“Turn Coat” by Jim Butcher
Hardcover, 432 pages
Published: April 7, 2009
Purchase a copy of “Turn Coat”
Slice of SciFi Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
“Turn Coat” is the Dresden Files at their very best.
The first week of April is no longer just the time of year to look forward to silly pranks. Now it’s the time of year to look forward to our annual check-in with Jim Butcher’s Harry Dresden.
I’ve said before that I believe Butcher’s series about Chicago-based wizard Harry Dresden to be the best on-going fantasy series on the market today. I’ve even gone out on a limb and said that I think the series is better than a certain other best-selling series about a wizard named Harry.
And with the latest entry, “Turn Coat,” Butcher once again reinforces those assumptions.
When his old nemesis, Morgan turns up on his doorstep, wounded and fleeing the Wizard’s Council, Harry Dresden is caught in a dilemma. Morgan is wanted for a murder he insists he didn’t commit and is asking Harry for his help. Morgan is clearly counting on the fact that Harry will know the horrors of being wrongly accused of a crime and assist him. Morgan is right and before long Harry finds himself drawn into a web of conspiracy at the heart of the Wizard’s Council and battling a shape-shifting monster with supernatural powers far beyond anything he’s encountered before.
In short, it’s just another day at the office for wizard and Warden Harry Dresden.
“Turn Coat” is the Dresden Files at their very best. It’s got equal portions of character development, expansion of the universe and hints about the overall plot arc that has bubbled under the surface since our first meeting with Dresden back in “Storm Front.” Butcher’s strength is that he’s able to take all the recurring storylines and keep them firmly in the reader’s mind without bogging the story down in huge passages of info-dumps. The cues and call backs to previous novels are done well enough that new readers will be able to follow the storyline (though I don’t recommend you start here if you’ve not read the series before. Start at the beginning and savor the journey) while long-time readers will be given a richer and deeper understanding of Dresden and his universe.
All that and I defy you to read put this book down in the last 100 pages. The final fourth of the novel, when events all culminate is some of the most entertaining I’ve read all year. There are a number of fascinating revelations in the final quarter of this book–not just about the central mystery, but also about some long-term storyline events.
It all leads up to one thing–one of the most satisfying Dresden Files novels yet. And a huge empty feeling as I realize I will have to wait until next April for the next installment….
Thanks for the review, Mike. I enjoyed very much the Audio version of this book – and found I couldn’t step away! The characters are great – and there are a couple of essential OMG twists that truly move the story forward. Butcher has finally given in and allowed his recordings on Audible, and James Marsters is the quintessential voice for old Harry. The experience is exquisite!
Treat yourself – on paper, on audio, or both! This is a great romp!
Very nice review, Michael. You think you’ve got it bad? I’m a year behind, because I started reading the series when it was only published in paperback. (I have a thing about continuity of form. Plus, they’re less expensive and more commuter-friendly.) So I won’t get to read Turn Coat until next Spring. Luckily, I’ve also got the next installment of Butcher’s Codex Alera series to look forward in the Autumn, so at least I only have to wait six months for each Butcher fix.
And yes, Lisa, James does a wonderful job on the audiobooks. He was actually how I found out about the series in the first place. Pity the TV series didn’t last long enough for him to do a guest spot.
I lucked into the Dresden files with the second book, Fool Moon and quickly had to put it down, so I could go back and read Storm Front and it’s been a romp ever since. Now I find that a new Dresden novel is just the perfect cure for tax and allergy season. I usually can’t help myself and I have to purchase both the novel and the audiobook, read pitch perfectly by James Marsters of Buffy/Angel fame. I can’t not hear his voice as Harry’s when I read the novelization.
As for Harry, he never has to go far to find trouble and in this case it finds him in the form of one of his most consistent nemesis, Warden Morgan. The interplay between the two is as sharp as ever and mix in Harry’s warlock apprentice, Molly, his dog, Mouse, vampire brother, Thomas, best friend Sgt. Karrin Murphy, a group of Dungeons and Dragons playing werewolves, a beaurocratic and fearful wizard’s council and the rest of the cast of suspects that make up Harry’s friends which put his life in constant peril. Then there are the bad guys…
Jim Butcher seriously raises the stakes for our favorite Private Investigating Wizard and I can’t wait for next tax season! Never thought I’d say that.
Couldnt agree more – Turn Coat is awesome, as per Butcher’s usual level of quality.
The good news is they are releasing the other books that had not previously been recorded as audiobooks, narrated by Marsters. I heard books 9 and 10 were on their way out.