Review: Turn Coat

Turn Coat
by Jim Butcher


Format: Hardcover, 420 pages
Publisher: Roc Trade
Cover Design: Chris McGrath
Release Date: April, 7 2009
ISBN-10: 0-451462565
ISBN-13: 978-0451462565



Harry Dresden has never gotten along with Morgan. Maybe it has to do with how the veteran Warden has hounded him most of his life. But when Morgan shows up on Harry’s doorstep, bleeding and on the run from the White Council, what’s an upstanding wizard to do? Harry doesn’t like it but he can’t let a man be labeled a traitor and executed for something he hasn’t done.

Determined to clear Morgan’s name, Harry begins to search for the traitor on the White Council. Along the way, he runs into a British weasel who can summon beings from the Nevernever and an ancient Navajo skinwalker. It also doesn’t help that his brother Thomas disappears and the White Court vampires also get drawn into the whole mess. Will Harry be able to prove Morgan’s innocence or is the Warden’s fate sealed no matter what?

The latest installment in the Dresden Files is full of action and lots of plot development. As always Harry runs afoul of several different players at once, however his tenacity pays off and he manages to pit them against each other. The traitor plot is resolved and the thread is set up for a new arc in the series. This book is also a fair bit darker as he becomes isolated from those that keep him grounded and his apprentice Molly makes some bad choices. The traitor’s revelation actually ends up being the weakest part of the novel.

Note: the following lines contain plot spoilers. Those who haven’t read the book should skip to the next paragraph. My biggest gripe with Turn Coat is over who was revealed as the traitor on the council. I thought the traitor being the secretary was a bit of copout. Butcher mentioned a few books back that only a handful of people could have known a key piece of information and Peabody was not one of them. As the secretary for the senior members, it’s possible Peabody have could known all the necessary details, but I it didn’t ring quite true. Ultimately, other actions on the part of the traitor did make the plotline easier to swallow so the book ended fairly well.

Turn Coat is another fast-paced and addictive book in the fun and fantastic Dresden Files series. Recommended.

Rating: 8/10

Review: Mean Streets

Mean Streets
by Jim Butcher, Simon R. Green, Kat Richardson, Thomas E. Sniegoski

Format: Paperback, 342 pages
Publisher: Roc Trade
Cover Art: Chris McGrath
Release Date: January 6, 2009
ISBN-10: 0-451462497
ISBN-13: 978-0451462497


Mean Streets is a new supernatural detective anthology made up of four short stories, “The Warrior” by Jim Butcher, “The Difference a Day Makes” by Simon R. Green, “The Third Death of the Little Clay Dog” by Kat Richardson, and “Noah’s Orphan’s” by Thomas E. Sniegoski.

In “The Warrior” by Jim Butcher, a threat is made against Harry Dresden’s friend Michael Carpenter, injured during the events in Small Favor and now retired Knight of the Cross. Harry is determined to protect his friend and soon discovers that the danger is from a rather unlikely source. In the process, Harry learns that battle between good and evil occurs on many levels and enemies are not always the ones you’d expect.

Simon R. Green’s John Taylor is the best private detective in the secret world of the Nightside. When an innocent woman stumbles across his path asking for help finding her lost memories, he takes the job but in the Nightside some things are best forgotten.

Kat Richardson created a parallel world of ghosts for her series Greywalker. Harper Blaine is asked by a woman she’s never met to do a simple job on the Mexican Day of the Dead. However, it soon becomes clear that there is far more to the story than meets the eye.

There is more to private eye Remy Chandler than meets the eye, especially considering that he is a fallen angel. When Noah of the Noah’s Ark parable is found murdered, Remy sets out to find the killer and stumbles onto a mystery of biblical origins. Be sure to check out this interesting new series by Thomas E. Sniegoski.

Jim Butcher and Simon R. Green are the more established authors with several books each in their two series. Kat Richardson and Thomas E. Sniegoski are the “new” blood to the supernatural detective genre. Of the four authors contributing to this anthology, Jim Butcher is the only one that I have previously read. I’m a big fan of the Dresden Files so Butcher’s story was definitely my favorite of the four. Richardson’s story was the weakest though it was also impressively researched. I thought all four stories were well written and worked together very well. I’m definitely interested in trying the three authors I have not yet read.

Recommended for fans of urban fantasy and supernatural mystery.

Rating: 8/10.

Small Favor

Things have been surprising quiet for Harry Dresden. Aside from an early blizzard, very little has happened in Chicago in the last year until the Queen of Winter shows up looking for Harry. Criminal Johnny Marcone has been kidnapped and Mab wants Harry to find him. Seeing as how he owes her a “favor” he can’t really refuse. The problem begins when being Mab’s emissary puts him the crosshairs of agents of the Summer Court, and then he finds out that the Fallen Angels of Denarians are back in town. A favor indeed.
The tenth book in the Dresden Files series, Small Favor is another solid book featuring urban fantasy’s favorite wizard. There’s actually little development for Harry this time as most of the changes happen to the supporting cast. Two of Harry’s closest friends are injured in battles with the Fallen Angels. There’s also a fair amount of set up with the Denarians and the Black Council for latter books. I especially like how the agents of Heaven are starting to take a more direct role in the books.
Small Favor will appeal to any fan of the Dresden Files, though the lack of development as a middle book may turn off more casual readers. Recommended.
Rating: 7.5/10.