Storm Front

I first read this book back in 2000, when it first came out, and by the time I realized the second book had been published, I couldn't really remember the first one very well.  And since then, so many have been published that it seemed like such a huge undertaking to get into yet another series.  But then as I recommended favorite writers to customers at my library (writers such as Patricia Briggs, Karen Chance, Kim Harrison), those same customers kept recommending Jim Butcher back to me.  I kept meaning to get around to them, but I never did - until the day someone told be who the reader of the audio books is: James Marsters.  As in Spike from Buffy! That sold me, and I immediately checked out the downloadable audiobook for this first book in the series.

And it was a lot better than I remembered it - which may have had something to do with the excellent narration Marsters provides - the perfect hard-boiled tone to Harry Dresden's narration of this, one his cases he takes as a wizard detective who lives in Chicago.  A woman shows up at his office, asking him to track down her missing husband.  At the same time there is a double murder, a horrifically violent and heinous crime, and Harry is called in as a consultant for the Chicago Police Department because of the supernatural nature of the homicide. Harry is relieved to have the income from both cases, because the rent is due and times are hard, but the more he investigates, the more twisted and disturbing the cases become.

This was a solid mystery story, a tale with a hard-boiled feel but plenty of fantastical details. Harry is such a likable narrator, and even though he tends to make mistakes along with way, he does so with the best of intentions.  There is a lot of humor here; the mystery is an intriguing one, and there's also plenty of action and adventure.  The audio recording was simply fantastic, and I can already tell that as long as Marsters is doing the reading, I'll be listening to this series. I'm on the waiting list for the second book, and I'll be looking forward to the further adventures of the redoubtable Harry Dresden.

Books in the Dresden Files:
1. Storm Front
2. Fool Moon
3. Grave Peril
4. Summer Knight
5. Death Masks
6. Blood Rites
7. Dead Beat
8. Proven Guilty
9. White Night
10. Small Favor
11. Turn Coat
12. Changes
13. Ghost Story
14. Cold Days
Backup (A novella)
Side Jobs (a short story collection)
Love Hurts (an e-book short story)

Storm Front (#1 in The Dresden Files) by Jim Butcher; narrated by James Marsters (Buzzy Multimedia, 2009)