Title: Skin Game
Author: Jim Butcher
Type: Novel
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Summary: Harry Dresden was Chicago’s only professional wizard detective. But then he made a deal with Mab, Queen of the Winter Fae, and became her knight, murdered his lover to save their daughter Maggie, died, came back, orchestrated the death of Mab’s possessed daughter, lost his former apprentice Molly to the Winter Court as her replacement, and imposed an exile on himself to a magical, dangerous island in the middle of Lake Michigan. And that was before this book.
Mab calls upon Harry’s services to help square away one of her debts to Nicodemus Archleone of the Knights of the Blackened Denarius (holders of one of Judas’ thirty pieces of silver that each contain a fallen angel), one of Harry’s deadliest foes. Worse still, the job is to help Nichodemus break into Hades’ personal vault and steal the Holy Grail, thus potentially incurring the wrath of the Greek Underworld. The rules of the Fae bind Harry to helping Nicodemus see his plan through, but Mab reminds him in private that the gloves are off once the deed is done. In short, she wants Harry to burn Nicodemus and burn him hard.
With the help of his cop not-quite-lover Karrin Murphy, a retired Knight of the Cross and family man Michael Carpenter, his friend-coming-into-his-own-in-a-supernatural-world Waldo Butters, some unlikely allies from the past, and even some supernatural allies, Harry makes good on his promise and gives Nicodemus a burn that he will never forget. But Harry must also come to terms with not only becoming a part of his Maggie’s life, but actually give birth to another daughter that was the product of a fallen angel’s shadow inside his head. Even for Harry Dresden, this set of days is far from typical.
The Dresden Files has been my favorite series for a long time for its voice and witty dialogue, the world it builds, and the memorable characters, but even this blew my standards away. This is the first one in a while that has been pure unadulterated fun; the past few books have had rather bittersweet endings that felt rather soul-crushing, but not Skin Game. This one actually offers hope for the future of these characters and introduces some really fun ones as well. There’s plenty of action, no shortage of drama and intrigue, and plenty to make this a must-read for fans of the series. And if you haven’t started the series yet, well, what the hell are you doing with your life?
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