Proven Guilty - Jim Butcher

   2006; 547 pages.  Book 8 (out of 17) in the “Dresden Files” series.  New Author? : No.  Genres: Urban Fantasy; Paranormal Thriller.  Overall Rating : 8*/10.

 

    Harry Dresden is certainly not the most popular member of the White Council of wizards.  He the newest Warden of the group, seems to have an attitude against blindly trusting the decisions of his peers, and is positively disrespectful of the senior council.

 

    But he also happens to be a private investigator by trade, and that always comes in handy, particularly when it comes to keeping tabs on the White Council’s deadly enemies, the vampires of the Red Court.

 

    For instance, right now a sudden spike in Black Magic has been detected in Harry’s hometown of Chicago.  That’s a capital offense with the punishment, decapitation, usually carried out at the first opportunity.  The White Council thinks it would be convenient if Harry could determine who the practicing black mage is.

 

    And while he’s at it, could he also investigate why the Faeries haven’t fought back against those nasty Red Court vampires who recently trespassed into the Faerie kingdom?  Such an infraction is usually met with instant and forceful retaliation, yet for some reason the Faeries seem to be uncharacteristically forgiving.  The White Council’s war against the Red Court is going badly, and it would be nice to have the Faeries as an ally.

 

    So dust off your duster and hit the streets of Chicago, Harry.  See what you can discover.  And you'd better hope that whoever is casting all that black magic juju isn’t some acquaintance of yours.  That would likely be the straw that breaks the White Council’s back when it comes to tolerating your uppity attitude.

 

What’s To Like...

    Proven Guilty is the eighth entry in Jim Butcher’s 17-volume paranormal urban fantasy series “The Dresden Files”.  It’s action-packed and fast-paced, and includes an extended foray into the Faerie parallel realm of Nevernever, which I always enjoy.

 

    The two tasks given to Harry, and the complications that arise therefrom, are not exactly epic in scope, but that’s okay.  The focus here is more on his relationships with Michael, a devout Knight of the Cross, Michael’s wife and daughter (Chastity and Molly), and Harry’s Chicago PD best bud, Lieutenant Karrin Murphy.  It was fun to see each of these characters get fleshed out, and I suspect it’s a sign that the Carpenter family will be playing a greater part in the next few books in the series.

 

    There’s a bunch of new magical critters to meet and be scared to death by, among which are Phobophages, Janns, Scarecrows, Ogres, and Fetches.  It might come as a surprise that of that beastly bunch, the Scarecrows are the most lethal.  My favorite supporting character, Bob the Skull, is back but doesn’t get a lot of ink, but Harry’s dog, Mouse, does, and both Harry and the reader begin to get the impression that Mouse is no ordinary canine.

 

    As always, the story is told in the first-person POV (Harry’s).  The chapters are short-to-moderate in length, 47 of them encompassing 547 pages.  There’s also a quite a bit of cussing, but that's the norm for a gritty urban fantasy.

 

    Everything builds to a climactic and prolonged magical battle.  Our heroes’ plight looks hopeless, but they accomplish their basic mission and flee to fight another day.  Proven Guilty is a standalone story, as well as part of a series.  I definitely recommend reading this series in order.  Harry makes a lot of references to past episodes during this tale, many of which I’d forgotten all about.

 

Ratings…
    Amazon:  4.8/5 based on 1,888 ratings.

    Goodreads: 4.38/5 based on 108,848 ratings and 2,881 reviews

 

Excerpts...

    “You would be wise not to anger me, wizard.  You’re hardly in a position to make demands.”

    “If you were going to kill me, you’d have done it already.”

    Crane let out a rueful laugh.  “I suppose that’s true enough.  I was going to finish you and drop you in the lake, but imagine my surprise when I made some calls and it turns out that you’re …”

    “Infamous” I suggested.  “Tough?  A good dancer?”

    Crane showed me his teeth.  “Marketable.  For an insignificant young man, you’ve managed to irritate a great many people.”  (pg. 271)

 

    “What would happen?” Charity asked quietly.

    “We’d die,” I said.  “We’d be trapped in deep Faerie, near the strongholds of all kinds of trouble, with no way to escape but to try to find our way to the portions of Faerie that are near Earth.  The locals would eat us and spit out the bones before we got anywhere close to escape.”

    Thomas rolled his eyes and said, “This isn’t exactly helping me keep my mind off my fear, man.”

    “Shut up,” I told him.  “Or I’ll move to my second initiative and start telling you knock-knock jokes.”  (pg. 377)

 

“Wizards is the kway-zee-est people.”  (pg. 204 )

    I enjoyed Proven Guilty just as much as the earlier books in this series but I have to admit to finding the ending to be both weird and a bit disquieting.

 

    First of all, it’s a stutter-step ending.  The epic battle of good-vs-evil is over, the good guys make it home safely, yet there’s still a hundred pages left in the book.  I was left wondering what details still needed resolving.  On the plus side, there’s a trial which neatly ties into the book’s opening scene.  Things look bad for Harry and his charge, but impeccable timing saves the day, and Harry ends up with an apprentice.

 

    That's when the weirdness set in.

 

    Harry and Michael engage in a long dialogue about faith versus magic.  Neither changes his view because of this, but it was strange to see Jim Butcher getting just a tad bit preachy.

 

    Then comes an underage come-on scene.  Other Amazon and Goodreads reviewers have pointed out how awkward the whole thing is.  Yes, Harry responds appropriately, but still, it was a yucky touch to an otherwise captivating tale.

 

    Finally, Harry and his former mentor discuss several loose ends that weren’t tied up in the book, including the possibility that there is an unknown “puppet master” who’s manipulating all the strife between the good guys and the baddies.  Is this a teaser for the next book or a recap of just how many details weren’t addressed in this one?

 

    Nevertheless, let’s be clear.  For the first 500 pages, Proven Guilty kept me thoroughly enamored with its tale of the paranormal.  Jim Butcher is an excellent writer and I see no hint of him “just mailing it in”.  The final fifty pages do get a little weird, but that doesn’t ruin the fascinating story he’s laid down up to that point.  I’ll no doubt be reading the next book, White Night, in the near future.

 

    8 Stars.  One last thing.  I liked the mention of a Barnes & Noble bookstore.  Local places to buy books, both new and used, are dying out (where have you gone, Border’s Books?), which is a shame.  Along with libraries, they constitute some of my favorite places to hang out.  It’s nice to see them getting a nod.