Dresden Philes

Front cover of Turn Coat

Turncoat


Main Characters:  Harry Dresden, Karrin Murphy, Ebenezar, Listens-to-Wind, Molly Carpenter, Donald Morgan, Thomas Raith, Billy Borden


Favorite quote: “It’s my natural good looks,” I said. “I could make athlete’s foot endearing, if I really had to.” (p. 72)

 



Some in the White Council have long suspected that there was a traitor in the organization.  Now Harry has less than three days to find the traitor or Harry, Molly, and Donald Morgan will die. 


When Morgan shows up on Harry’s doorstep injured and on the run from the Wardens, the smart thing to do would be to turn him in.  Harry always does the right thing, so he hides Morgan and sets off to prove Morgan is innocent.  Ok, Harry always does what Harry thinks is the right thing, not necessarily the smart thing.


Harry is attacked by a creature he deems Shagnasty, a skinwalker.  The creature wants Morgan, but despite being beyond Harry’s ability to fight, he refuses.  He, with the help of the Alphas, is able to wound it enough to chase it off, but it results in the death of one of Alphas.  Harry, of course, blames himself.


The overarching plot of the series is not advanced in this book.  Although a traitor is revealed, there is some question if that was the only one.  Harry makes another questionable decision that is likely to become a major plot point in future books, whether for good or evil remains to be seen.


This book packs even more action into it than a normal Dresden book.  He fights the Shagnasty multiple times, bounty hunters looking for Morgan, and of course the traitor is trying to keep Harry from revealing the big secret.  The end battle is even of the epic sort, so multiple bad guys and Harry has many allies. 


The feel of this book was that it is a setup for future books.  While good in its own right, this makes it somewhat disappointing, as you do not get the nicely tied up ending of most of the Dresden Files books.  Still it is an excellent book and Butcher delivers his normal great character interaction.