White Night

The Dresden Files, Book 9

By: Jim Butcher

Narrated by: James Marsters

Wizard Harry Dresden must investigate his own flesh and blood when a series of killings strike Chicago’s magic practitioners in this novel in the #1 New York Times bestselling series.

Someone is targeting the members of the city’s supernatural underclass—those who don’t possess enough power to become full-fledged wizards. Some have vanished. Others appear to be victims of suicide. But now the culprit has left a calling card at one of the crime scenes—a message for Harry Dresden.

Harry sets out to find the apparent serial killer, but his investigation turns up evidence pointing to the one suspect he cannot possibly believe guilty: his half-brother, Thomas. To clear his brother’s name, Harry rushes into a supernatural power struggle that renders him outnumbered, outclassed, and dangerously susceptible to temptation.

And Harry knows that if he screws this one up, people will die—and one of them will be his brother...©2008 Roc; (P)2009 Penguin

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

Intrigue in The White Court

First, an update, since no one who left a review complaining of it has done so: The audio file is intact, not corrupt and contains the full contents of the book. I will assume either there was a download problem, or an issue with the hosted file that has since been corrected.

James Marsters has quickly become my favorite Audible narrator. He nimbly performs a wide cast of characters with many distinct voices, many of which are magical, evil or demons - I wonder how many throat lozenges he goes through a book. This is no dry reading, but a one-man show - mostly spent as Harry Dresden the droll, wise-cracking and sympathetic hero.

The pop culture references sometimes get laid on a little thickly, but they serve to ground Harry in the world as we know it, while he moves equally easily through the fantasy around him.

He is a magical Everyman in a world of intrigue among the heavy hitters of the supernatural world. He is increasingly distrustful of his fellow Wizards, targeted by ticked off vampires, training his new apprentice, worried about his brother the White Court vampire's secretive behavior, while he tries to track down the murderer staging the suicides of local women.

Did I mention the fallen angel in his head trying to corrupt him?

I love these books - There is both lighthearted humor, and darker drama - the characters are never just 'one thing' they all develop into multifaceted personalities and their relationships with Harry keep every book interesting.

With every book Harry seems to pick up a new friend to add to the close knit crew who follow from book to book and add to the depth of the underlying story in the series.

FIXED!

Only book in the series I never read all the way through on paper. Can't wait to finish the Audiobook!

The White Night, A Wizard and His Exploits.

Where does White Night rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

It's missing some thing, but it adds to the overall story of the series.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Harry, because the series is from his perspective.

Which scene was your favorite?

The scene at the end where he finds out what his brother has been doing. Or when the go blasting out of the tunnel like a cannonball.

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

Hero, teacher, lover, fighter.

Any additional comments?

I enjoyed this book, listened to it over a period of about a month or so. Easy to follow, and enjoyable.

Good form

Not as good as the first books, but sees to a nontrivial development of dresden.

Great book, great performance

the Dresden Files is one of my favorite series. James Masters makes it come alive.