Dead Beat

I've made it to the halfway point of The Dresden Files series. I'm still a little worried about completing this in time for my book club. Especially since I am now constantly being distracted by wedding planning things. But if I buckle down, I think I can still do it.

Thankfully, the seventh book is way better than the sixth book was. This one deals with necromancers, and it returns to the style of the second book. Rather than dealing with three different plots simultaneously, Harry has to face a single problem with multiple enemies. It gives the book a nice sense of focus. Not that I'm complaining about all the plot heads butting heads in previous books; that was exciting in its own way. But it was nice to get something a little different.

Not that there was nothing else going on. This book continues with some threads from previous books that will likely show up again in the future. The war with the Vampiric Red Court is still going on off page, and we get a recap of a rather large battle that may represent a tipping point. Harry is also still dealing with the fallout of facing the Fallen Angels a few books previously. There isn't a lot to these plots in this book, but it's nice to be reminded that they're still simmering along in the background.

Meanwhile, this book focuses almost solely on necromancers, which means lots of ghosts and zombies. The climax of this book features the coolest zombie I will probably ever encounter in fiction, and it may be worth reading just for that. Once again, Dresden's inventiveness pays off in a really exciting way.

I'm glad this book was so much better than the last. I'm excited about the series again. Here's hoping for more like this, since I still have to read six more books in 2.5 weeks.

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