Great Fantasy Book – Turn Coat by Jim Butcher
Reviewed by Debbie
Turncoat is the 11th book in the Dresden Files series but for this reviewer it was the first. I had never read any of the books but I have watched the television show and absolutely loved it. Usually, if I come across a book based on a TV show I only read it after I’ve first watched it on TV. I am officially breaking my usual routine because I am going to read every book in the Dresden Files series even though it’s not on TV any more. Also, you should know that although I’ve not read the first 10 books in the series, I perfectly understood what was happening in this story.
The book opens with Dresden answering a knock at his front door finding his worst enemy, the Warden Morgan, injured and begging for help. The most fun was reading the thoughts that popped into Dresden’s head because I would have been thinking the same things had I been in his situation. In the end, his constant need to do what is right takes over and he decides to give the guy a chance to explain himself. Once his enemy has recovered enough to talk, he tells Dresden that he has been falsely accused of murder and he needs Dresden to investigate what is going on. Dresden decides to help, for now…
Dresden knows this case is going to be tough but, when he is attacked by a Native American skin walker that no one can defeat, he knows that he has bitten off more that he can chew. He barely escapes from this attack and loses some very good friends in the process. But, he knows that the Warden is innocent now and he will do whatever it takes to keep an innocent man from being executed – even if that same innocent man tried to have him executed years earlier for a crime he did not commit. There is a traitor on the Wizard White Council and Dresden has to find out who it is to clear Warden Morgan and prevent a war between the councils that could turn everything they know upside down.
The author did an excellent job of keeping the reader informed of who people were and how they fit into the overall picture, which is why I was able to completely understand the story as I read. I had seen the television show based on the books but there is absolutely no comparison between the two. The books are much better than the show ever was so, as I mentioned earlier, I am quite glad that I finally read one of the books. I can now read the other 10 books in the series and I’m happy in the knowledge that the author, Jim Butcher, has mentioned the possibility of over twenty books in this series before he is done. Nice to know that my reading pleasure will continue for some time to come.
