are constantly arching as if of their own volition: someone (usually Harry Dresden) arched an eyebrow (just one eyebrow) 25 times.
In fact, there's a lot of ocular activity. Someone blinked 54 times, 56 if you include "blinking." (I do most of my word checking and counting using Amazon's marvelous "search inside" feature; I don't actually log them all by hand. Honestly I don't.)
And despite all the noisy vocalizations, for some reason the author gets a run on "quietly" in dialogue tags ("he said quietly"). Not only does he use it 62 times--an average of once every eight and a quarter pages--but it appears six times on two facing pages (356 and 357) and four more over the next few.
Maybe it's unusual enough for anything to happen quietly in a Dresden book that it must be remarked on again and again.
Dammit, though, he gets the novels written--averaging more than one a year since the first of the Dresden Files series came out in 2000. If he doesn't take the time to go back and comb the text, refining it with judicious excisions and elegant variations, well, maybe that's the price of churning them out at a steady rate while compulsive types like me can't actually write to the end of anything and call it finished.
And I keep reading them, despite these quibbles, because they're entertaining escapism, done well enough to hold my attention and not insult my intelligence.
That's a kind of repetition I can applaud. show less
Extended review:
He just can't help himself. Jim Butcher. Like a hungry vampire, he gets hold of a word or expression and he just can't stop himself from using it over and over and over again. Repetitions swarm like swarms of swarming insects.
I can't be the only one who's bothered by this. Maybe, though, I'm one among a small number who make compulsive notes about it. Old editorial habits do die hard.
In the seventh tale of the Dresden Files series, which is replete with snarls (47 times) and growls (32) and numerous other animal-noise substitutes for "said," Butcher is plagued by hordes of word zombies, mindlessly commanded to appear in force.
And they do seem to be show more unstoppable.
Butcher has shed the very odd "quirked an eyebrow" that quirked several earlier volumes. Now eyebrows, which seem to have a life of their own, are constantly arching as if of their own volition: someone (usually Harry Dresden) arched an eyebrow (just one eyebrow) 25 times.
In fact, there's a lot of ocular activity. Someone blinked 54 times, 56 if you include "blinking." (I do most of my word checking and counting using Amazon's marvelous "search inside" feature; I don't actually log them all by hand. Honestly I don't.)
And despite all the noisy vocalizations, for some reason the author gets a run on "quietly" in dialogue tags ("he said quietly"). Not only does he use it 62 times--an average of once every eight and a quarter pages--but it appears six times on two facing pages (356 and 357) and four more over the next few.
Maybe it's unusual enough for anything to happen quietly in a Dresden book that it must be remarked on again and again.
Dammit, though, he gets the novels written--averaging more than one a year since the first of the Dresden Files series came out in 2000. If he doesn't take the time to go back and comb the text, refining it with judicious excisions and elegant variations, well, maybe that's the price of churning them out at a steady rate while compulsive types like me can't actually write to the end of anything and call it finished.
And I keep reading them, despite these quibbles, because they're entertaining escapism, done well enough to hold my attention and not insult my intelligence.
That's a kind of repetition I can applaud. show less
*THUD* This one left me plumb tuckered out!! My favorite, of the Dresden Files, so far (and that's sayin' a lot!). Again, rife with blood'n'gore . . not for the feint-of-heart! On the upside, it's also filled to overflowing with excitement, spells, vampires, ghouls, blasting rods, black leather, wizardry and necromancy (eww!). As an aside, if anyone has the temerity to suggest that I have a crush on Bob the Skull, I'll deny it!! ;)
I am still enjoying my reread of this series. In this book we get to see Harry riding a Zombie version of Sue the Tyrannosaurus from Chicago's Field Museum into battle. This is one of the books in the series where there seems to be a lot going on rather than one focused mystery. It's purpose seemed to be to serve the larger plot arc of the series with the main story line as a vehicle to do so. I miss a lot of the supporting characters that are off scene in this one, but it was nice getting to know Butters the mortician better. I am looking forward to continuing with the next one.
Ooh fun. A big bad necromancer (in this world, the driving force behind World War I) got taken out by the White Council decades ago. Unfortunately, he left behind a small pile of minions, who of course came calling on Dresden's home turf.
This is right in the running with Death Masks for my favorite thus far. There's a reason it has the highest Goodreads ranking among the first ten Dresden books...
There are a whole pile of awesome baddies, united in their necromantic powers but each with their own twists. Butters gets a serious boost and a lot more importance. We see a bit more of Thomas and Dresden's growing relationship as brothers.
Another awesome part is the whole new twist to come about from Lasciel's coin from the ending of Death show more Masks. We saw it building a bit in the last book, but things are coming to a head hear. I'll just say that I missed the twist the first time around and it blew me away. On re-reads, I can see just how carefully the hints are planted. It's lovely.
But really? The thing that puts this book right up there with the best of them? The final battle scene.A one-man polka band powered Tyrannosaurus rex brought back on a stormy Halloween night for one last hunt through the streets of Chicago. So cool.
One interesting note that I hadn't noticed before, but there's a part around the middle of this book where Dresden talks with Morty. He drops a line about how Murphy's dad was good people... And then corrects that to is good people. Coming from an ectomancer, that's an interesting line. Each re-read is fascinating to see how Butcher weaves his world together, both planting seeds well in advance or re-using minor plot points in major ways. We'll just leave it at that. show less
This is right in the running with Death Masks for my favorite thus far. There's a reason it has the highest Goodreads ranking among the first ten Dresden books...
There are a whole pile of awesome baddies, united in their necromantic powers but each with their own twists. Butters gets a serious boost and a lot more importance. We see a bit more of Thomas and Dresden's growing relationship as brothers.
Another awesome part is the whole new twist to come about from Lasciel's coin from the ending of Death show more Masks. We saw it building a bit in the last book, but things are coming to a head hear. I'll just say that I missed the twist the first time around and it blew me away. On re-reads, I can see just how carefully the hints are planted. It's lovely.
But really? The thing that puts this book right up there with the best of them? The final battle scene.
One interesting note that I hadn't noticed before, but there's a part around the middle of this book where Dresden talks with Morty. He drops a line about how Murphy's dad was good people... And then corrects that to is good people. Coming from an ectomancer, that's an interesting line. Each re-read is fascinating to see how Butcher weaves his world together, both planting seeds well in advance or re-using minor plot points in major ways. We'll just leave it at that. show less
One of the better books in this series, although it does still show the usual dresden-isms that keep from loving it yet. Stuff like the lack of any female characters that Harry doesn't want to bone, shoddy worldbuilding and the fact that I still don't know how many and how much people know about the magic stuff. Either have no one know about it, or make it a normal thing, but Butcher seems to want both. Either way, the Zombie T-Rex is pretty cool, and the new myth arc elements are interesting. Perfect in between books for Malazan.
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Author Information
166+ Works 160,427 Members
Jim Butcher was born in Independence, Missouri on October 26, 1971. He is the author of The Dresden Files series, the Codex Alera series, Side Jobs, Ghost Story, and the Cinder Spires series. He has also written a Spider-Man novel entitled The Darkest Hours and a novelette entitled Backup. He has contributed to numerous anthologies including My show more Big Fat Supernatural Wedding, Blood Lite, and Many Bloody Returns. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
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- Canonical title
- Dead Beat
- Original title
- Dead Beat
- Original publication date
- 2005-05
- People/Characters
- Harry Blackstone Copperfield Dresden; Karrin Murphy; Bob the skull; Waldo Butters; Lasciel; Mavra (show all 17); Thomas Raith; Carlos Ramirez; Cowl; Mortimer Lindquist; Mouse; Phil; Kumori; Brioche; Mab (Winter Queen); Anastasia Luccio; Donald Morgan
- Important places
- Chicago, Illinois, USA; Cook County, Illinois, USA; Illinois, USA
- Dedication
- For my son. The best thing that ever happened to me. I love you, Short-stuff.
- First words
- On the whole, we're a murderous race.
- Quotations
- From Morgan, this was the equivalent of Emperor Constantine converting to Christianity. He was almost admitting that he had been wrong. I reached into my pocket, pulled out a penny, and dropped it to the floor.
"W... (show all)hat was that for?" he asked.
"I'm just making sure gravity is still online," I said.
"By any chance does all of this knowledge and power and good advice come for only three easy installments of $19.95 plus shipping and handling?"
The fallen angel arched a golden brow at me.
"Or maybe it comes with a... (show all) bonus set of knives tough enough to saw through a nail, yet still cut tomatoes like this!"
She regarded me steadily and said, "You aren't nearly as funny as you think you are."
"I had to come up with some kind of response to your offer to corrupt and enslave me. Bad jokes seemed perfectly appropriate because I can only assume that you've got to be kidding." - Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)"Yeah."
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- English
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