Category: Branches Books

The Death Relic – Chris Kuzneski

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The Death Relic by Chris Kuzneski helps me pleasantly procrastinate! 

So yesterday morning I was all set to write a nice post about how it was the first day that I had done my Kundalini, Weights and Band morning exercise routine in about a month. I was going to writing about how I made it through the routine with a minimal amount of coughing and even was able to end with a nice 15 minute meditation. Then I’d write how I was able to make a nice strawberry, blueberry, banana smoothie and sit down and read with no grandchildren to babysit! The reading part was what did me in The Death Relic  by Chris Kuzneski took over and wouldn’t let me breakaway. Even though the pages were flying by time was still marching on, and I was not writing!! I finished just before lunch and I still hadn’t written anything….I’d done some laundry and the dishes, but no writing!! Then it was afternoon and I rationalized that I shouldn’t really write about the morning now! Before I knew it, it was four o’clock and time to go pickup up Oliver at the sitters and take him to his mommy, who works in Cherry Hill.  Bottom line was that I had successfully put off writing all day and I continued to procrastinate all night until it was time to turn in. So while I am not going to write any more about the exercising or meditation from yesterday morning, I will tell you a little about The Death Relic.

The Death Relic (Book 8 of 2016) ****

The Death Relic is book seven in the Jonathan Payne and David Jones series from Chris Kuzneski and it’s a good one! Well all three of the ones that I’ve read so far a have been excellent!! I love the way that Kuzneski always blends history into his novels. In this adventure the reader learns a little about the Spanish conquistadors and the Mayan and Aztec civilizations. and is treated to a modern-day mystery!

The action starts when Maria Pelati an Italian archaeologist whose specialty is early Christianity is offer a job with a famous archaeologist who has made a recent find in Mexico. Soon after meeting her new employer Terence Hamilton he is kidnapped from the hotel where Maria is staying. When Maria returns to her room see finds that it has been vandalized and her passport has been stolen. Frightened and alone she turns to old friends Payne and Jones for help. Jonathan and David are soon on their way to rescue the fair Maria and if things go well maybe David can rekindle his hot romance with Maria!! But soon the question becomes who kidnapped Terrence and why?  Searching the back of Terrence’s car they find, various Mayan artifacts and a crate full of weapons, including AK-47s! Stuck between them is an envelope with a diary telling of the destruction of the Mayan’s world by  the Spanish!! But the question is how does it all tie together??

Bottom line: The Death Relic is a strong four-star book for me. I love the characters of Jonathan Payne and David Jones but of which are vividly drawn. Maria Pelati is a character who Payne and Jones have met before in the book The Sign of the Cross (Book #2 of the series) and many loose ends tied up from that book are wrapped up in The Death Relic. You don’t really need to read The Sign of the Cross to enjoy The Death Relic. I had read  the book, but it has been so many years since I had read it that I only have vague memories of the book, but Kuzneski does a good job of filling the reader in on what happened. Anyway, the book and the series comes highly recommended so – check it out!! As for me I have not yet read The Plantation book one in the series so yesterday I bought the e-book at Amazon for $4.99 – how could I pass it up!!

Author Lisa Gardner pretty much sums up the way I feel about Chris Kuzneski’s books….

“Chris Kuzneski has mastered the art of the quest novel, bringing to life lost treasures, exotic locales,and fresh conspiracies”

 

Signal – Patrick Lee’s Latest!

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Patrick Lee Author of Signal

Signal – Patrick Lee (Sam Dryden # 2) ****

Patrick Lee has a penchant for writing thrillers with a bit of science fiction weaved into the storyline. His last two books Runner and  his current release Signal, both feature Sam Dryden and ex-special forces operative battling forces against advanced technologies. My first encounters with the works of Patrick Lee was the Travis Chase trilogy which included The Breach, Ghost Country and Deep Sky. In that series The Breach sends artifacts and people back and forth through a time portal. In Signal, Dryden confronts a machine that receives signals from the future!

It’s been two years, Sam Dryden has been quietly getting his life back together, after his adventure that was described in the book Runner. He is quietly working on houses and flipping them, when he gets a call from an old friend. He needs to meet her in the Mojave Desert as quickly as possible. When he meets his former friend Claire Dunham, he is taken to a trailer in the desert where a child molester is holding four young girls captive. One captive has just called 911 and the molester has caught her. He is ready to set his trailer on fire when Dryden rushes in and kills the molester. How did Claire know to be there just in the nick of time She had heard about it from a machine in her possession that receives news report from the future!! In the future report the girls had died and the molester escaped!! Now the girls had been saved by these two unknown heroes!! FBI agent Marnie Calvert wants to know who these folks are, she discovers Sam’s identity tracks him. Soon all three are being chased by a third party, who wants this technology all to themselves, so much so that they have wiped out Claire’s place of work. Claire through her boss has the only working copy of the machine which her company created  The machine has now fallen into Sam’s hands. Can Sam, Claire and Marnie stop their enemies from eliminating them and Claire’s machine? Even more importantly can Sam stop the enemy from gaining sole control of the machine to use as they please!!!!

All of Patrick Lee’s books are filled with lots of action, as the highly skilled Sam Dryden, or Travis Chase, fight their battles. Most of the time they need to use both their physical and mental  skills. Here’s what some folks say about Patrick Lee’s Runner.

“An amazing, high-speed, high-octane novel that moves faster than most people read. There has to be a better word than “thriller” to describe Runner. How about thillingest” – Nelson DeMille

“Pure adrenaline rush!” Finally an action packed novel brimming with complete characters as well as genuine heart. Not to be missed!” – Lisa Gardner

Bottom Line – The above quotes can be used for either Runner or Signal. The story moves at a pace that is well non-stop and it has enough twists and turns to keep the pages turning! And the machine itself – is it possible?? Could we receive radio signals through neutrinos from the future? Cue the Twilight Zone music!! Who knows? Anyway, it’s just a flat-out good story so check it out!! Oh and while you’re at it check out the Travis Chase series, too!!!  Book 46 (on a goal of 51) of 2015

Links for the Further Exploration of Patrick Lee

Website
Facebook
Twitter
Amazon
Goodreads

Silent Creed – Alex Kava

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Silent Creed – Ryder Creed #2 – Alex Kava

In the middle of all the chaos last week, I still managed to finish my second book of October — Silent Creed by Alex Kava. It helped that this one was a real page-turner!

This is the second novel featuring K9 handler Ryder Creed, and once again he teams up with FBI profiler Maggie O’Dell. Their first pairing was in Breaking Creed, and it’s been a thrill watching this partnership evolve — Maggie has been one of my favorite characters through eleven thrillers.

The Story

Ryder and Maggie are both called to a government research facility in Haywood County, North Carolina, after torrential rains trigger a massive landslide. Creed is tasked with searching for survivors, but when one of the recovered bodies turns out to be a scientist who was shot, Maggie is brought in to investigate.

Under perilous conditions — from unstable terrain to people desperate to keep their crimes hidden — Maggie and Ryder soon find themselves fighting for their lives.

Real-Life Inspiration

Alex Kava is a self-described news junkie, and she weaves real-world events into her novels. In Silent Creed, she draws from actual search-and-rescue deployments by the National Disaster Search Dog Foundation, whose teams have responded to disasters around the world — from the 2015 Nepal earthquake to the 2011 Joplin, Missouri tornado.

Kava also incorporates fascinating historical facts, including U.S. government testing on unsuspecting soldiers, citizens, and even schoolchildren during the 1950s and ’60s. These details add depth and intrigue to the story.

And yes, I still have a soft spot for Grace, Ryder’s little Jack Russell Terrier — she’s as tenacious as ever.

The Bottom Line

Silent Creed delivers an engaging storyline, high stakes, and great characters. The chemistry between Maggie and Ryder continues to intensify, adding another layer to the action and suspense.

If you haven’t yet met Ryder and Maggie, you can start here, but I recommend beginning with Breaking Creed to get the full impact of their partnership. And if you just want to stick with Maggie, her solo series is well worth exploring — she’s faced some of the most dangerous criminals (and situations) in the genre.

Book 41 of 2015

The Poacher’s Son – Paul Doiron

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Paul Doiron – The Poacher’s Son – (Mike Bowditch #1) – Maine Game Warden

 

Paul Doiran - The Poacher's SonA while back I saw an ad on a sidebar at Goodreads.com for a book called The Precipice by Paul Doiron. I read that the book was part of a series that features Mike Bowditch who is a Game Warden in Maine. Since I am a big fan of another game warden Joe Pickett who resides out in the great state of Wyoming, I figured that this book would be right up my alley. When I went to Goodreads to find our more about Mike Bowditch, I discovered that The Precipice is the sixth book that features him as the main character. Since the series is not all that new i.e there are less than ten books in the series, I figured that it would be best to go back to the first book and start the series at the beginning and start reading the series with book one, The Poacher’s Son. So that’s what I did and I am glad that I did! The Poachers Son was a great read!

The plot of The Poacher’s Son begins when Mike misses a call from his father, who he hasn’t had contact with for two years. His father leaves a message that he needs Mike’s help! The next morning discovers that a police officer and a business man have been shot in the northern part of Maine, where Mike’s dad lives. His father is the prime suspect and when he was detained for questioning, he attacked the arresting officer and escaped into the woods, after crashing the police car and leaving the officer for dead. Mike is about the only person in the state that believes that his father is innocent and as he sets out to prove it his whole life starts to unravel!

The Poacher’s Son is an award-winning book among the awards it won were;  the Barry Award and the Strand Critics Award for Best First Novel, an Anthony Award, a Macavity Award, and a Thriller Award for Best First Novel, and the Maine Literary Award for “Best Fiction of 2010.”. It was nominated for an Edgar Award, and PopMatters named it to its Best Fiction of 2010 list.

Bottom Line: The Poacher’s Son was an outstanding novel dealing with not only the mystery surrounding the brutal murders, but also with Mike and his father Jack’s relationship. Andre Dubus III says this about the novel….

“With precise and evocative prose, Paul Doiron weaves a riveting tale set deep in the wilderness that can be the tenuous bond between father and son. This is a compelling, moving and utterly impressive debut”

and Nelson DeMille writes:

:The Poacher’s Son is one of the best-written debut novels I’ve read in years. The story has it all – a great plot. a wonderful Maine woods setting, a truly remarkable and believable cast of characters”

I liked everything about this book, the setting,  the main characters and the intricately woven tale of belief in a parent, that you feel guilt over not liking, but yet would do anything to save!! Rating **** plus!

So check it out! As for me I have to check out book #2 in the series The Trespasser!!  Move over Joe Pickett and make room for Mike Bowditch on my bookshelves!

Links for Further Explorations of Paul Doiron and Mike Bowditch

Authors’ Website
Twitter
Facebook
Amazon
Goodreads: Paul Doiron
Goodreads: Mike Bowditch

 

Book 31 for 2015 – 17 on a goal of 23 in my Clock and Dagger Reading Challenge!!

The Stranger- Harlan Coben Thrills Us Again!!

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The Stranger – Harlan Coben Book 27 of 2015

 

In 2001, Harlan Coben‘s first stand alone thriller Tell No One was released. I read the paperback version in November of 2002, it was terrific and since then I haven’t missed one of his thrillers! There are few authors, who can take an ordinary person, and turn their world upside-down like Harlan Coben. He does just that in his latest thriller The Stranger.

Adam Price is living the American dream in his wife’s hometown of Cedarfield, NJ (While locales in Coben’s books are typically real, Cedarfield is a fictional town!). . He is a successful attorney with a beautiful wife,Corrine a school teacher. They have two great boys, Ryan and Thomas, who both play lacrosse, while mom serves as the treasurer of the local lacrosse organization. But on the night of the draft and the selection of the traveling team, Adam’s life starts to spiral out of control, when a Stranger approaches him and reveals a startling secret. Two years earlier Corrine had faked a pregnancy! The Stranger tells him “You know you didn’t have to stay with her” Adam eventually confronts Corrine who suddenly leaves her husband and kids telling Adam not to search for her, she needs time to sort everything out! Yeah, like that’s going to happen!! Soon Adam is on a quest to find his wife and put the pieces of his shattered life back together again!!

Adam has all sorts of questions to answer. How did the Stranger know about the pregnancy and why did he tell Adam? And why did Corrine fake the pregnancy in the first place?? And most of all where the hell did she go?? Why did she leave  him, but most importantly how could she leave her boys!!

Harlan Coben’s descriptions of life in the burbs, especially how it is among those whose children compete on traveling soccer or lacrosse teams is spot on. And while there is a certain sameness to his books, a fairly simple incident thrust someone into a life changing situation, he still makes each book exciting and interesting, No one twists and turns his way through a book like Harlan Coben and in The Stranger he certainly does that! Here’s what some others have to say about The Stranger.

 ‘With clever use of technology, convincing characters and a strong emotional heart, you’re effortlessly swept along to a tense and dramatic conclusion. Smart stuff from a classy operator.’ — Deirdre O’Brien SUNDAY MIRROR

‘The master of the twisty psychological thriller is back with another awesomely gripping mystery.’ — Boyd Tonkin HEAT

‘The twists come satisfyingly thick and fast as the plots merge before the tangled web of evens unravels into an enjoyable and somewhat surprising conclusion.’ SUNDAY EXPRESS

So check out The Stranger or any other book by Harlan Coben! You won’t be disappointed!!

Links for Further Explorations of the Works of Harlan Coben

Harlan Coben’s Website
Wikipedia:Harlan Coben
Goodreads
Amazon
Review at NJ.com

P.S. I particularly enjoyed the cameo appearance of an unnamed participant in Adam’s basketball game!!

Bowl of Heaven-Gregory Benford & Larry Niven

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Bowl of Heaven – Gregory Benford and Larry Niven – (Book 25 of 2015)

 

It took me almost two months to finish Bowl of Heaven the collaborative effort from two of Science Fiction’s best authors Gregory Benford and Larry Niven. The reason is that while I was reading Bowl of Heaven I started several really good books, those boos caught and kept my attention, causing Bowl of Heaven to be continually put aside. The book never really hooked me, I didn’t really care about the main characters and it seemed that most of the story was just,, well quite simply, boring. But by the time I got to page 300 I thought I might as well finish the damn thing.The book is the first of two books the second is titled Shipstar and the question I face now is do I want to go on and read the second book in hopes that it is better than the first one??

Bowl of Heaven

From:gregorybenford.com

The story follows the flight from Earth of the Sunseeker which is on a mission to a planetary system named Glory that is potentially an earth like system. On their way, they encounter a Big Damn Object (BDO)a bowl like structure that has captured a sun and uses that sun to power the bowl. Around the rim of the bowl there are lands that are earth like, with oceans, and continents but on the size of planets. The crew of the Sunseeker decide to investigate the world and sends a shuttle down to the surface. First they have to cut their way into the world, only the wall of the bowl, self repairs leaving part of the landing crew trapped inside the bowl. The remaining members of the crew are then captured by the Bird-like Astronomer Folk. Over the remainder of the book the first crew is on the run trying to avoid being captured or killed. They are led by the crew’s biologist Cliff Kammash. The second crew is led by the love of Cliff’s life Beth Marble also a biologist. Her crew is kept for a while by the Astronomers and analyzed by Memer and Attendant Astute Astronomer. Eventually they too escape and are on the run from the Astronomers!

The first problem that I had with the book was believing that the two crews could survive,outwit and outrun the makers and pilots of this BDO! The second was that I really didn’t care whether the crews got away or not because I didn’t like any of the characters! Throughout most of the book the crew members are either running, eating, sleeping or thinking about sex! It was either boring or annoying, particularly when Cliff slept with a team member Irma, so much for worrying or being faithful to the love of his life, Beth!

I also had a problem wrapping my head around the Astronomer Folk – birdlike creatures who both talk and express themselves through their plummage! I has problems seeing them piloting spacecrafts even though they were described as having finger like claws I just couldn’t picture them, plus I didn’t feel anything for them either bad or good!

Bottomline: I give Bowl of Heaven a 2 out iof 5 rating. I did make it through the book and somehow I am actually contemplating reading the second book! I think it’s just so I can see if I really did waste my time with book one! Hopefully the second book is much better and this book was mostly setting the stage for a terrific conclusion! My worst fear though is that Shipstar is as boring and lackluster as Bowl of Heaven and I have wasted double the time!! Maybe what I do is start Shipstar and if it’s not noticeably better in the first 50 pages walk away from it!! Anybody have any thoughts on either book??

Watching You -Michael Robotham

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Watching You – Michael Robotham (Joseph O’Loughlin #7)

 The Story

As Watching You begins, Marnie Logan has problems her husband Daniel has been missing for a year and times are tough. Her missing husband  Daniel left a pile of gambling debts behind and Patrick Hennessey a mobster wants to collect. So Marnie is forced to take a job at with an escort service to help settle her debt and pay her bills. One night she meets and saves a businessman from committing suicide. She collects no money from the distressed John. Her pimp beats her! The next morning his body is fished out of the river. He has been stabbed and killed by a kitchen knife!

This isn’t the first time that something bad has happened to Marnie and revenge has been taken on the perpetrator! Is Marnie making these people pay or is it someone else? Maybe someone who has been watching over Marnie and her children. Maybe it’s the man who has recently helped her daughter Zoe or her son’s secret friend?? As Joe and Victor Ruiz try to unravel the mystery the situation only gets more cloudy, until the explosive ending!!

The Press for Watching You…

“Robotham slowly, expertly begins tightening the screws…Revelations increase rather than release tension until the last page…It will be a long time before memories of this one retreat back into the shadows.”——Booklist (starred review)

“Full of surprises. Well written and slightly creepy, it will keep readers intrigued to the final page.”—Library Journal (starred review)

“[A] commanding book with an ending that’s sure to give even the most jaded reader a shock”—Publishers Weekly

 

My Take on Watching You

Rating : 4.5 out of 5 

 

Joe O’Loughlin, for me, is one of the most interesting characters in the mystery and thriller genre.Joe’e life is anything but perfect he suffers from Parkinson’s Disease and it is a constant battle for Joe to keep his body doing what he wants. And Joe;s dedication to his patients and their troubles has torn his family apart.

In Watching You Joe is faced with a challenging client in Marnie Logan a seemingly loving mother with a missing husband trying to get her life together. Only problem is that Marnie does experience unexplained “blackouts” sometimes losing substantial periods of time! Could Marnie have anything to do with her pimp’s murder? Joe doesn’t think so but the detective assigned to the case and former detective and Joe’s friend Victor Ruiz are not so sure, and neither is the reader!!

I have read all the books in the series and they are all great especially the series opener Suspect and Book #3 Shatter.. The characters and the story lines are always well above average! So Check out Watching You which I think stands on its own and then go back and read the other books! You won’t be disappointed!!

 

 

Dance of Death – Preston & Child

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Dance of Death – Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child

Book 6 of Pendergast Series Books 2 of Diogenes

 

So I am not sick that often so when I am I really hate it!! The last two days have been spent nursing a bad cold. Yesterday I flt like I had been run over by a Mack Truck, Today I was better and the damage was done  by a pesky little Mini-Cooper which I believe just keeps circling the block and running me over just about the time that I think that I have this thing knocked!!

The only good thing about yesterday was that I finished Book 21 of 2015 Dance of Death by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child. Dance of Death is Book # 6 of t  the Aloysius Pendergast series and the second book to feature his twisted  sibling Diogenes. Dance of Death, along with The Book of Death and Cemetery Dance. I thought were the books in the trilogy that features Diogenes Pendergrast. Aloysus’ evil sibling.. Not!! In actuality, while Dance of Death is Book 6 and The Book of Death is Book 7, Cemetery Dance is Book 9!!

About Dance of Death

It didn’t take long  while I was reading Dance of Death to realize that it was the second book in the sub-series, but by the time I did figure it out, I was engrossed enough in the book that I just kept reading!! Actually Book 5 of the Pendergast series and Book 1 of the Diogenes series, Brimstone is also on my TBR pile. Needless to say it is one of the books that I plan to read in May. In fact I am already on page 74!! Dance of Death is only the third book in the Pendergast series that began with Relic which is the first Preston & Child book that I have read. I read it back in 1997 ,when it was only two years old!!  The last one I read was Still Life with Crows (Book 4). Both books were great!

Other Books I’ve read By Preston and Child

But while I have not kept up with the Pendergast series, through the years, I have read other works by these authors. One of the books is Book 1 of the Gideon Crew series Gideon’s Sword, which they co-authored. The other three books that I read were all from Douglas Preston two novels Mount Dragon and The Codex and one nonfiction work The Monster Florence which chronicles Preston’s real life adventures with a serial killer in Italy, which even resulted in his arrest!! (Note to self- there are no Lincoln Child books on your Goodreads bookshelf, get cracking!)

The inside flap of Dance of Death describes the book perfectly

Two Brothers,
One a top FBI agent,
the other a brilliant,
twisted criminal

An  undying hatred
between them,

Now, a perfect crime.

And the
ultimate challenge:
stop me if you can….

Bottom line:

Dance of Death is certainly a four star plus book (out of five)  for me. Aloysius Pendergast is certainly one of the most original and well-drawn characters in the mystery genre! Why I have let these books sit on my TBR pile for so long is beyond me!! I think I say that every time I read one of these books! Let’s see there are 14 books in the series. I have read 3 of the books that leaves 11 unread. At the rate of one book a month, I should be almost a year catching up on the series!, at which time, I’m sure there will be a new book or two!

Links for Further Explorations of Preston & Child

The Official Website of Preston & Child
Facebook
Amazon: Preston & Child<
Amazon: Lincoln Child
Goodreads: Douglas Preston 

Hard Rain – Barry Eisler (John Rain # 2)

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Hard Rain – Barry Eisler – Book 9 for 2015

 

It’s been a while since I visited Japan and the world of assassin John Rain. In fact it’s been so long that I have forgotten most of what happened in Rain Fall, Book 1 of the Barry Eisler series, when I started Hard Rain Book 2 in the series. What I didn’t forget was that the half-American, half Japanese Rain was a killer and a good one. What he is particularly good at is making his hits look like the victim died of  “natural causes” I also remembered that he has rules, no children, no one else is involved except rain and his client, and the victim has to be a principal, someone of importance!

When Hard Rain opens John Rain has left his Tokyo home for Osaka and is considering getting out of the business. But a former nemesis from the Japanese FBI, Tatsu doesn’t want him to retire, in fact, Tatsu has a job for him. The hit is on an assassin at large, who unlike Rain has no rules and kills indiscriminately.  Before Rain will take the job though, he goes to Tokyo to determine how difficult the hit will be. When Rain arrives in Tokyo he meets with his friend, a hacker, named Harry. Harry has a new girlfriend that seems way out of Harry’s league and that doesn’t sit well with Rain. Rain’s first assumption is that someone is setting Harry up, as he investigates he discovers Harry is also being followed,,,,,, soon Rain is sucked back into the world of violent criminals, and US government officials. The hit may be the most difficult  that Rain had ever faced and the deadliest!!!

John Rain is one of those characters that I would never like in real life, but hey, when he is going up against the Japanese underworld, and shifty CIA agents I’m going to root for the guy! He’s loyal to his few friends and he knows his job, as does Barry Eisler. Eisler does a great job of making Tokyo come alive and the descriptions of Japanese culture, the fights and surveillance tactics were great. The one thing that did bother me  was that Rain dispatched more people than I thought necessary, Not that they didn’t need it!

Bottom Line: Hard Rain is a solid four stars (really liked it). I like John Rain and will continue to read the series, which is now up to book 8. I book 6 Requiem for an Assassin is on my TBR shelves but I do think I will try to read the books in order! I  also hope I can shorten the time between visits with Mr. Rain!

Storm Front (Dresden Files Book #1) – Jim Butcher

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Storm Front- Jim Butcher

Storm Front Book #1 of Jim Butcher’s Dresden Files series, is the fourth book that I have read in 2015.

This is the first of Jim Butcher’s books that I have read. Reading Storm Front counts as a book read for several of my 2015 Reading Challenges. First  Storm Front has been on my to be read (TBR) pile for several years now (don’t ask me why!!) so it fits into the TBR Pile Reading Challenge. It is a murder mystery so it count toward my goal for the2015 Clock and Dagger Reading Challenge. And since Storm Front features Harry Blackstone Copperfield Dresden, a wizard  and the series spawned a TV show on the SciFi Network it definitely belongs in the Science Fiction/Fantasy category!

Harry’s ad reads….

HARRY DRESDEN – WIZARD
Lost Items found. Paranormal Investigations
Consulting. Advice. Reasonable Rates
No Love Potions, Endless Purses, Parties, or Other
Entertainment

 The Story

In Storm Front, Harry  is called in by Chicago Police  Lieutenant Karrin Murphy, director of Special Investigations to help solve the gruesome murder of Tommy Tomm, bodyguard for Chicago mobster Johnny Marcone  and Jennifer Stanton an employe of The Velvet Room escort service. (their hearts were ripped out) in the Madison Hotel. That same evening, Harry is contacted by Monica Sells to help  find her husband  Victor,  who just packed some things and left his home. Monica believes, that his disappearance has something to do with his new-found interest in magic, hence she has called on a wizard rather than the police to help find him!!

Since the murders required some very powerful black magic, Harry has become a prime murder suspect, not of the police (at least at first) but by the White Council that watches Harry and other wizards to assure that they do not bend or break any of the Laws of Magic! If the White Council finds that Harry did commit the crime he would have broken the First Law of Magic and would be executed!!  So Harry is soon on the trail of  a very powerful practitioner of black magic maybe even a little more powerful than Harry but without they years of training or the willingness to obey the Laws of Magic!!

My Take on Storm Front

Obviously this debut book was a winner and has led to a succesful series that now stands at 16, soon to be 17 books. Book 16 Skin Game finished at #3 in this years poll at Goodreads for the Best Fantasy Book!

I love Storm Front both as a murder mystery and as a suspenseful fantasy novel  with a great lovable protagonist in Harry Dresden battling some pretty challenging demons!

Bottom line: Storm Front

Bottom line: Storm Front is certainly a very strong 4.5 to 5 star book! A well crafted fast-paced page turner that works as both a mystery and fantasy book with a wonderfully humorous main character! I am definitely ready for Book 2 Fool Moon!!

Post Update 2026

By the time I read Storm Front in 2015 there were 15 books in the Harry Dresden series! And sadly I haven’t read any of them! I guess I need to create a new Reading Challenge!

Series Links

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About Jim Butcher