Rating: 
Summary: The Thaumaturgic Gumshoe
Review: This is the first volume in a recent series that has a bit of an unusual premise. Harry Dresden, the 'anti-hero' of the book is a detective who is also a licensed wizard. Unlike Randall Garrett's Lord Darcy, however, Harry is more of a gumshoe than an aesthete. He's like a combination of Phillip Marlowe and Glen Cook's Garrett, P.I. Think of him as a magic wand with an attitude. A thirty pound cat with half a tail and an oversexed skull in his basement don't help his image either. He makes a thin living finding the lost and helping the police, despite being the only wizard listed in the Chicago Yellow Pages.Dresden, broke as usual, answers a police call for assistance, and discovers a gruesome double murder. The two victims, caught in flagrante delicto, have had their hearts blown out through their rib cages. Detective Karrin Murphy wants answers fast, but Crime boss Johnny Marcone wants Dresden out of the case. Dresden's other case is searching for a missing husband who seems to have had an unhealthy interest in magic. And the last complication is the White Council, who think that Harry Dresden just might be dipping a little to far into the black magic side, and intend to flatten him if there is any further hint of magic abuse. Harry is a bit of a luckless sort. In attempting to question the vampire hostess of an upscale house of ill repute he makes a serious enemy of what could best be described as an old bat. One of his information sources then turns up dead the same way as the first couple. A demon nearly turns him and his date into pudding and a giant scorpion attempts to take out Detective Murphy and Dresden with one swipe of a very deadly tail. And, without fail, Harry is pestered at every step by an obnoxious representative of the White Council. Unfortunately, as either wizard of gumshoe, Harry is a bit hapless. He knows his stuff, but he is forever forgetting his gun, dropping his staff and getting ambushed by bad guys. As a result he is always coming from behind, which is a bad place to be when you are chasing the black wizard who is saturating the city in a dangerous new drug that not only gets you high, but opens your third eye as well. Harry is more of the rush right in where angels fear to tread type than he is the careful planner. It doesn't help that he has a bit of a hero complex as well. Ok, the magic is a bit hokey and the language is slightly overblown. Other than Harry the characters are right out of a cheat book. Even Harry is a bit hackneyed. But the plot is original and well laid out. Narrative skills come with maturity, and Jim Butcher is still a novice storyteller. In a wave of tedious, repetitive genre tales, "Storm Front" stands out as something worth a second look. It will be a while though before I forgive him for the following tidbit. "...he picked me up to hurl me toward the demon. I objected with fragile tenacity."
Rating:
Summary: A great escape
Review: This is great escape novel. It was hard to put down and I finished it an afternoon. The concepts of magic in the book are excellent. It's well thought out and detailed. I'm getting the rest of the series.
Rating: 
Summary: Storm Front
Review: I really enjoyed the book, It only took me to weeks to finish the book. I thought the book was well done and it amde my skin creep and the hairs on the back of my neck stand up and a cold feeling run down my back. I would like to say to people who og out and buy the book, once you begin you will not want to put the book but you want to find out what happens to harry and the girl. I thought the girl played a very good part and harry was the main star of the book. I can't wait to read the second book when it comes out. I must warn you that I don't think little children will like the book at all.
Rating:
Summary: Outstanding FIrst Novel
Review: Do not let the modest cover, or paperback origins fool you. This book is a must have for all Hamilton, and fantasy fans. The characters are excellent, the story rich, and the ideas behind it are well formulated. This novel shows wonderful promise. If you like Hamilton's work, then you will love Butcher. Personally I find Hamilton's characters of Anita Blake to be a bit a of a pain, but Butcher's Harry Dresden, P.I. and wizard is refreshingly noble, with a dark streak in his soul. I love it.
Rating:
Summary: Spirtual Soulmate for Anita Blake!
Review: You could call the hero of this impressive novel,Harry Dresden a spirtual soulmate for Laurell Hamilton's Anita blake.Harry dresden the only wizard you will find in the Chicago's yellow pages is asked by police to help solve a brutal double-homicide done by dark magic.Dresden soons finds himself in a deadly web of dark magic, murderous mobsters and of course murder as he desperately tries to solve the murder before the white council of wizards executes him for the crime! Butcher introduces us to memorable hero who is no master wizard or detective but everyman hero,Butcher also gives Harry some memorable friends and enemies like Karrin Murphy, Harry gruffy police Lt friend, John Marcone-the dapper but utterly ruthless mafia boss, a spirit that resides in talking skull who is only thinks about sex,a vampire Madam! This novel was witty combination of hard-boiled detective genre and fantasy.
Rating:
Summary: I love this series.....so far
Review: Harry is cool - he has got the smart mouth in tense situations that I totally love and pretty much conduct my life. I relate to this persons code of conduct. The beginning of this book drags just a bit and come about page 50 or 60 this book kicks into high gear. Harry uses information from a fairy he captures and the wizardry begins. Harry captures all the supernatural snafu stuff that your looking for. I loved the way he explained that magic and spells has many things to do with emotions and the way you feel. I love Harry he may be a wizard and capable of many things but he also is human and feels many of the same things that us boring mortals go through (love life, lack of money, unpaid bills and owned by a cat with an attitude) Keep up the good work Mr. Butcher.
Rating:
Summary: Great Reading!
Review: I picked up this book on a whim at my Romance Readers Book Club meeting. I was told if you like Laurell K. Hamilton you will love this book. Well, they were right! It took me a chapter or two to get up to speed on the charaters and what they were all about, but when that was accomplished I was hooked. If you are the type of person that reads and then says I'll stop at the end of the chapter because you have to cook dinner or need to get to bed because you have work in the morning, with this book you better stop in the middle of the chapter because the end leaves you on pins and needles trying to guess what happens next. Harry is always in trouble or up to his neck in potential problems that you have to keep going to see what happens next. I loved this book and am looking forward to many more by Jim Butcher
Rating:
Summary: an enjoyable PI Fantasy
Review: Harry Dresden is a Wizard. He's found in the phone book as a private investigator of the supernatural and he is a REAL wizard. He's also on retainer with the police force for the 'x-file' cases that occasionally comes up. When Harry is called into a double murder, where the victims died with their hearts exploding out of their chest, he gets in deeper than he ever imagined. Suddenly the Chicago 'godfather' is after him, a mystery 'missing person' case turns up, the police are breathing down his neck and a black sorcerer is killing people throughout the city and Harry is the main suspect for the police and the 'white council' wizard henchman. Harry is a flawed hero. A man with a past that has many people doubting his true motives and leaves a cloud over his head. Despite this he always does his best and he's an interesting person to read about. This is a well written, easy to read debut novel, and I'll be happy to follow Harry's adventures into the next book.
Rating:
Summary: Best of both worlds
Review: Jim Butcher does a wonderful thing here. He manages to successfully mix two of my favorite genres in a way that creates an original story with a well developed plot and characters that beg for further stories. Harry Blackstone Copperfield Dresden just a guy trying to get along in the world. A wizard down on his luck, trying to make ends meet and putting the past behind him. He's behind on his bills, and on parole for a crime we're not totally privvy too. His latest consulting job has landed him right in the middle of things with cops and criminals as well as good magic and bad... Jim Butcher does an excellent job of grafting noir to fantasy and creating a whole story that stands well on its own. I look forward to more fo these!
Rating: 
Summary: Fun Must Read
Review: You have to love Harry Dresden , a down on his luck Wizard\detective for hire just trying to stay out of trouble while making a buck but that is just not going to happen easily and that is when the fun starts. There is a secondary character that watches over Harry who I found a little one dimensional\unbelievable especially in the end .Also there is no sub-plot so the story moves along fairly quickly.Nontheless , I just love how he defines the creatures in this world .Harry's magic has limits which make for interesting confrontations and informers from another magical realm are always hard to deal with!I have already ordered the next book and look forward to many adventures with Harry Dresden.
| 
