Review: Proven Guilty

Proven Guilty by Jim Butcher

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



Book Info: Genre: Urban Fantasy
Reading Level: Adult
Recommended for: Fans of Urban Fantasy

My Thoughts: Harry is in quite a mess in this book. More so than usual? To a certain degree, since he’s dealing with the sidhe, the White Council, and black magic in Chicago. Horror-movie monsters coming to life? Check. Mysterious and spooky people coming into town? Check. Harry frequently beaten to within an inch of his life? Check. Harry has no idea what is going on. Check. It’s not exactly formulaic, because there is just so much going on, but it’s a fairly set pattern at this point.

We learn a lot about Charity Carpenter in this book, a great many insights into her character. On the one hand, she is a very, very strong woman. On the other hand, she had allowed her fear to rule her life and destroy any chance she might have had to make a significant difference in the right against Darkness. I think this goes a long way toward explaining her overwhelming and constant hostility toward Harry. Butcher had to have had this planned out from the very beginning, and reading all these books in a group makes me even more impressed with his skills at weaving this huge and complex web that is the Dresden Files. So, onward!

Disclosure: I purchased this book in hardcover for myself, and backup e-book copy. All opinions are my own.

Synopsis: There's no love lost between Harry Dresden, the only wizard in the Chicago phone book, and the White Council of Wizards, who find him brash and undisciplined. But war with the vampires has thinned their ranks, so the Council has drafted Harry as a Warden and assigned him to look into rumors of black magic in the Windy City.

As Harry adjusts to his new role, another problem arrives in the form of the tattooed and pierced daughter of an old friend, all grown-up and already in trouble. Her boyfriend is the only suspect in what looks like a supernatural assault straight out of a horror film. Malevolent entities that feed on fear are loose in Chicago, but it's all in a day's work for a wizard, his faithful dog, and a talking skull named Bob.... (not to mention his enormous and awesome cat! *tsk* Synopsis writers... they always forget the cat...)



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