Ghost Story

A Novel of the Dresden Files

By: Jim Butcher

Narrated by: James Marsters

Chicago wizard Harry Dresden gets a taste of the dead life in this novel in the #1 New York Times bestselling series.

In his life, Harry’s been shot, stabbed, sliced, beaten, burned, crushed, and tortured. And after someone puts a bullet through his chest and leaves him to die in the waters of Lake Michigan, things really start going downhill.

Trapped between life and death, he learns that his friends are in serious trouble. Only by finding his murderer can he save his friends and move on—a feat which would be a lot easier if he had a body and access to his powers. Worse still are the malevolent shadows that roam Chicago, controlled by a dark entity that wants Harry to suffer even in death.

Now, the late Harry Dresden will have to pull off the ultimate trick without using any magic—or face an eternity as just another lost soul...

Critic reviews

Praise for the Dresden Files

“Think Buffy the Vampire Slayer starring Philip Marlowe.”—Entertainment Weekly

“Fans of Laurell K. Hamilton and Tanya Huff will love this series.”—Midwest Book Review

“Superlative.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“One of the most enjoyable marriages of the fantasy and mystery genres on the shelves.”—Cinescape

“Butcher...spins an excellent noirish detective yarn in a well-crafted, supernaturally-charged setting. The supporting cast is again fantastic, and Harry’s wit continues to fly in the face of a peril-fraught plot.”—Booklist (starred review)

“What’s not to like about this series?...It takes the best elements of urban fantasy, mixes it with some good old-fashioned noir mystery, tosses in a dash of romance and a lot of high-octane action, shakes, stirs, and serves.”—SF Site

“A tricky plot complete with against-the-clock pacing, firefights, explosions, and plenty of magic. Longtime series fans as well as newcomers drawn by the SciFi Channel’s TV series based on the novels should find this supernatural mystery a real winner.”—Library Journal

“What would you get if you crossed Spenser with Merlin? Probably you would come up with someone very like Harry Dresden, wizard, tough guy and star of [the Dresden Files].”—The Washington Times

Ghost Story - now with more substance

I've listened to both this version and the version that Glover narrated, Marsters IS Dresden, hands down. There is just something that he does when narrating this series, the inflection and tone of each phrase. The almost surreal quality that he brings to the table when describing flash backs or supernatural events makes Marsters the master at characterization and personalizing Butchers written word. Glover did well, but Marsters rocked this like a diamond boss. The book itself? Well, Stars and stones! It's DRESDEN! I think that anyone from Sidhe to human would agree that Butcher writes more than "just" contemporary fantasy. Butcher writes pure unadulterated transendentalism. So listen to it, you'll love it and you'll want to read or listen to every single one available.

Soapy and verbose at times, yet not bad overall.

If you are in love with this book, please read no further as you may find my review offensive...

Without going into too many details (and spoilers!), the book felt overly verbose for me. The author's imagination is undoubtedly rich and well developed, yet at certain points it feels like he's paid by word. Mr. Butcher also tends to assume he knows more about fighting than the reader, which can be annoying if said reader _actually_ knows how it works (of course, that's the problem with most urban fantasy writers who are mostly nerds after all). Unlike most of the other authors within the genre, he doesn't overdo it though.

There are too many of those recalls to past events (as if the reader has serious issues with his or her memory and constantly needs a refresher), reiterations of the principles and thoughts already covered earlier, and an over increasing tendency to be melodramatic that now reached a cheesy soap opera levels. There are also way too many flashbacks in this boom, some of which feel awkward at best (I think I understand why they are there, but in the form presented to us they feel somewhat out of place)...

HOWEVER...

Despite all of my petty grievances stated above, all in all I see this book as a decent attempt at pulling the series from a nosedive, and the narrator continues to do a great job. The introduction of unseen earlier (at least, not at this level) plot twists, picked up loose ends, and boosted character development for the main "cast" feel like a liberating fresh wind that brings about with it a hope that the series will continue and even improve with consequent installations of the story.

Oh, and the mental warfare defensive scene alone strokes my own inner nerd enough to forget about most of the annoying moments. ;)

OMG OMG OMG! Thank you thank you!

Any additional comments?

I find it difficult to put down Glover's performance, as a narrator he did great. But, Marsters is Dresden. It is amazing that this was done for us listeners. Thank you, to everyone who made this happen, and thank you to Glover for giving us his great performance while we waited for this!

Fantastic novel

This as is in the other books to the serious was fantastic amazing in fact would recommend to everyone

Thanks for the re-recording. It's so much better!

Thanks for listening to the fans of this series. John Glover did a good job on the first one, but James Marsden is the voice of Dresden and catches all the subtle nuances of his personality and mannerisms.

The story is great and the performance is perfect.