White Night (The Dresden Files, Book 9) (Hardcover)

~ (Author)
Key Phrases: blasting rod, shield bracelet, duster pocket, White Court, Anna Ash, Lady Malvora (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. At the start of Butcher's superlative ninth Dresden Files novel (after 2006's Proven Guilty), hardboiled wizard detective Harry Dresden learns that someone is killing Chicago's minor wizards. Joined by his police friend, Sergeant Murphy, and his Amazonian apprentice, Molly Carpenter, Harry discovers that his brother, Thomas, is a prime suspect. As a Warden of the White Council, at war with both the Red Court of blood-drinking vampires and the White Court of psychic vampires, Harry has to go into action. And there's plenty of that, including a battle with ghouls on the lakefront that turns into a gripping flashback of another encounter with ghouls some years before in New Mexico. The large cast features such finely drawn characters as gangster Gentleman Johnnie Marcone and Harry's first love, Elaine Mallory. This installment is sure to get a lift from The Dresden Files TV series, which debuted on the Sci-Fi Channel in January. Author tour. (Apr.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

*Starred Review* This time, when Harry Dresden gets a call from Murphy, it's off the record, because she has been demoted, things in SI are politically shaky, and the police have already declared a suicide. Once Harry gets a good look, though, the suicide is clearly a murder with magical intent. As he investigates, hoping as always to stop the killer before more die, evidence points to the worst possible suspect: his half brother. In another complicated case, there are a lot of very powerful players, and with the war between the White Council and the Red Court vampires, politics are played hard and fast. In tracking down the killer, Harry manages to catch the attention of the White Court vampires again, too. On top of all that, he is still teaching strong-willed, occasionally impulsive teenager Molly Carpenter, and the teacher-student dynamic is difficult for him. And oh, yes, Lasciel, the demon trapped in a coin Harry has secured under his summoning circle, is a lingering presence. As usual in the Dresden Files, of which this is volume 9, Butcher puts the characters in a lot of danger, creates appalling moral choices for them, and spins an excellent noirish detective yarn in a well-crafted, supernaturally charged setting. The supporting cast is again fantastic, and Harry's wit continues to fly in the face of a peril-fraught plot. Regina Schroeder
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 416 pages
• Publisher: Roc Hardcover (April 3, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0451461401
• ISBN-13: 978-0451461407
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.4 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (141 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #176,874 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

• This is item 9 in The Dresden Files Series.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

62 of 64 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I didn't think Butcher could improve after "Dead Beat", April 4, 2007

By	R. Kyle (USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Sometimes, it's good to be wrong. Jim Butcher has more than earned hardcover publication for his "Dresden Files" series. In my opinion, "Dresden" is one of the best urban fantasy series around.

What to the casual eye looks like suicides of magical practitioners turns out to be a serial killer using the quote from Exodus, "Suffer Not a Witch to live," as a calling card. There are several practitioners dead and more missing. Worse, it's not just Chicago that's been hit.

When clues start piling up implicating Harry's younger brother, Thomas, who is a vampire of the White Court, Harry has to work hard to clear his brother's name.

"White Night" should have a warning--don't pick this book up unless you have several hours to devour it. Like most of the Dresden Files, I struggled with the impulse to read the book right now--or just a few pages at a time and savor it. Devouring won.

"White Night" is very tightly paced. You have very little time as a reader to contemplate what's going to happen. This is also one of Butcher's more intricate novels. He's definitely improving with each book. Kudos to him, his publisher and many fans would still read him for a long time if he didn't challenge himself--and us. In my opinion, Butcher has reached the point with the mystery and crime portion of the series that regular mystery readers would cross over to him.

Of course, the stable of characters is excellent. I still prefer the novelizations of the Dresden Files to the series--with one notable exception. Bob in the novel now seems 'flat' to me once I have seen Terrence Mann bringing Bob to life.

Overall, this is an excellent book by a writer who ages very well. Kudos to Jim Butcher and the Dresden Files.

26 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The only Wizard in Chicago's yellow pages is back and better than ever!, April 9, 2007

By	Jennifer Ortiz "jenortiz" (Morristown, NJ United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I just love this series. I devoured the entire book. Harry Dresdin is a real and complete character. He is smart, funny, and completely likeable. In the ninth installment titled, "White Knight," we find Harry investigating the murders of members of the magical community in Chicago, namely female witches or wiccans. During the investigation, he ends up clashing with members of the White Court of Vampires who are involved in a power struggle. As always, Jim Butcher does not disappoint. His imagination seems limitless. This is a fast paced joyride that I did not want to end.

Many recurring characters are back. The line-up includes: Mouse returns as Harry's canine companion (a Temple Dog with mysterious powers). Molly who is Harry's apprentice, is still learning to control her magic and her attitude. Murphy is struggling with being demoted to Sergeant and walking the political tightrope at SI. Elaine is also back and has a new career path. Harry's brother, Thomas, has been avoiding him and has Harry worried about his mysterious behavior. We also see Ramirez, Marcone, and Lara (Thomas' sister and the power behind the throne of the White Court). There are also some surprising characters' from Harry's past that he definitely did not expect to run into. Also back is Lasciel (the fallen angel) who has been trying to seduce Harry into picking up the coin. I don't want to spoil anything, but as the story goes on, you start to wonder to is influencing who.

If you are a fan of The Dresdin Files there is no way you won't be happy with "White Knight." If you are being introduced to the series through the TV series, the please start with book one "Storm Front." There are so many continuous plot lines that it might get confusing.

Have fun reading, I certainly did!
Jennifer

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Grand Slam, April 3, 2007

By	Ruach V. Emess (Rip Van Winkles Public House) - See all my reviews

I too obtained both my copy of White Knight AND my copy of the audio book of Summer Knight at I-CON. Those sweet ladies at the Buzzy Multimedia tables must have thought we were all a bit daft because we lined up on Friday before the convention was even official opened. I was able to get both autographed by Jim Butcher. He is as nice as he is smart and he is plenty smart :) Well that was Friday and by Saturday morning I was a bit bleary eyed but happy and then I started listening to Summer Knight. My God does James Marsters "get" Harry and he absolutely rocked with the voices of all the Fae folk.

On to the the review. As with all the Dresden Files books there are some fight/battle scenes that leave me breathless. I can feel the pain, the despair, the exhaustion as well as the on-the-fly tactics in addition to those well laid plans of mice and men. Love the way Jim Butcher not only comes up with characters that are interesting but has them evolve. He doesn't leave us hanging forever to see issues that were addressed a couple of books ago get resolved. I was a bit worried about the whole apprentice thing but Molly has grown on me and I have this feeling that she and Mister will be the best of friends. Good thing too, because although I adore Mouse, Mister seemed to have be sort of w-a-a-y in th background and I have a soft spot for Mister as well.

So if you haven't bought this book yet, hurry up. So what if it is a hard cover. Friends have a way of forgetting to return paper backs but I haven't had one forget about a hard cover ...yet. Plus you know they'll all be coming out in hardcover eventually and won't they look nice on the shelf ? As for by Dresden Files audio books, no one gets those on loan from me. They'll have to pry them out of my cold, dead fingers.

All Hail Jim Butcher !!! Hip, hip hooray !!!