Book Review: Cold Days by Jim Butcher

Cold Days is the fourteenth book in the Dresden Files series by Jim Butcher. If you have not yet started this series, do not start here, you absolutely need to begin at the beginning. Do not feel daunted by the number of books in the series, or fear that the quality will have started to slip, or that the effort will not be worth it. Go get Storm Front and read it now, and while you are at the library or bookstore pick up Fool Moon and Grave Peril too, since you will just want to keep going as soon as you get started. This series is one that just gets better with each book! This is a series that deserves its own shelf in your personal collection- and brings out the occasional fan-girl squee from this reader.

That being said, readers of the series will know from Ghost Story (book 13) that Harry Dresden, my favorite wizard for hire, is not only alive but also carrying the title of Winter Knight and in the service of Mab. However, he is still the Harry we know and love, just with the added challenge of battling the instincts of Winter, which urge him to do things more in line with Mab's ideals than his own. Harry's first job as Winter Knight after surviving Mab's idea of rehabilitation just happens to be killing an immortal. Of course, nothing is that simple in Harry's life. Not only does he need to do the impossible by killing an immortal, he also is beset by new enemies, discovers a larger plot to release evil and destruction on the world, and the knowledge that anyone around him could be tainted by evil. Just an ordinary day in the life of Harry Dresden.

If you love the Dresden Files series, you will continue loving the series with Cold Days. Harry's desire to save the people around him, and the world in general is still going strong. His wit, one liners, and self-deprecation is still going strong as well. Several of our favorite characters make appearances, and we get a glimpse at just how complex the world that Butcher has built through this series has become. I do not want to give away any of the details- because it would just take away some of the joy that comes with reading it and being blindsided along with Harry. The stakes are rising, and I will not lie, the ending of Cold Days only makes things more complicated and left me incredibly eager to see what awaits Harry (and readers) in book 15.

Dresden fans that were disappointed with Ghost Story, have no fear! Cold Days is one of the best books in the series. Read and enjoy, just make sure that you leave yourself enough time to read in just a couple sittings, or you will be greatly annoyed with necessary interruptions. And again, if you have not yet enjoyed any of the books in this series, go get Storm Front now and start reading!