The Diva Review:
This review is courtesy of guest reviewer, Lore. He's a good writer and a good reviewer. You can trust him, I promise.
If you like detective stories, but feel you are in a rut with the "same old same old," this book may be for you. The main character is this series is Harry Dresden, a consultant for Chicago's Special investigations unit and a free-lance detective… Harry is also a wizard. In fact, Harry is the only wizard to go public that we know of. Yet, in spite of this, Harry is broke as any good gumshoe should be.
In his Yellow Pages ad it says:
HARRY DRESDEN – WIZARD
Lost Items Found. Paranormal Investigations.
Consulting. Advice. Reasonable Rates.
No Love Potions, Endless Purses, Parties or Other Entertainment
So he won't be making balloon animals at your child's next birthday party, but what he can help with is your missing husband. And that is exactly what Monica hires him to do, find her missing husband who has been "fiddling" with magic. Just as he gets that job, the local police call him into look into a suspicious double murder.
The suspicious part was HOW they were murdered and smart, tough Police Lieutenant Murphy knows that Harry is the guy to figure it out. The thing is that Harry's past would make investigating how someone can be killed with black magic a bad idea. Especially with Harry's overzealous warden, Morgan, watching his every move, trying to prove Harry is deserves to be executed for crimes that are hinted about throughout the book.
It does not help that one of the victims was an enforcer for the local mob boss, "Gentleman" Marcone. And for some reason Marcone doesn't want Harry involved with this investigation. The other victim? She was a lady of the evening working for the local vampire Madame. All this in the backdrop of a developing drug war.
All in all, Storm Front is not a bad book. It was recommended to me by a few people that really liked it. However, I found the writing to be unsophisticated and Harry not to be all that likable. The plot was a bit predictable to me, but the addition of magic made it imaginative.
Finally, the supporting characters seemed shallow and undeveloped but with many other books in the series, there is plenty of time for character development…right?
Will I read the next one? Yes. It is already sitting on my Sony Reader waiting for some free time to delve into. I can't give this book a strong endorsement, but it is a quick read and if a detective story with an "anti-hero" that uses magic to solve mysteries is your thing, then get this one.
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