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Storm Front (The Dresden Files, Book 1) by Jim Butcher
Book Summary InformationAuthor: Jim Butcher Edition: Paperback Published: 2000-04-01 ISBN: 0451457811 Number of pages: 336 Publisher: Roc
Book Reviews of Storm Front (The Dresden Files, Book 1)Book Review: A Great Beginning to a Series Summary: 4 StarsI called my friend M today. I hated to do it, but I had to tell her that her husband was right: I DO like the Dresden Files books by Jim Butcher. At the very least, I liked the first of them.
Harry Dresden is a wizard who advertises his services in the phone book. Not surprisingly, he is the only wizard in the phone book, so he gets a fair share of nut jobs calling him. This time, however, he gets two calls right after the other: one from a local detective looking for his help and another from a woman who is trying to find her husband. The detective is calling about a double murder using magic - and Harry is the only local wizard powerful enough to do it. He is under pressure from the human police and the wizard police because they *both* think he's responsible. Along the way, there is a girl and some interesting fights and meetings with otherworldly creatures.
Initially, I thought this was a male version - and rip off - of Laurell K. Hamilton's Anita Blake. The whole being on retainer to the police, the adversarial relationship with some of the police force and then being a magical creature himself. After I read a few pages, I more or less got over that. The writing is more Sam Spade-like than LKH, which can be distracting at first. Again, once I got a few pages into it, that fell by the wayside and I just enjoyed the book.
The character development isn't that great but that's often true of first books. Lieutenant Karrin Murphy is fairly one-dimensional as is Dresden's love interest, Susan Rodriguez. To compare again to LKH, that was true of Dolph and Jean Claude until at least the 3rd book of the series, so I think there's hope. There are (I think) 10 in this series, thus far, so I'm sure Butcher gets better in that arena. He did well enough this time that I want to continue to read the series.
I'm a fan of series book and this promises to be one that I'll continue.
Summary of Storm Front (The Dresden Files, Book 1)Harry Dresden--Wizard Lost items found. Paranormal investigations. Consulting. Advice. Reasonable rates. No Love Potions, Endless Purses, Parties, or Other Entertainment. 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 of them don't play too 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 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. Magic. It can get a guy killed.
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