Proven Guilty

We get to know a lot more about Molly, Charity, and Murphy, who are all strong and bad-ass female characters and are given more space in this book. I thought this one was a little bit more self-contained with less overwhelming magic battles, and more character development, which was good. And Dresden apparently gets an apprentice, cool!??

I had a little difficulty getting into this, but once it caught hold I really enjoyed it. Dresden is a solid character with flaws and all. I was afraid that the series would start getting stale, but Butcher is able to keep the story engaging and keep the reader caring about what happens to Dresden and his entourage.

Executive Summary: While not as good as the previous book, [b:Dead Beat 17683 Dead Beat (The Dresden Files, #7) Jim Butcher http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1345667776s/17683.jpg 6614452], it's still another enjoyable entry to the series.Audio book: Nothing of particular note in this novel. There weren't any stand out voices/characters worth mentioning. James Marsters does a great job with the audio, and seems really comfortable with the series now.Full ReviewNOTE: This review contains some (mostly minor) spoilers from previous novels, as it's hard to talk about the later books in the series without proper context.——————————————————————————–Things have been escalating with the war between the White Council and the Red Court. Harry's responsibilities have increased with his new job as regional commander for the Wardens. The number of incidents of young warlocks violating the laws of magic is on the rise.Harry is tasked secretly and separately by two members of the senior council. First his old mentor Ebeneezer wants him to use his contacts among the Fae to determine why despite violations of the Seelie Accord by the Red Court, why the Fae have abstained from entering the war.Secondly the mysterious Gatekeeper has warned Harry that there is Dark Magic about in Chicago once again.And then because Harry's life wasn't complicated enough, Harry receives a call from Molly Carpenter, daughter of his friend, and Fist of God, Micheal. She's in jail, and needs his help.What's Harry to do? He grabs his staff, blasting rod, and his dog Mouse and head off to do battle with the forces of evil and anyone else who gets in his way.While not quite as entertaining as [b:Dead Beat 17683 Dead Beat (The Dresden Files, #7) Jim Butcher http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1345667776s/17683.jpg 6614452], there are some significant events in this novel that have a significant impact on the books that follow. Full of the usual combination of laugh out loud and eye-rolling one-liners, nasty bad guys and magic battles, makes this another quick and enjoyable read.