Skin Game

A Novel of the Dresden Files, Book 15

By: Jim Butcher

Narrated by: James Marsters

Length: 15 hrs and 49 mins

Publisher's summary

Harry Dresden, Chicago's only professional wizard, is about to have a very bad day.…

Because as Winter Knight to the Queen of Air and Darkness, Harry never knows what the scheming Mab might want him to do. Usually, it’s something awful.

He doesn’t know the half of it.…

Mab has just traded Harry's skills to pay off one of her debts. And now he must help a group of supernatural villains - led by one of Harry's most dreaded and despised enemies, Nicodemus Archleone - to break into the highest-security vault in town, so that they can then access the highest-security vault in the Nevernever.

It's a smash-and-grab job to recover the literal Holy Grail from the vaults of the greatest treasure hoard in the supernatural world - which belongs to the one and only Hades, Lord of the freaking Underworld and generally unpleasant character. Worse, Dresden suspects that there is another game afoot that no one is talking about. And he's dead certain that Nicodemus has no intention of allowing any of his crew to survive the experience. Especially Harry.

Dresden's always been tricky, but he's going to have to up his backstabbing game to survive this mess - assuming his own allies don’t end up killing him before his enemies get the chance.…

©2014 Jim Butcher (P)2014 Penguin Audio

Book Bout- Book Review of Skin Game

Book- Skin Game: A Novel of the Dresden Files (Book 11)
Author-Jim Butcher
Buy It Here- ~$16 http://www.amazon.com/Skin-Game-Dresden-Files-Book-ebook/dp/B00HUVUSZ4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1407159924&sr=8-1&keywords=skin+game
TL;DR-Good, but don't start with Dresden's 11. 93%

Basics-Dresden's at it again! Once again, Dresden is behind the eight ball as Mab has loaned the Winter Knight out to Nicodemus to pull a heist job with some of his oldest worst enemies. Can Dresden be the Winter Knight, somehow not be a monster, complete the heist, and do all this before the psychic parasite in his mind kills him in three days?

Characters- This book is all about the different characters Dresden has meet in all of the previous books. The characters feel like they belong and are written properly compared to the previous books, but do manage to grow and change in this book. That's no easy feat itself. No one feel out of place, and you get enough of an introduction to each character that even if you did something as foolish as read this as your first Dresden Files novel, you wouldn't be completely lost. 5/5

Setting-The Dresden Files have taken place less and less in Chicago over time. While that is not horrible in any way, the original premise of the books was that Dresden was a modern wizard in Chicago. The other places he goes are well described, and I had no problems visualizing them. But, I think things need to go back to the source a bit. 4.5/5

Story-I liked this story, but you can tell it's mostly there to get all the old gang back together. With the exception of only a few major characters, all the boys are back. Not horrible, but the book feels like it has to check in with everyone to hit all the fan favorites. Again, not horrible, but as book series get longer it's a problem that tends to creep into the series. What is here is a fun ride that doesn't feel stupid or stupid for a fantasy book at any turn. The book even has built in "breathing sections" where the readers and characters get to live for a few minutes instead of just run/fight all the time, so the pacing is awesome. Also, the idea of characters questioning if they are evil or good is another well done part of this story. Overall, I like what I see in this book. 4.5/5

Summary-Here's the straight deal-don't just start reading this book. Go read Storm Front if you want to start reading the Dresden Files. It's the first book, so start there. If you like that one, odds are you will like this one, but please work your way up from there. If you loved the previous ones, like me, you will love this one. This book continues a lot of the last book's themes which I enjoy while still delivering the action too. It stands on its own, but don't start here if you can avoid it. As for the book itself, it a great book, but suffers from some of the same problems that most large series do. 93%

Audiobook EXTRA- I've listened to every single Dresden Files book as an audiobook. James Marsters is amazing as a narrator making every single character come to life, so that in and of itself is a reason to get this as an audiobook. 5/5

Dresdyn Fan....bias review

Where does Skin Game rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

I have listened to every one of these books. . . Including the one J.M. didn't narrate. .. but now has... AS for it's ranking, it's good, but not my favorite. I'd say like 9 out of 15?

What did you like best about this story?

I like the unexpected team ups. enough said.

What about James Marsters’s performance did you like?

This guy just delivers. If you've not heard him narrate you need to.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Not without spoilers.

Any additional comments?

The force is strong with this book.

Everything is changing...

while this was a good book, and James Marsters is the ONLY narrator who should do this series, i found myself wishing for more of the 'old' feel of the first 8 or 9 books. as life progresses in this series, it seems to lose more and more of what kept me coming back.
i want more interaction between Mouse, Bob, Mister, Thomas, and Dresden. i was happy to see Michael back with a larger role, but Molly seemed to only have a kind of cameo role, and Toot Toot was only a slight mention.
i was glad to see less of the blood, gut, and gore. graphic details are just not my thing.
i am excited to see what happens with the newest member of the series, though... the Spirit Entity born from the relationship of Lash and Harry after Lash dies in a selfless act to save Harry.
while not the best book in the series, it wasn't a disappointment either...i guess the old saying 'you can't go home again' is true...but i'll just keep 'holding out for hope', just like always.

really good

Would you listen to Skin Game again? Why?

maybe, really gripping story

Who was your favorite character and why?

harry, surprisingly deep characters

Which scene was your favorite?

scene with archangel

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

pretty much, stopping for work and sleep

Any additional comments?

recommended

Worth the wait

What did you like about this audiobook?

Butcher tells a great story. This is a bit of a throw back to earlier Dresden novels where it has the feel of when he was still doing wizard detective work. And the narration by James Marsters is, as always, excellent.

Does the author present information in a way that is interesting and insightful, and if so, how does he achieve this?

Butcher has created a great world that is filled with intelligent and believable characters. You want the books to keep going just so you can find out what's around the next corner.

Love Dresden series, hate waiting for new books

Have you listened to any of James Marsters’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

He nails it every time!

Any additional comments?

We know Butcher always does a great job with the story and the characters. My only complaint is that I want more books out of him. I know I'm selfish. True! But I love it when an author puts out one book a year.

best series ever

Who was your favorite character and why?

Harry. He struggles so hard with the good and evil thing and always comes out good.

What does James Marsters bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

The voices he puts to each person in the book matches better than I think I could come up with.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

Wizzard Runs Wild

Any additional comments?

read the series you will not be disappointed.

Awesome

This is my favorite so far. Jim Butcher keeps getting better every with every book.

Ok for Dresden Story. A little too much religion

Story line prohressing well. Even though the plot centers around certain characters it was a little to religous, almost preachy at times. Happy to see Michael's involvement again .

Butcher Does it Again

Entertaining and hilarious. A beautiful blend of modern bank heists and fantasy fiction. love the magic system at play. The entire series is well worth a listen. 9/10