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    Dead Beat
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    Dead Beat
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    Dead Beat
    Audiobook15 hours

    Dead Beat

    Written by Jim Butcher

    Narrated by James Marsters

    4.5/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    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.


    From the Paperback edition.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPenguin Random House Audio
    Release dateApr 15, 2010
    ISBN9781101222300
    Unavailable
    Dead Beat
    Author

    Jim Butcher

    #1 New York Times bestselling author Jim Butcher turned to writing as a career because anything else probably would have driven him insane. He lives mostly inside his own head so that he can write down the conversation of his imaginary friends, but his head can generally be found in Independence, Missouri. 

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    Reviews for Dead Beat

    4.5/5

    2,114 ratings89 reviews

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    • 4/5
      Typical dresden files novel. First one I had as an audiobook, which makes the novel a bit better to me, but I still had no problems putting the book down for two days (!) during the final confrontation (!), so it can't have been too good, can it?

      So, I can see why some people like this series, but it just does not do the job for me. I may keep listening to the series anyway, because I have no better idea what audiobook to start next, but once something more interesting comes along, I will probably drop the series.
    • 4/5
      4.5 stars

      ZOMG! :D

      Another great installment in the series. These books are gradually getting darker, which seems hard to imagine when you think that the first one started with a murder by ones heart exploding out of their chest in a black magic rite, but they are.

      Harry's getting a little fuzzy 'round the edges, and he's being pushed in directions he's been determined to never go out of necessity. Does that make him bad, or just human? I'm not sure, but I love him either way.

      AND! This book had ZOMBIES.



      Yet again Butcher rocks my socks with his unique spin on been-there-done-that stuff. He gave me absolutely the best of both worlds with his zombies - relentless, killer, is-that-what-my-tibia-looks-like fucking zombies, but with a different purpose and focus. His take on necromancy and control was awesome. Loved it. LOVED IT.
    • 4/5
      [Cross-posted to Knite Writes]This is probably the most epic installment of the series yet, and that’s saying something. Butcher manages to take characters from several books ago — Thomas, the Alphas, Butters, Morgan — and integrate them into the plot line in a way that keeps them relevant across time and lets them develop further as characters in their own right. It’s really hard to take so large a cast of characters and keep all of them relevant and constantly developing as the overarching story plot progresses, but Butcher has shown he is very good at it in the past — and this book is probably his best show of skill yet.Along with the recurring characters, we yet again have a host of new characters brought in to provide us with fresh powers, motivations, and expanded world-building, and like usual, Butcher’s new characters are very well thought out, three-dimensional, and interesting. No flat, stereotypical antagonists here. No meaningless one-off side characters that don’t add anything to the story verse. All of Butcher’s characters fit flawlessly together in this complex world he’s built over the past seven books, and I admire his efforts to keep them all interacting so smoothly. Impressive feat.Once more, Butcher has wrapped the overarching storyline around the individual book plot in a spectacular way — he never, for a second, forgets what has happened in previous books, and he interweaves the natural progression of past events into the current events in ways that realistically impact his characters at this present point in time. The world never shrinks. The plot of a single book never branches off entirely from the plot of the whole. Everything builds upon itself, and every book gives you a broader view of a vast and complex world that started off as nothing but “Chicago with a wizard” way back in Storm Front.Great work again, Butcher.
    • 5/5
      More books should have t-rexes and polka in them.
    • 4/5
      This book introduces 6 dangerous necromancers, including the insanely powerful Cowl. They are seeking The Word of Kemmler, a book containing the teachings of their old master, and it's Harry's mission to stop them. A very good read.
    • 4/5
      I thought the Halloween setting would be gimmicky but it works surprisingly well. Stakes are raised, and power shifts. Thomas increasingly becomes my favorite.
      (I actually finished this yesterday, but had a lot of things going on...)
    • 5/5
      On a re-read, this one really stands out. This is the first time I said, "Wow, that's a really well-written line" for one of Butcher's books. It's a really tense read, and Butcher introduces some really *big* elements to the overarching plot. Also, Waldo Butters--a minor character who appeared once before this--is elevated to a much more important spot. He's so good.
    • 3/5
      Guess it was time we had one that involved zombies...
    • 3/5
      3.5 stars. Is this a filler book? It feels like a filler book. The previous 2 books were terrific, this one didn't do much for me.
      However it still had great moments and the ending was quite good.
      Hoping it picks back up in the next book.
    • 4/5
      I really liked the character of Butters - no magic skill, no particular courage, yet with Harry's support and friendship, he faces his fears and comes to Harry's assistance more than once. It was a nice was for Mr. Butcher to illustrate just what kind of man Dresden is. Once again there is an impossible situation where Harry has to save the day and this one includes lots and lots of zombies...
    • 4/5
      Another fun run with Harry Dresden! A humorous and quick moving story with plenty of action. It tells its own tale, though I found the initial hook a little weak, but still propels the greater Dresden Files plot along. Always a good time with Jim Butcher.
    • 5/5
      This seventh book in the Dresden Files series, took me along a roller coaster ride tread by many of the fans, yet managed to make the experience nearly pristine and virginal. The book was at first a slow starter, then became a precocious child, then became an overacheiver, then, a late bloomer. The entire novel were the work of a workaholic, of that I'm sure. The series follow a formula only in the broadest sense of the word. I wish to tell Jim Butcher to ditch his cliffhangers. I mean, by that, his tendency to put Dresden in a dead end and have him rescue by a providential arrival - here, once, by a Deus Ex Mafia. Not all such rescues are humdrum, though. When the hero is saved by Butters, it made for inspired writing. But I leave the benefit of the doubt to the author, who knows about his audience, more than I do, and knows on which side his bread is buttered. Dead Beat is startlingly different in raw ideas, from its precedents. The vampires set the ball rolling, and referee the majority of the death counts, but they are mostly off screen. The one vampire in the book, Thomas, is there, is interesting, but does not help much. There are new and newer characters to make up for that. The Book Of Kemmler is a book within a book. The entire show runs round it. And one of the characters is fiction within a fiction. The best thing about book seven is that the layers that form part of the novel are available at first reading. I took great enjoyment from it. Dresden's hero complex is dealt with, with care, restraint, artfulness, and thoughtfulness. The plot coupons and twists in the book are well timed. I think the reveals, which are different and self sufficient (not depending on previous ones), enhance the craftsmanship of the author, who, in retrospect, I'm seeing growing with his main character. All of the annoying twinges of previous books have been erased, at least in my book. If this book were a brochure, I'd buy everything in it. It's that good.
    • 4/5
      Six-word review: Halloween nasties challenge Harry and friends.Extended review:He just can't help himself. Jim Butcher. Like a hungry vampire, he gets hold of a word or expression and he just can't stop himself from using it over and over and over again. Repetitions swarm like swarms of swarming insects.I can't be the only one who's bothered by this. Maybe, though, I'm one among a small number who make compulsive notes about it. Old editorial habits do die hard.In the seventh tale of the Dresden Files series, which is replete with snarls (47 times) and growls (32) and numerous other animal-noise substitutes for "said," Butcher is plagued by hordes of word zombies, mindlessly commanded to appear in force.And they do seem to be unstoppable.Butcher has shed the very odd "quirked an eyebrow" that quirked several earlier volumes. Now eyebrows, which seem to have a life of their own, are constantly arching as if of their own volition: someone (usually Harry Dresden) arched an eyebrow (just one eyebrow) 25 times.In fact, there's a lot of ocular activity. Someone blinked 54 times, 56 if you include "blinking." (I do most of my word checking and counting using Amazon's marvelous "search inside" feature; I don't actually log them all by hand. Honestly I don't.)And despite all the noisy vocalizations, for some reason the author gets a run on "quietly" in dialogue tags ("he said quietly"). Not only does he use it 62 times--an average of once every eight and a quarter pages--but it appears six times on two facing pages (356 and 357) and four more over the next few.Maybe it's unusual enough for anything to happen quietly in a Dresden book that it must be remarked on again and again.Dammit, though, he gets the novels written--averaging more than one a year since the first of the Dresden Files series came out in 2000. If he doesn't take the time to go back and comb the text, refining it with judicious excisions and elegant variations, well, maybe that's the price of churning them out at a steady rate while compulsive types like me can't actually write to the end of anything and call it finished.And I keep reading them, despite these quibbles, because they're entertaining escapism, done well enough to hold my attention and not insult my intelligence.That's a kind of repetition I can applaud.
    • 5/5
      I really liked this book! Butcher's books are always a quick read, but keep me interested until the end. So good!
    • 5/5
      Tyrannosaur Bob!
    • 4/5
      Necromancers trying to gather power and Dresden starts to get recognised by the White Council. Interesting as this series moves more into the grey areas of power.
    • 3/5
      This is a much stronger book than the previous few books. The last few were so focused on vampires, which aren't really my thing. This one is about zombies and necromancy. Some bad wizards are after a book that will help them get unlimited power and Harry has to get it before they do. Enjoyable and easy reading but more complex internal issues being worked.
    • 4/5
      Another fantastic addition to the series. In this installment I really felt sorry for Harry, he has been put through the ringer on so many different levels. In the last book his hand was rendered useless from being severely burned, and in this one he has a shurikan wound in his opposite leg. This is a terrible combination from a less severe experience of my own, and can say that I really sympathize.
      One thing that I don't fully comprehend is the passage of time in this plot, and I think that I've missed something in-between books.

      Bob the skull was really scary in this installment, and had the creeping willies from his recovery of memories of a former owner. This section is where you would want to fact check, and I did do that about WWI. I learned so much about this topic. Thank you, Jim Butcher, for peaking my interest in the history aspect of your books.

      Also glad to see that the puppy from the last book has turned into a great and terrible beastie. He is a very funny character, and I enjoy the comedic relief he brings to the series.

      Also "Polka will never Die!"
    • 3/5
      I really don't know why I am still reading this series, maybe it has something to do with the fact that the first couple of books managed to get me interested and since that I ended up borrowing a whole bunch of them from a friend of mine so that I could see how the story panned out. Anyway, I suspect that this is what Butcher wanted, namely to get people hooked on the first few books, and then we end up buying the rest of the series (and if I were Butcher, I wouldn't be complaining).To be blunt, by this book the series is starting to sound like a soap opera, and in fact the discussions that Harry Dresden has with some of the recurring characters are really starting to get melodramatic. For instance, when Harry tells Thomas, who happens to be his brother, despite the fact that Thomas is a vampire, of the White Court no less (and they are vampires that feed on human emotion), that he has to call in the wizard's council to deal with this monumental problem (and they get even more monumental as the books progress) that Thomas has to stay right out of the way.Basically, Harry is approached by another vampire (of the Black Court, and I still don't actually know what they feed on, as it is not blood, because the Red Court feed on blood) and asked to get this book that was written by a necromancer. However, a bunch of other necromancers also want this book because Halloween is coming up, and Halloween is when necromancers start getting up to mischief, and because the necromancers are getting up to mischief, Harry has to step in an stop them, despite the fact that it is more than he can handle, and he is simply some private detective that hasn't had sex in a very long time (though the fact that he is a magician does set him apart from other private detectives).Things are starting to get a little complicated in this book though because you have the vampire that we thought was dead, but is not, and we have some demon posing as a woman to try to get Harry to serve him, and we have the fairies trying to recruit him as a knight, and also we have some forensic scientist questioning Harry's sexuality. In fact I actually wonder what this whole thing about Harry being questioned as to whether he is gay or not is about because the one thing that I didn't think Harry was was a homosexual, and the guy that suggests this seems to pull it out of thin air.Okay, there are morons out there than simply do not understand the nature of sexuality, and as such constantly fire blanks about whether somebody is a homosexual or not, but to be honest with you, the one person that didn't seem to be like that was Butter', the character that raises this question. I guess this is one of the things that people raise with regards to Butcher's writings, and that is fact that he seems to be very, very, interested in sex (maybe he is not getting enough of it, though I must admit that he is nowhere near as bad as Piers Anthony).
    • 4/5
      Definitely a fitting book to be reading around the Halloween holiday as it deals with zombies and dark magic. Fitting that Harry, guardian of right, should stumble across such dark themes in this book. I quite enjoyed the book, though I missed Harry's interaction with Murphy. The twists and turns Butcher has included into the book caught me by surprise while I read it, though some I should have seen coming. Definitely worthy read.
    • 5/5
      Well, this turned out to be my favourite so far in the series. All the world-building has really come to fruition by now, lots of old familiar faces, both friend and foe, and the consequences of choices made books (or in universe, years) ago are coming back to haunt Harry too.

      And while not all the faults of the early books have disappeared, they're as likely to be lampshaded directly by the character as hanging out there annoying me.

      Writing wise, this is one of the tightest plots yet, it doesn't meander around and it makes sense, in universe. Harry's decisions are both believable and still in character, something Butcher doesn't always pull off, but it works really well in this book.

      And Bob! Wearing a dinosaur named Sue! Brilliant!
    • 4/5
      As Harry Dresden progresses, the books becoming larger and larger. I thought there was a loss of pace in a few places (the the final pages made up for that). Otherwise, like all other books from this series, not terribly original but well written entertainment.
    • 4/5
      Harry Dresden battles necromancers together with his vampire half-brother, a cowardly medical examiner, a zombie T-Rex, and of course Harry's faithful Foo Dog. All the books in this series are reasonably similar, but the characters are fun enough to carry the story-lines. Butters gets a little annoying at times, but he is somewhat redeemed at the end. Mouse is a great addition to the cast too - he may not have a speaking role, but he still manages to be engaging, especially in his hero-roles. The audio-version is highly recommended - James Marsters is an excellent reader.
    • 5/5
      Such awesome new characters were introduced this book. I was kinda sad at the lacking of murphy (she took a trip at the start of the book), but the new characters and the chance to expand existing ones more than made up for it.
    • 5/5
      Butcher manages to find new ways every time to create trouble for Harry and not have it seem like 'been there done that.' Implications the White Council isn't all it seems, changes Harry's going through, and a hint of romance to boot. Bring it on!Great evolution of characters in this one. We still get action and suspense, but we also get to know the characters better and see how they've changed. At the same time, the larger arc for Harry continues to develop. But I feel sorry for him sometimes! He continues to get banged up, attacked from multiple direction, and the pace of events is unrelenting. Which for the reader is awesome. For Harry, not so much.Harry is definitely the flawed hero, and at times even a dark hero. His choices can be questionable. He has weaknesses that get him into trouble -- too often. But why oh why, Harry, did you say yes? No spoilers here, but dear Harry, you know that's going to bite you in the ass, and probably sooner than later...A fantastic, wild climax, everything you want, and still laugh out loud funny. The wrap up was a bit briefer than I'd like, but that's mainly because I'm waiting to see what happens to certain people. I know they'll be addressed in the next book -- I hope!I must say--and I should have said this in one of my earlier reviews for this series -- that I highly recommend starting this series from the first book. While Butcher does give brief reviews of the basics of the story world and how Harry's magic works, etc., there is a larger story arc that unfolds gradually, a little bit in each book. If you started a few books in, or say, in book #6, you'd miss a lot of the implications of what was going on, you'd be missing an understanding of the characters and how they developed, and certain revelations or events wouldn't have as much meaning for you. It's even possible you wouldn't understand what's going on -- though I can't say for sure, since I'm reading them in order. So, do yourself a favor and start from book #1. You'll enjoy the series all the more -- and I bet you won't be able to stop there!
    • 4/5
      I've given these books 3 stars overall, but this one gets four stars because of the most awesome climactic twist in the history of everything.
    • 4/5
      I continue to enjoy this series and while I don't think they will ever give me the 5 star literary tinglies, these books have improved to be not only enjoyable but also interesting. For the first time I found myself eager to get back to listening to the books rather than just using them to occupy the higher functions of my brain while I work.
    • 5/5
      This is a very fine example of the Dresden Files series.
      Dresden is on his own, as Murphy is away on holidays and Michael is not available, when an old enemy threatens someone close to him. As he tries to deal with that threat, a whole new group of baddies arrives and Harry struggles to get on top of the situation (even to work outwhat the situation is).
      Throw in some zombies and vampires, as well as some temptations to power, and Harry is facing overwhelming odds (as usual).
      There are also a few surprises for Harry.
    • 4/5
      Seven books into the series and I have no intention of stopping. The Dresden Files never ceases to amaze me with it's complex and intriguing plotlines, badass characters, and truly horrifying bad guys. It doesn't get any better than this. Harry Dresden highlights different "sidekicks" in all of his adventures, in Dead Beat his trusty dog, Mouse, and his cowardly coroner friend Butters are his main pals, although his newly discovered brother, Thomas, helps out when he cans. Harry's old nemesis, Mauvra, has tasked him with finding the Word of Kemler otherwise she will turn over his best friend, Karen Murphy, to the police with some incriminating photos. Of course, things aren't that "simple." Harry quickly learns that a bunch of necromancers are in town looking for the same item and to top it all off it's almost Halloween. Things are going to get a whole lot more worse before they get better, but good ol' Harry will muddle his way through it and use his sense of humor as his greatest weapon (not!). Always a good read and impeccably narrated by James Marsters!
    • 4/5
      Another great entry in the Dresden files. Butcher has found a way to make Harry encounter something different and unique in each volume of this series, all the while making Harry a more interesting, complex, and growing character at the same time. Very well done and very entertaining. Harry is becoming very powerful, and it will be very intriguing to see how he handles it.