Review: Storm Front

Storm Front by Jim Dresden
4.5 stars

Reasons for reading: My husband is addicted to this series and wanted to get me hooked on it, too! Also, at least twice when he's bought the books, the bookstore clerks have been very excited by him buying the series, as they've been fans of both the books and the TV show, so I figured I'd see what all the fuss was about.

Description: "Harry Dresden is the best at what he does. Well, technically, he's the only at what he does. So when the Chicago P.D. has a case that transcends mortal creativity or capability, they come to him for answers. For the "everyday" world is actually full of strange and magical things--and most of them don't play too well with humans. That's where Harry comes in. Takes a wizard to catch a--well, whatever. There's just one problem. Business, to put it mildly, stinks. So when the police bring him in to consult on a grisly double murder committed with black magic, Harry's seeing dollar signs. But where there's magic, there's a black mage behind it. And now that mage knows Harry's name. And that's when things start to get... interesting. Magic. It can get a guy killed."

My thoughts: I've become much geekier since marrying my husband. :-) I really enjoyed this book, even though I'm not really one for fantasy. But Harry is incredibly smart, a gentleman, and master of one-liners - rather like my husband - so I was bound to like him! At first I wondered if I'd be able to get into a modern-day wizard, but the magic elements are well done - he explains how it uses the forces of nature and that wizards aren't really different from the regular population, just more attuned to those things and able to harness them. Also, the crime/mystery aspect was well done, too - Harry gets into a ton of vividly-described scrapes, from dealing with a female vampire to a human mob boss to various demons and finally the black mage hell-bent on destroying Harry and anyone else who gets in his way.

There are some great secondary characters. There's Murphy, the tiny but fierce female detective/martial artist assigned to the "special" crimes she needs Harry's help with. There's Bob, the spirit of the air who lives inside a skull and helps Harry remember spells and potions, in exchange for the odd get-out-of-skull-free card to go and spy on sorority parties. And there's Susan, a very sexy tabloid reporter who wants Harry for information and more. Even Harry's enormously huge cat Mister has a lot of personality. The thorn in Harry's side is Morgan, the over-zealous enforcer from the wizards' White Council, who's out for Harry's head because years ago, Harry killed someone with magic in self-defense and he can't afford one false move, or he'll be executed. Unfortunately, Harry isn't great at following rules...

The verdict: My husband succeeded, I'm a fan! (Now if only he'd stop pushing the next in the series on me until I'm finished the half-dozen books I need to read for challenges in the next few weeks!)