Jim Butcher: Dead Beat

Hi everyone

Dead Beat is the 7th book in The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher.
My copy has 442 pages and I got it as a gift for Christmas from my grandmother.
You can find all my Dresden Files reviews here.

                                *  SPOILERS  *

 I really, really enjoyed this one.

The story, is fast, action-packed and very entertaining. It’s also dark and gritty in places.
Dead Beat is gripping, exciting, suspenseful and humorous.

The premise sounds great but Mavra’s part in the actual story is surprisingly small. She’s only there to push the plot in a certain direction and I found that to be disappointing. Why even mention her at all? It would have been nice to have her in a more important role again.

And since we’re talking about the characters in the book; I’d like to talk about a few of them.
Butters is a great character. He changed so much throughout the story he’s the one we would all like to be. Afraid but still smart and courageous.
Even though Murphy is an important element to this story, she doesn’t play a role in the book and I missed her.
Mouse is adorable! He’s a giant now, but he’s still so cute and he always makes me smile.
I like Thomas and I hope he’ll have a more important role in the next books because here he was nothing more than a sidekick.
The Alphas are a nice addition too. They grow and progress even when they’re not part of the stories. Every time we catch up with them is like seeing old friends again. Much has happened but you still hit it off straightaway.
I love Harry but he can really annoy me sometimes. Some situations don’t call for him being a sexist or a wise-ass. He has changed though. He’s much darker and he can be truly scary. I like it.

When will we see some other spells than Forzare?

The final battle is pretty epic and a hilarious Jurassic Park parody. Butcher's fight-scenes in general are pretty good, unpredictable, different and suspenseful.
Why the villains in The Dresden Files always talk instead of kill Harry goes beyond me but I guess that’s part of the ambiance of the series. It’s funny at least.

Butcher adds something to the ‘universe’ with each book and it gets larger every time. A lot of those smaller and bigger elements from previous books come together. The series has become much more complex than I’d imagined when reading the first and second book. And that’s an amazing tour de force.

Those minor grievances asside; I loved the book.

Happy reading!
Helena

Having a lovely evening.