June 27, 2011
Butcher's 13th supernatural crime novel featuring Chicago-based wizard Harry Dresden (after 2010's Changes) is less accessible to newcomers than many of its predecessors, though longtime fans will be gratified. The current volume opens with Dresden in a limbo-like state, after "a long, long day, battling the forces of evil, destroying the Red Court utterly, rescuing my daughter and murdering her motherâoh, and getting shot to death." Police captain Collin J. Murphy, the late father of Dresden's longtime ally Karrin, explains that an "irregularity" with Dresden's death requires him to go back to Chicago to solve his own murder. Dresden obligingly returns to the world he'd just left, experiencing a steep learning curve as he adjusts to his incorporeal state. The usual plot twists and high-stakes combat with an assortment of supernatural beings ought to hold Butcher's fans for another year.
September 26, 2011
Chicago wizard/detective Harry Blackstone Copperfield Dresden has survived just about every kind of deadly attack: he’s been stabbed, shot, burned, and even crushed. But in this 13th installment in Butcher’s Dresden Files series, it looks as though Dresden’s luck is about to run out when he finds himself struggling to battle evil forces from beyond the grave. John Glover delivers an entertaining reading. As Dresden, Glover is dark and brooding—but never laughably so—while his ghostly portrayal of the late Capt. Sir Stuart Winchester showcases significant range and ability. This rousing, memorable audiobook allows listeners to slip into a fantastic world where the dead struggle to communicate with a world that may have already forgotten them. A Roc hardcover.