Customer Reviews

Proven Guilty Unabridged CD (The Dresden Files)

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2 star:		(1)
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After the events in Dead Beat, Harry Dresden is now a Warden of the White Council, and one of his first official acts you see him perform is to bear witness to the execution of a young warlock, no more then a child, corrupted by his own power. From that moment on you should be able to chart where the book will take you.

If you know anything about Harry Dresden you will figure out his feelings about what happened to that young man. If the previous novel was a showcase Harry's slow decent to darkness, then this book will show his firm resolve to the do the right thing and accept the consequences for all of his actions.

Like Dead Beat, Butcher takes pains to pick almost forgotten threads from previous novels and weave them into his story with great care, this time it is not quite as obvious.

This time out Harry is warned of dark magic being afoot, and a request for help by the daughter of the last man on earth he wants to be involved with, Michael Carpenter Knight of the Cross. With Harry sharing his brain with one of the Denarii, Lasciel he fears that Michael may take issues with this as well as the recent events and his downward spiral to darkness. Harry reluctantly gets involved, and nothing plays out the way he thinks.

The book is shorter then some of the previous installments, that only means Butcher cut out a lot of loose talk and got right too it, Zelazney style. He manages to flood in detail after detail without drowning you in it. New readers beware, while Butcher attempts to get people caught up by giving brief recaps, they do not do the stories justice.

Butcher also dusted off a couple of unused characters and made them shine like jewels, just as he made Waldo Butters a hero in Dead Beat. He is absent in this book, but you can feel the polka beat whenever you turn the page.

The humor level is high, and while things are grave, it is nowhere near as grave as they are in Dead Beat or Blood Rites. Proven Guilty did not give us that feel of time running out and the world would end soon. It forshadows, very effectively, that things in Harry's world will become very, very big and even more dangerous in the near future. As again the traitor in the White Council seems to strike, the Vampire War takes another turn, the affairs of the Sidhe are revisited with catastrophic consequences for those involved, and Harry's personal life.....well you will have to read the book for more.

Without a doubt this is my favorite novel beside Summer Knight, and it may even surpass it. The story was well told, dialogue was spot on. Murphy seemed a bit too relaxed but after her disappearance in the last book I didn't realize how much I missed her presence. Once again I thank whatever muse made me pick up that loneley looking paperback sitting on a bookshelf six years ago in Waldenbooks. Well done Mr. Butcher.

The latest book in the Dresden series is a real treat. Dresden receives a warning that black magic is heading for his hometown, and he heads out to stop it. On his way, though, he gets sidetracked into helping a friend's daughter who has a ton of problems of her own. In typical Dresden fashion, he spreads himself too thin, tries to help too many people, gets beat up almost as much as Bruce Willis in a Die Hard movie -- and he does it all with a grin on his face and a snappy one-liner that usually relates to a horror or SF movie.

The plot's a tad obvious (I called several twists by halfway through the book), and some of the dialog with Murphy is annoyingly awkward, but Harry has the heart and soul of a hero, and he's a fantastic character to join on a good romp through dark magic and the weird Nevernever. Some have compared this series to the Anita Blake series, but Harry is far more likable, heroic, and mythic. He's just a lot more enjoyable to be around than Anita ever has been.

One cool -- and totally unexpected -- surprise.... This book contains one of the best expressions of Christian faith I've read in a fiction novel ever. Don't be fooled and don't let that turn you off if you're not a Christian. This is not a "Christian" novel -- those are notoriously poorly written -- and Dresden, with a fallen angel swimming around in his head, never claims to be a Christian himself. But some of the characters in this book are Christians, and I appreciated seeing them portrayed realistically and with respect to their faith.

If you've never read a Dresden book, you could pick this one up with little problem. The cast of characters may feel a little overwhelming since they've been building from the previous seven books, but they're distinct in their own rights, and Butcher does a good job recapping each when they first show up. Overall, another fantastic entry in a wonderful series of books.

I've been with this series from the beginning and sometimes it's been a rough ride. I love the concept, a wizard for hire in contemporary Chicago, and Butcher's writing always works, but I don't always like Harry Dresden. Sometimes he plays the heroic victim, and I've always felt that characters who set themselves up get what they deserve when it hits the fan.

Initially this story came close. Harry is now a warden for the White Council but they don't like him much and several are waiting for the opportunity to take his head. And then there's the vampire's Red Court that has gone to war with the wizards, mostly thanks to Harry's ineptness. And then there's the Summer and Winter Courts in Faerie. Right again, Harry has few friends there. When he is asked to investigate why the Fae haven't come to help the wizards, and is warned that black magic is being worked in the city you know it's going to be a difficult week. Especially when it starts right out with someone trying to run Harry over while he's in his VW bug.

Harry does have friends - and oversexed skull (Bob), a dog that eats vampires (Mouse), a holy knight (Michael), a tough police lieutenant (Murphy), and a fallen angel (Lasciel). That's right, a fallen angel, not the best thing to have as a friend. One of Harry's worst problems problem is that he hates asking for help, and, no surprise, he volunteers for everything. So when Michael's daughter's boyfriend gets in trouble at a horror convention that suddenly turns real it's Harry to the rescue. And the problems get worse and worse.

Just when I thought Harry was going to get eaten by a film monster as he so richly deserved, the story swerved and became one of Butcher's best. Frankly, I can't explain it. Something about the characters or the plot gelled. Or maybe Harry became more of a player in his own life. But the story picks up pace and then keeps on running at top speed. Hooray for Jim Butcher, who has worked hard for his success. And hooray for me, who deserves a good book now and then.

Proven Guilty (2006) is the eighth Urban Fantasy novel in the Dresden Files series, following Dead Beat. In the previous volume, Harry animated a Tyrannosaurus Rex skeleton and found that Sue could really fly low. Of course, she skidded badly on the highspeed turns.

Harry shot Captain Luccio in the head, but she wasn't actually Captain Luccio at the time. Harry and Ramirez rode Sue through the revenant opposition and got Grevane in the neck. Then Bob the air spirit rode Sue through the wind and mirk and roared Kumori into temporary paralysis. Harry immediately broke loose and hit Cowl with his staff. Darkhallow released all its energy in one enormous necromantic blast.

In this novel, Harry attends the trial and execution of a young magic wielder. The boy had violated the Fourth Law, using his powers to control other minds. When Warden Morgan beheads the young offender, Dresden is literally sick at the sight.

Such executions are becoming more frequent. With most of the population ignorant of the sheer existence of magic, the culture doesn't provide any guidance to these young magic users. And the White Council is too secretive to open schools for budding wizards.

With the war with the Red Court vampires, the Council doesn't even have enough wizards to monitor the population for emerging talents. They certainly lack the personnel to train properly all these new magic wielders in the use of their talents. Yet ignorance of the White Council laws does not excuse these young magicians from the enforcement of these laws.

The Council laws are designed to protect the general population. Violation of these laws always results in damage to the victims and also to the violators themselves. Eventually, such practices will turn the violators into incorrigibly evil sorcerers.

Harry doesn't have any solution to this problem, but he realizes that such enforcement also has a price. Even justifiable killing produces emotional damage and often leads to callous attitudes. Dresden really doesn't want to become like Morgan. He doesn't have a solution to this problem, but still believes that there should be a better answer.

In this story, Ebenezar McCoy asks Harry to discover the reason for the lack of reaction by the Faery Courts to the recent Red Court intrusion onto their lands. Both the Summer and Winter courts had promised to retaliate against the vampires. Harry has the best contacts in Faery of any wizard in the White Council.

However, McCoy warns Dresden to be careful of whom he approaches in his info gathering. It has become very obvious that someone in the White Council is passing information to the Red Court. Now McCoy suspects that the traitor is within the Senior Council itself.

McCoy also gives him a note from Rashid, the Gatekeeper. It states that black magic has been detected within Chicago during the past ten days. Harry passes on the word to his contacts to be alert for signs of black magic and makes plans to use the new Little Chicago model to aid his search.

While Harry is undergoing the purification ritual for his quest, he receives a phone call from Molly Carpenter. Claiming to have been arrested by the police, Molly asks Harry to come bail her out. When he gets there, however, he finds that her boyfriend had been arrested, not Molly herself.

After Harry bails out Nelson, he finds out the reason for the arrest. Nelson was acting as security for SPLATTERCON!!! -- a horror film fan convention -- and was in the restroom when someone, or something, had beaten Clark Pell severely. By the time Nelson had gotten out of the stall, no one was present in the restroom other than Pell and himself. The cop outside the door and the security camera had not seen anyone else enter or leave the restroom, so Nelson had been arrested.

After hearing the full story and checking with the witnesses, Harry strongly suspects that something supernatural might be happening at the convention. He is talking to Rawlings -- the cop working the convention -- when panic occurs in a viewing room. The creature attacking the fans appears to be an exact image of the monster in a horror film. It kills several people with its sickle. When it attacks Rawlings, Harry blasts it with enough kinetic energy to send it through the movie screen and to dent the back wall.

This story takes Harry back to Faery. He works with the Summer Lady and the Summer Knight once again and briefly visits the Winter Queen and the Winter Knight. He also manages to save one violator of the Fourth Law from summary execution.

Harry also gets to see a different view of Charity Carpenter, Michael's wife. Charity had always been suspicious of Harry's relationship with Michael. Now she is very dubious of his intentions toward her eldest daughter Molly. Nonetheless, she works with Harry to protect her family.

Mouse tags along with Harry through most of the tale. He is no longer small; Harry describes Mouse as a "West Highlands Dogasaurus" as he introduces him to Molly. Not only is he an extra large dog, his body glows with St. Elmo's fire while running down monsters.

Highly recommended for Butcher fans and for anyone else who enjoys tales of wizardry, Faery creatures, and horror films.

-Arthur W. Jordin

Don't get me wrong, I thoroughly enjoyed "Dead Beat" but it did have a couple of flaws: slow beginning and old characters brought into the story for no apparent reason. Proven Guilty, however, is a work of near perfection.

From the opening chapter on, this novel grabs you by the neck and drags you along for one amazing ride. Any novel that begins with an execution is definitely going to be action packed. Harry, now as a Warden, is forced to face responsibility in a whole new way, while being reminded of his own questionable past. This brings even more depth to an already complex and intriguing character.

Old characters are alluded to or mentioned in passing, but fortunately no one shows up in the story who isn't involved in the plot. This avoids the over-cluttered, confusing tone that other series in the comtemporary fantasy/horror genre seem to take on as they progress (examples: Glen Cook's Garret series and Laurall K Hamilton's Anita Blake series).

Lastly, Mr. Butcher has actually managed to make the series fresh and new with each novel he has written. The characters change and evolve, they do not turn into caricature of themselves. Yes, Harry is still a rebel and a smart aleck, but these traits are represented as great personality quirks, instead of the main representation of the character. Supporting characters in the previous novels are suddenly thrust center-stage in this novel, and become driving forces in Harry's life.

I realize that this review has been more about writing style than the actual storyline. That is on purpose. As you, fellow fantasy and sci-fi fans, well know, we are constantly bombarded with good story ideas that are poorly written. Most series dissolve into cliches and very predictable plotlines. So far the Dresden Files has not done so. Mr. Butcher has taken a fabulous scenario and turned it to a well developed fantasy-scape. I highly recommend this latest installment in the adventures of Harry Dresden, and I eagerly await the next one.

What can I say about Harry,plenty. Harry gets caught up with Michael's family again only this time Molly,his young daughter is caught in the Fae clutches. I have to say that I never enjoyed Charity, Michael's wife but after this book I have great respect for Charity, and her strength and love for her family. Molly comes across as a good and sympathetic character in her own right. We also find out about Charity's and Molly's great power and how dangerous they can be. For some reason even Karrin came across well in this book and even Thomas. Loved seeing Mouse take center stage as well. Now I have the grueling task of waiting another whole year for the next great book in this fantastic series. Hurry up Jim, I can't wait for the next book. The only great mystery will be who be the new in Harry's love life. The only unsolved piece of this great puzzle.

Harry Dresden is both a wizard and a Warden for the White Council. After witnessing the execution of a teenaged boy for practicing black magic, Harry is warned by the Gatekeeper that black magic is now occurring in Chicago. Harry begins investigating as he feels an obligation beyond the bounds of his duties as a Warden to protect the citizens of Chicago.

Harry is temporarily detained from his search for black magic when Molly Carpenter, the oldest daughter of Harry's friend and Knight of the Cross, Michael, asks him to bail her out of jail. Molly isn't the one in jail; her boyfriend, Nelson, is and Harry quickly realizes that something is awry and he follows the trail to the Splattercon!!! convention.

The action heats up as Harry faces phobophages at the convention who prey on fear by assuming the guise of horror movie characters as they destroy their victims. Unfortunately, Harry uses a spell to find the summoner and his journey leads him into the heart of the Faerie world of Winter with Michael's wife, Charity, Karrin Murphy, and his half-brother and White Court vampire Thomas at his side. Harry will learn a great deal about Faith while healing old wounds with Charity.

PROVEN GUILTY continues the fabulous and ever creative Harry Dresden series. Politics are now becoming a factor due to Harry's presence on the White Council and it is interesting to see Harry's development as both a wizard and a man. He is learning to navigate the politics of the various races although he isn't infallible as Harry's favorite approach is still the direct one.

Jim Butcher appears to be delving more into the metaphysical aspects with each new Dresden book. Harry is beginning to explore Faith and how it affects his mark from Lasciel, one of the Fallen. Harry is forced to examine everything about himself and his beliefs in order to save Molly.

Harry's issues regarding his own salvation as a young, wayward wizard are also explored. His anger in the opening scene after the execution of the young black magic practitioner is founded upon his belief that there are so many other misguided budding wizards with no one to lead them on the correct path. Harry Dresden remains heroic and his humanity only further emphasizes this characteristic.

PROVEN GUILTY will satisfy all of the Harry Dresden fans out there. New readers would be better able to understand the complexity of Harry's world by beginning with the earlier books as each Dresden novel advances and intertwines plotlines from previous novels. Jim Butcher has once again written a winner and this reviewer can now only eagerly await Harry Dresden's next adventure!

COURTESY OF CK2S KWIPS AND KRITIQUES

I stumbled onto Jim Butcher's Dresden series just after his first book was released and since then he has became my favorite author. The Dresden series is one of those rare gems that captivate you and hold your attention through all of the Novels. In my opinion this series can stand tall beside such epic works as the Lord of the Rings and Dragonlance Chronicles and Legends series.

The series revolves around Harry Dresden, a modern day Wizard living in Chicago and making his living as a Private Investigator, investigating the paranormal. Harry is a good man but he has all the same human frailties that we all have and can relate to. His character is likeable, believable and has a great sense of humor.

Harry Dresden is the main character but there are many others that constantly come into play during the series. In this Novel Harry's longtime and faithful friend Michael and especially his family are very prominent throughout this story line as well as the Summer Lady and the Summer Knight. Also, the White Council of Wizards, Karrin Murphy, Michael (Harry's half brother and vampire of the White Court), Bob (Harry's talking skull) and Ebenezer (Harry's mentor on the White Council) all play an active and critical roll in this new installment of the Dresden Files.

Once again Butcher weaves previous threads from earlier books in the series into this one in order to continue his masterful skill of not only continuing the development of the overall story but as he has done so masterfully in the past, he also makes Proven Guilty stand on its own if you have never read any of the earlier books. Butcher proves once again that he can write a story that can captivate the reader, stand on its own, and resolve all its story lines yet at the same time maintain the progression of the main character and all the sub-characters in which the series revolves around.

I bought this in hardback, fresh off the presses, without the benefit of any reviews - based purely on the quality of the prior books in the series. I was not disappointed - in fact, I plan on buying the next one in hardback also.
Butcher sets a good pace to his books, and Proven Guilty is no exception. I also like the fact that while there are developments on issues that are significant to those who have read all of the books, each book stands alone and the immediate conflicts are resolved. You have to have respect for an author who knows how to wrap up a story in a single book, and at the same time maintain the progression of the central character's life. In Proven Guilty, [plot spoiler!] we find out that Michael knows that Harry has picked up a denarius. However, Butcher also continues to dangle Harry's relationship with Murphy in front of us like a dirt farmer dangling a carrot in front of a mule; and I'd also like to find out just what Harry's brother has been up to. Finally, we know the Merlin and almost everyone is winter court at Faerie is going to be after Harry - plenty of conflict for another outing with Harry Dresden. I can't wait for the next one - if you haven't read this one, do yourself a favor and get it.

Jim Butcher and his Dresden Files series continues to show that he is one of the best authors out there. Just finding an interesting plot, good characters that you can care about, and good writing is getting harder and harder to find. I recommend this entire series. However, be warned that this series is not "light" in that the main character can go through some pretty tough circumstances during each book.

While I love Jim's Dresen Files series I can't say the same for his other series (Alera). Just can't get into it.