Thursday, July 2, 2015

A Book Review: Dead Beat by Jim Butcher (The Dresden Files #7)

Polka will never die!

The legendary quote (above) latched onto my mind, when I finished reading Dead Beat, the 7th novel in The Dresden Files series. You may be wondering, what on earth is “polka will never die”? Well, read the book to find out. But I'd say if you do read this book, then as you reach the scene when Waldo Butters declared “Polka will never die”, it will make you grin wide from ear to ear.

The Dresden Files is a series of urban fantasy novels. It is (currently) 15 books in length and new books are still coming. This series attracted a huge fandom and received numerous literary awards in recent years. I ventured into this series (on and off basis) in December last year. After reading the first 6 installments in the series, I thought these novels are fun reads, but they are also very repetitive. In other words, my opinion was while The Dresden Files novels are entertaining, but I didn't think the series was radiating brilliance.

However, after reading the 7th installment, Dead Beat, my opinion changed. This novel is probably the best book in the series yet. I had a great time reading it. So without further delay, let me begin my review with a synopsis for this book.

Synopsis:

Magic can get a guy killed.

This is especially true if you are Harry Blackstone Copperfield Dresden, the world's only professional wizard/paranormal investigator, who works as a consultant for Chicago PD. You see, sometimes when things go bump in the middle of a dark night, not even the police know what to do. This is why they have a special unit in the department to take care of these “unusual cases”. And this is where a guy like Harry Dresden finds employment, offering his area of expertise in exchange for metallic-smelling dollar notes. Because remember, money smells just as good to a wizard as to everyone else. After all, we all have bills to pay.

But it is not always about the money. Under a windy October sky, a deadly vampire blackmailed Harry, threatening to destroy the reputation of Karrin Murphy, who is both Harry's friend and the head of the special unit in the PD. Harry is not the kind of man who puts up with blackmails, but this time it is different, because if he does not comply then his friend's reputation is going up in smokes. So Harry acquiesced to the vampire's demand, then set out to recover something called “The Word of Kemmler”.

Harry only has 3 days to accomplish this mission. As if the problem is not big enough already, 6 necromancers popped up in Chicago town and they smell like big, big trouble. All this goes to say, Harry is about to experience a Halloween he will never forget...

My thoughts about this book:

The main protagonist, Harry Dresden, is a paranormal investigator by trade. In the earlier installments of the series, the plots tried to incorporate elements of detective fictions yet this feature was not well realized. Dead Beat succeeded where the earlier installments failed, in that it successfully blended detective fictions with an urban fantasy novel. Sure, the plot is still pretty straight forward, but the story manged to weave a veil of mysteries around it. Mysteries that are kept secretive from the readers and only revealed at the end of the book. This creates an engrossing story where the tension kept the readers in suspense.

The second, major improvement in Dead Beat, is that Harry is now a vulnerable character. He is still a powerful wizard, but he can be beaten in a fight. And when he is beaten, he stays down. This change to the storytelling is crucial in eliminating the repetitiveness found in the earlier installments. In the earlier installments, whenever Harry was beaten in a fight, he always found some “inner strength” to help him win the day. The plot device of “finding inner power” was used so frequently in the first 6 novels that it became a trope. Thankfully, Dead Beat has erased all traces of this trope. The result? The story is more intriguing and unpredictable because of this change, and readers can feel the sense of danger, as Harry took on legions of powerful, unholy nemesis in his perilous quest.

Dead Beat maintains trademarks of The Dresden Files series. The first one is the humor. Dead Beat tells a very intense story, but humors also punched in at the right moments, showering readers with comedic reliefs that will surely bring laughters to their voices. For example, I love Waldo Butters' memorable, and legendary quote, “Polka will never die”. The scene when Waldo Butters, a friend of Harry's, pronounced this quote I laughed until tears came out of my eyes. It was a golden moment!

Secondly, Dead Beat tells a story that moves with the pace of lightning. Exhilarating actions, narrated in Jim Butcher's cinematic prose flew across the white pages in black ink. Some actions scenes reached a new level of epicness, making this a very entertaining book to read. It will not disappoint both fans and newcomers to The Dresden Files books. However, if you are looking to start this series, I would strongly recommend start reading from book 1, titled Storm Front.

The first 6 books in The Dresden Files were ok but not great, but I persevered and read the 7th installment. I am glad that I did not give up on the series, because it turned out this is a really good novel. I hope Dead Beat marks the turning point in this series, and the strengths that made this novel good will carry on to the next one. For the first time since I ventured into the world of The Dresden Files, I am actually looking forward to reading Harry's next adventure, titled “Proven Guilty”.

In the meantime, happy reading!






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