Cold Days

October 22, 2012
In yet another engaging urban fantasy that leavens apocalyptic threats with smart-ass humor, Butcher just keeps upping the ante for wizard Harry Dresden, appearing in his 14th novel after 2011’s Ghost Story. Being killed has barely slowed down the Chicago PI, who now serves as the Winter Knight. In that role, Dresden operates as hit man for Mab, the queen of air and darkness, who is forbidden from killing mortals. Not only is his liege capricious and deadly, but Dresden soon finds himself up against new supernatural foes, not least the Redcap, who dyes his headgear with the blood of anyone unfortunate enough to cross his path. The greatest danger, however, may be from Dresden’s new assignment from Mab: to murder her daughter, Maeve. Plentiful backstory allows newcomers to have little trouble getting caught up in the action or connecting with the charismatic lead. Agent: Jennifer Jackson, Donald Maass Literary Agency.

February 25, 2013
Chicago’s resident wizard Harry Dresden is back from the dead and finds his life changed as the once down-and-out wizard detective becomes the powerful Winter Knight. But this new life comes at a price: he’s forced to swear allegiance to Mab, the twisted Queen of Air and Darkness. As Harry adjusts to his new situation, he is faced with numerous attempts on his life, a dark assassination plot and the imminent destruction of the Earth itself. Narrator James Marsters is impeccable in his reading of the14th installment in Butcher’s Dresden Files series. Marsters spot-on portrayal of Harry is classic noir: world weary, cynical, and able to snap off a snarky quip with an ease that would make Phillip Marlowe proud. Completely at home in this bizarre world of fairies and vampires, talking skulls and mystical islands, Marsters delivers the wide array of characters and complicated plotting with great skill. The combination of Marsters at the microphone and Butcher at the keyboard continues to make the Dresden Files an all-around enjoyable listening experience. A Roc hardcover.

November 15, 2012
After several months being mostly dead (Ghost Story, 2011, etc.), Chicago wizard Harry Dresden's back in his body...and of course, back in trouble in the 14th Dresden Files novel. Harry's attempt to have himself killed and thus avoid becoming Queen Mab's champion/assassin, the Winter Knight, has failed, and his first target is Mab's daughter, Maeve. That means he must figure out how to kill an immortal faerie while defending himself against the vicious, treacherous nobles of the Winter Court and the suspicions of the Summer Court. Harry also learns the disturbing true nature of Demonreach, the sentient island in Lake Michigan now under threat from the demonic Outsiders. If he is to surmount these multiple crises in the next 24 hours, he'll have to regain the trust of his old friends and allies and master the skills and unsettling desires associated with the Winter Knight's mantle. Harry's struggle to reconnect with his friends, in the wake of their devastation at his death, the progress they've made without him, and their fear of what he's become, are very real and poignant. Butcher also plots a long, long game, beautifully integrating small elements from the very first installment onward and gradually revealing their significance. But given that he tries to be so careful about these details, it is a shame that he isn't assisted by more rigorous copy editing to clean up the continuity errors which continue to riddle the series. For example, it would be lovely if Butcher would explain how faeries, for whom the merest touch of iron and its alloys causes searing pain, can drive/ride in cars and operate various types of guns. None of that, however, will stop readers from grabbing ringside seats the next time Harry Dresden goes forth to stop the apocalypse.

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Starred review from November 15, 2012
Harry Dresden, the Chicago PI and professional wizard, has been having a pretty weird time of it lately. In 2012's Ghost Story, Harry is trapped between life and death but on the trail of his own killer all the same; after discovering that killer's shocking identity, he decides to let himself pass into death. But Queen Mab has other ideas, and that's where the latest episode in the Dresden Files novels picks up the story. Mab, who has wanted Harry to be her hatchet man for a long time, has a job for himseveral jobs, actually, a sort of shopping list of evil deeds, beginning with murder. Harry, basically a good man, doesn't take killing lightly, especially when his intended victim happens to be immortal. Harry thinks there must be a reason why Mab wants this particular immortal killed at this particular time, and when he hits up some sources back in Chicago, he figures out she's probably setting him upbut why? By this point, more than a dozen novels into the series, Butcher is pretty much assuming that if you're reading the latest Dresden novel, you're familiar with the ones that came before it. Readers coming to the novel without any previous experience might feel like they've tuned into an epic, multicharacter TV miniseries about halfway through, but fans of the Dresden Files, who have a lot invested in Harry, will be lining up to see whether he escapes his death as slickly as he did last time. Butcher remains the gold standard for urban fantasy. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: The Dresden Files started slowly as a paperback original series but eventually built an audience and moved to hardcover. From there, it was a short jump to becoming the quintessential urban fantasy.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)