Ghost Story (The Dresden Files #13)

**SPOILER ALERTS!**
When we last left gumshoe wizard Harry Dresden in the 12th installment, he’d been shot. GHOST STORY, the 13th installment of the highly-acclaimed Dresden Files series, picks up the story following the shooting.

Harry’s dead. Now he’s a member of the Afterlife, and with this volume we learn the supernatural has more layers and complications than the EPA Manual. Ghosts. Shades. Wraiths. Lemurs. Hoods. Ectomancers. Harry has encounters with them all while he fights the clock to find his real killer, and–perhaps–earn a chance at mortality again. (Wow, like that’s a surprise.) He’s being a ghost while learning on-the-job, discovering he has lost his magic. . .only to find out he can recover his powers via memories. . .yet he can only use it against supernatural beings–not humans. The installment is a build-up to the big fight against a villain we’ve encountered in a previous volume; the battle is a confusing and befuddling mix of who’s-doing-what to whom. And suddenly, we come across an almost forgettable scene when Harry remembers who his killer really is. . .and it rings as hollow as my sugar jar.

We do get to meet a few characters from the series, and two of them–Molly, Harry’s apprentice; and Murphy, the former Chicago PD officer–have been an absolute mess since Harry’s demise. Harry also saves another previous character, Mortimer, who has only briefly appeared in another volume, for reasons we’re never made to understand. The book does attempt to redeem itself in the end, when Harry is allowed to look in on his brother, Thomas, and Justine, the love of Thomas’ life, but the poignant scene is not enough to salvage this hackneyed train wreck. And of course we have the Winter Fairie Queen Mab swoop in during the final pages to pull Death from Harry’s soul and restore his mortality so that living Harry can go on as her Winter Knight. Talk about power. I’ve loved these books since the beginning, but I hope author Jim Butcher can get his groove back on. With the absolute mess GHOST STORY is, I’ll be reaching for the next volume with 100% trepidation.
~D. Mikels, Esq.

First off, I dont think that this is a bad book, just the worst out of a great line of books in this series. The bar has been set high by Jim Butcher and he’s not always going to meet or exceed that. With that said, the premise of this book is a hard one to write a plot or narrative off of as the entire setup of the book is anticlimactic and inherently not that exciting. However, it does serve has a setup for what is to come, so I am anticipating a strong follow up book and story to the foundation Jim has laid in the Ghost Story

Ghost Story unfortunately is not Butcher at his best, which is a shame because I loved Changes, the volume that immediately precedes this one.

Good things about this story.
I really like how it explores various characters in the aftermath of Changes. A lot happened in that book and it was bound to have an effect in characters we know and love.

Not so good things about this story.
The plot is pretty hard to get involved in. There is a huge side plot with an elaborately drawn out new character which is then tied up in a little bow and discarded.
There is a lot of manufactures attempts at humor by putting Dresden in situations he isnt prepared and watching him fall on his face.
The conclusion reveals an old nemesis who Harry is facing again for reasons unknown and unexplained.

Its not really bad, but Butcher can do Dresden better than this.

Jim Butcher definitely make a great ghost story but sadly as far as finding out who killed Dresden was short sighted. Made the rest of the book lame. One thing that was fun about Dresden was his cleverness to get out of impossible situations which is fun to read but not to the point were he just tries to cheat. All it does at this point is say that it doesn’t matter how moral you are, your going to do evil to others or to yourself. Disappointing, sadly Jim Butcher made Dresden just a typical wizard just like his white council which makes this character boring and just another dime a dozen character. Though he does fix the story a bit in skin game which is why I’m putting 3 stars.

Even though I knew there were more books coming and even though the narrator won’t die in the end (mostly because he already is dead), this book was seriously hard to put down. Harry was murdered and has been sent back as a ghost (hence the story’s title) to find out who killed him. He’s been told that if he doesn’t, three of the people he loves will be changed or destroyed so the pressure is really on.

Since he’s been dead for months, the bad things have started happening already and Harry needs to get busy. It’s the kind of story that keeps you guessing and no matter how many times you think you’ve got a handle on what the end is going to be, you don’t.

Seriously love this series and hope he’ll write more. This is one I could read forever

Galaxyaudiobook Member Benefit

- Able to comment

- List watched audiobooks

- List favorite audiobooks

- Bookmark will only available for Galaxyaudiobook member