Book Review - Storm Front by Jim Butcher

I have heard a references to Harry Dresden, Wizard Private Investigator, for a couple of years. I've had some interest in the concept and have been meaning to track down the books, but just never got around to it. I finally committed to pick up a copy of Storm Front, the first in the series with my next credit (after getting Monster Hunter Nemesis) when I happened to see if the book was at the library. It was along with a whole bunch of others in the series. I scooped up Storm Front figuring I would get around to it in the next three weeks and had finished it within 36 hours. Now I'm wishing I had grab the second and maybe even third. Granted, with another 18 days until my next credit I might have gone through to book five. Needless to say I think I found a keeper. It reminded me, in many ways, of Larry Corriea's Grim Noir Chronicles but Butcher writes a solid detective novel behind the supernatural action.

Plot: Harry Dresden is a wizard. The only one working as one. There are wizards and other persons and creatures of magic in the world, but they tend to try to stay below the radar. Harry has to explain to a lot of people that his kind of magic isn't for parties but rather for legitimate problems. Like discovering who caused two people's hearts to explode. Lt. Karrin Murphy, Chicago PD's lead for "special investigations," is Harry's liaison with the PD and while always skeptical of his capabilities doesn't questions that he is what he says he is. The resulting investigation leads Harry through Chicago trying to find a powerful new wizard while avoiding the mob who don't want him poking into their business. The problem is that Harry's quarry knows what Dresden is up to and is planning a similar fate for the hapless professional. Not to mention that Harry is technically on probation with the leading wizard council and the warden sent to keep an eye on him thinks that Harry is the one performing the killings. Things can never be easy.

My personal favorites: Reminiscent of your classic private eye, film noir story Storm Front featured a mystery that promised adventure and suspense. Dresden himself was a fantastic character, a man of "old fashion" values who believes in respecting women, finishing the job he starts, and hanging on until the other man drops. I particularly liked his humor and thought process as depicted by Jim Butcher. While first appearing almost as a bumbler Dresden quickly shows himself to truly be a forced to be reckoned with. The character of Karrin Murphy was also fascinating and compelling. I also enjoyed the length of the book. This was a circumstantial favorite - everything I've recently read has been pretty long and it was nice to get an action packed shorter book.

Considerations: Harry Dresden's world is not a nice one. Like many film noir stories there are some brutal murders in the story. There is also a fair amount of suggestive material. However, the prose does not contain overly sensual descriptions, keeping the writing clear of provocative, gratuitous language. My brother described it someone like David Eddings' Sparhawk novels (Diamond Throne, Ruby Knight, Sapphire Rose). While I would say that Dresden has slightly more content than Sparhawk, the descriptions of such content is very comparable. There was limited use of strong language and it was used correctly and didn't pull me out of the story. I am likely to recommend Storm Front to a wider audience than Corriea's books.

As I said, I finished this book without 36 hours of getting it and wasn't disappointed. I will be picking up the other books as I hit the library so you can expect to see more of Harry Dresden on my blog. The total length was 352 pages.