Book Review: Proven Guilty (Dresden Files, #8)

Author| Jim Butcher
Edition| UK Paperback
Genre| Adult Urban Fantasy
Publisher| Orbit
Related Reviews| Dead Beat
Rating| 4.5 Stars

There may be SPOILERS for the first seven books in this series.  If you aren't caught up, I strongly recommend you do not continue to read this post.

"Blood leaves no stain on a Warden's grey cloak," are the opening lines.  They left a shiver down my back and got my heart racing in excitement for this book.  Proven Guilty picks up some time after Dead Beat and doesn't take its time in getting the ball rolling.  A new twist: Harry finds out about the crime before it happens.  These warnings must be pushed to the side when the daughter of his friend, Michael, calls him for aid.  Soon he discovers that the mysterious evil at work and Molly are tied up.

After Dead Beat, my favorite Dresden novel to date, I think I expected too much of this one.  It wasn't bad, and actually ranks up with the best of them, but didn't compare to the previous one.  Another major downfall was how predictable the story was.  Not in your face predictable, but I had the big twist penned down within the first few chapters.  It's set up well- too well, since all arrows pointed right at it.

There was still major pay off in this book, particularly in the form of old characters reappearing.  A lot happens with the faerie courts, so everyone's favorite Summer Lady and Knight have a rather large role.  Plus, some cameos from other key fey players (Maeve, who's a personal favorite, for one) held just enough tease to get all the fans excited.  And, of course, there's Molly.  She's absolutely fantastic.  I'm fairly certain she'll be upgraded to an even more major character in the next books, and I couldn't be happier.

There's a lot of character development in this one.  Charity gets pages and pages dedicated to an interesting and unexpected backstory.  Thomas starts to drift away from his brother, revealing what really happened at the end of the last book.  Murphy and Harry cement (for now) their relationship.  We finally (sort of) discover what breed Mouse is and he turns on a new level of bad ass.

So, all in all, great book.  As always, I'm looking forward to the next adventure (which hopefully will be soon).