Dead Beat cover art

Dead Beat

The Dresden Files, Book 7

 Preview
Try Premium Plus free
1 credit a month to buy any audiobook in our entire collection.
Access to thousands of additional audiobooks and Originals from the Plus Catalogue.
Member-only deals & discounts.
Auto-renews at $16.45/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Dead Beat

By: Jim Butcher
Narrated by: James Marsters
Try Premium Plus free

Auto-renews at $16.45/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for $26.99

Buy Now for $26.99

About this listen

When a killer vampire threatens to destroy head of Special Investigations Karrin Murphy's reputation, unless Harry delivers the powerful Word of Kemmler to her, he has no choice. Now Harry is in a race against time to find the Word before Chicago experiences a Halloween night to wake the dead.

Check out more Dresden Files.©2006 Jim Butcher (P)2010 Penguin Fantasy Fiction Mystery Private Investigators Detective Paranormal Wizardry Magic Users

Critic Reviews

"Butcher's latest maintains the momentum of previous Dresden outings and builds the suspense right up to a rousing conclusion." ( Booklist)
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..

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
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

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
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.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
#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!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
This was my favourite book of the series so far. Great pace.
I I I

Favourite So far

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Beautifully narrated by James Masters, Dead Beat by Jim Butcher, is an enjoyable & exciting ride from start to finish. Enjoy! :-)

Excellent audio-book

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Enjoying the Dresden Files. This is my favourite Harry Dresden book so far. 8 to go.

Favourite

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
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!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Loved it, though there seems to be a glitch part way through that scrambles up one sentence.

Glitch?

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
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!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews
In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.