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Dead Beat

The Dresden Files, Book 7

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Dead Beat

By: Jim Butcher
Narrated by: James Marsters
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About this listen

 “The wildest, strangest, best Dresden adventure to date...Butcher’s blending of modern fantasy with classic noir sensibilities ensures that there’s never a dull moment.”—SF Site

Paranormal investigations are Harry Dresden’s business and Chicago is his beat, as he tries to bring law and order to a world of wizards and monsters that exists alongside everyday life. And though most inhabitants of the Windy City don’t believe in magic, the Special Investigations Department of the Chicago PD knows better.

Karrin Murphy is the head of S. I. and Harry’s good friend. So when a killer vampire threatens to destroy Murphy’s reputation unless Harry does her bidding, he has no choice. The vampire wants the Word of Kemmler (whatever that is) and all the power that comes with it. Now, Harry is in a race against time—and six merciless necromancers—to find the Word before Chicago experiences a Halloween night to wake the dead... Fantasy Fiction Mystery Private Investigators Detective Paranormal Wizardry Magic Users

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
All stars
Most relevant
James Marsters is a fantastic narrator, I felt this performance was more fluid than some of his past efforts. I'm dedicated to hearing all of the Dresden files.

Best so far..

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This is the first book that starts the series rocketing into greatness. The past books are all great individually, but in this one; new characters have their roles fleshed out and begin to provide the story a lot of weight. I love listening to this series from this book onwards.

The ball really gets moving in this book

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I've enjoyed all of the Dresden Files to date in ebook form (waiting on the next one) and Mr Marsters' voice in now the one I hear when reading them again. He has increased his range of voices for different characters since doing Storm Front and now it can be easy to forget that it is a single narrator.
I particularly enjoyed the sequence with Sue (and that is as much as I'm going to say about it, those that know probably agree with me, those that don't are in for a treat).

James Marsters is Harry Dresden.

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#teambutters
An easy listen. The story draws down on the established world building. It’s fun to have the greater wizarding community involved.
Pleasant change to not have the abrasive Murphy in the story for once.

Butters is the best sidekick!

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This was my favourite book of the series so far. Great pace.
I I I

Favourite So far

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Beautifully narrated by James Masters, Dead Beat by Jim Butcher, is an enjoyable & exciting ride from start to finish. Enjoy! :-)

Excellent audio-book

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Enjoying the Dresden Files. This is my favourite Harry Dresden book so far. 8 to go.

Favourite

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My favourite in an excellent series. Marsters does a fantastic job of bringing the characters to life, even as the characters give life to rampant hoards of undead.

Polka will never die!

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Loved it, though there seems to be a glitch part way through that scrambles up one sentence.

Glitch?

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An ancient vampiric foe blackmails supernatural PI / wizard Harry Dresden into locating and retrieving a necromancy book for her. Normally, this task wouldn’t be too hard for Harry’s abilities but, unfortunately, he isn’t the only one seeking the book and soon Harry and his allies are knee-deep in necromancers all vying for the book and all keen to see Harry dead in the process. Luckily, he’s got a t-rex handy that might help even the score!

Another enjoyably busy and fast-paced Harry Dresden plot with multiple characters all with their own agendas. I would have given this 4.5 stars but there is a point where Harry could have quite easily foiled the necromancers’ dastardly plans and, for the sake of spinning out the story for many more chapters, he doesn’t—that was a big plot hole! I like Harry and I’m enjoying his expanding allies, powers and abilities, but I am getting so tired of his prehistoric take on women, Harry calls himself chivalrous but really it’s just chauvinism. I partially blame Bob the talking skull, they both egg each other on. Butters was a great new character and loads of fun: “Polka will never die!” 🎧 US actor James Marsters really performs his heart out on this one. There are loads of character voices, both male and female, and James handles them all with flair.

Polka and a t-rex—you can’t ask for more!

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