Jim Butcher – Storm Front

The first book in the Dresden Files series, published April 1, 2000
Genre: urban fantasy
Cover: strong



Lost items found. Paranormal investigations. Consulting. Advice. Reasonable rates. No love potions, endless purses or other entertainment.

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 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 black magic, there’s a black mage behind it. And now that mage knows Harry’s name. And that is when things start to get ... interesting.
Magic. It can get a guy killed.


I know this is a series almost everyone has read already, so yes, I am very late to the party. And I have had this book gathering dust on my shelves for a few years. But now that I have read it, I am glad that I did, and I will certainly read more books in this series, a bit faster.

I enjoyed Storm Front, featuring wizard Jim Butcher, who is under a death sentence from the Council if he uses black magic. And now someone is killing people using the blackest of magics, and they all start to think that he is the one behind it. So in order to clear his name, and save his own neck, Harry will have to find the real murderer fast, before he ends up as one of the victims himself!
The police want him to find the bad guy, the local mob boss wants him to stay out of it, and his guard is convinced that Harry is behind it and is looking for proof. And a lovely woman wants him to look for her missing husband, and is afraid that he is too much interested in black magic after he was sacked from his job.


I really enjoyed this world Jim Butcher has created. It is always a bit strange for me to read from a male perspective, but it was well done. Harry Dresden is a nice man, and has no knack at all when it comes to dealing with women. This is of course endearing him to a female reader, in the way that a womanizer would not. He ends up in a few really embarrassing situations.
I loved the humor in this book. When Harry started making potions with the help of Bob, his talking skull, which was just plain fun. The ingredients he used are totally outrageous and normal day stuff. And Bob, well, he sure was an unsuspected character. Another nice touch is the big cat named Mister that adopted Harry.

The book is fast paced, lots of action, and of course lots of bad things happen to Harry. But he perseveres, and figures out who is behind it all, and how to defeat him. I do love that in my main characters that they just don’t give up, no matter what happens. Those fight scenes were exciting to read, and yes, there is more gore than in a book written by a female author, but not too much for me. Still, I am very glad that I live in a country where the only scorpions live in the zoo.

I am a bit sad for Harry that his relationship with the police detective in charge has suffered from his need to keep things secret from her, and who knows, there might be a romantic interest between him and one of the women in this book in the future. But really, for me, that is not necessary at all.

8 stars.

© 2014 Reviews by Aurian