Turn Coat

by Jim Butcher

Book Overview

Jim Butcher's breakthrough #1 New York Times bestseller starring Chicago's only professional wizard, Harry Dresden. When it comes to the magical ruling body known as the White Council, Harry is thought of as either a black sheep or a sacrificial lamb. And none hold him in more disdain than Morgan, a veteran Warden with a grudge against anyone who bends the rules. But now, Morgan is in trouble. He's been accused of cold-blooded murder--a crime with...

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0451462815
• ISBN13: 9780451462817
• Release Date: March 2010
• Publisher: Ace Books
• Length: 576 Pages
• Weight: 0.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.5" x 4.1" x 7.4"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

The Best Dresden Files (So Far)

The first week of April is no longer just the time of year to look forward to silly pranks. Now it's the time of year to look forward to our annual check-in with Jim Butcher's Harry Dresden. I've said before that I believe Butcher's series about Chicago-based wizard Harry Dresden to be the best on-going fantasy series on the market today. I've even gone out on a limb and said that I think the series is better than a certain other best-selling series about a wizard named Harry. And with the latest entry, "Turn Coat," Butcher once again reinforces those assumptions. When his old nemesis, Morgan turns up on his doorstep, wounded and fleeing the Wizard's Council, Harry Dresden is caught in a dilemma. Morgan is wanted for a murder he insists he didn't commit and is asking Harry for his help. Morgan is clearly counting on the fact that Harry will know the horrors of being wrongly accused of a crime and assist him. Morgan is right and before long Harry finds himself drawn into a web of conspiracy at the heart of the Wizard's Council and battling a shape-shifting monster with supernatural powers far beyond anything he's encountered before. In short, it's just another day at the office for wizard and Warden Harry Dresden. "Turn Coat" is the Dresden Files at their very best. It's got equal portions of character development, expansion of the universe and hints about the overall plot arc that has bubbled under the surface since our first meeting with Dresden back in "Storm Front." Butcher's strength is that he's able to take all the recurring storylines and keep them firmly in the reader's mind without bogging the story down in huge passages of info-dumps. The cues and call backs to previous novels are done well enough that new readers will be able to follow the storyline (though I don't recommend you start here if you've not read the series before. Start at the beginning and savor the journey) while long-time readers will be given a richer and deeper understanding of Dresden and his universe. All that and I defy you to read put this book down in the last 100 pages. The final fourth of the novel, when events all culminate is some of the most entertaining I've read all year. There are a number of fascinating revelations in the final quarter of this book--not just about the central mystery, but also about some long-term storyline events. It all leads up to one thing--one of the most satisfying Dresden Files novels yet. And a huge empty feeling as I realize I will have to wait until next April for the next installment...

Excellent and Enjoyable

Butcher does everything right in this novel. The scary stuff is actually scary. The moral dilemmas aren't easy or clear cut. You don't like all the characters, but how Harry Dresden interacts with them is wonderful. I wish I could read more books like this one. An intelligent plot, lots of action, and triumph and failures of good people. This one is worth the money folks.

The end of the beginning

Over the course of the last few books, the Dresden Files has been steadily upping the ante for our pal Harry Dresden. He has become a Warden, picked up an Apprentice, triumphed over Hellfire, captured the attention and respect of an Archangel and shown significant signs of growth as a Wizard. Harry has grown so much that by Turn Coat, the series has really come full circle in many ways. In Storm Front, Harry was the suspected Warlock who had to prove himself to the Wardens, specifically Morgan. It was Morgan who had to pull Harry's butt out of the fire. Now, ten books later and at roughly the halfway point in the Dresden Files (according to info at his site), it is Morgan who is the suspected Warlock/traitor to the White Council, and it is Harry he comes to to pull his butt out of the fire. Morgan shows up on Harry's door, looking like death warmed over and barely able to speak, but what he does say is like a bombshell dropping: he is a hunted man, accused of murdering a member of the Senior Council. So begins the best Dresden Files book yet. Turn Coat is everything I expected, and more, it is everything I hoped for. It has been the worst kept secret of the series that a traitor was lurking in the highest echelon of the White Council, and the unveiling of that traitor is very well done. The highest compliment I can pay to Butcher is that he genuinely kept me guessing until he wanted us to know. The ultimate reveal is handled with complexity and a laudable maturity of authorship. Many of the usual faces return for Turn Coat. Molly, Mouse, Thomas, Murphy, Morgan, Ebenezar, Luccio, the Alphas and Toot-Toot!! all have feature supporting roles, (though Ramirez is surprisingly absent since the book is so much about the Council) and of course, they are all as excellent as ever. Other characters we have already met, but know little about, such as The Gatekeeper and Injun Joe, are explored in more detail. I do not know about anyone else, but this book is worth it for Listens-to-Wind alone. He is just an amazing Wizard, and I look forward to seeing him more in later books. Add in some quality Gatekeeper conversations and a real look at what just some of the Senior Council can do in action, and you really have as much Wizard action as ever before. And they are really only a very small fraction of the goodness that is Turn Coat! Ultimately what I am most impressed by is how much Butcher is willing to change the "status quo". There are some major shakeups in Turn Coat, and somewhat of a change in direction for the series. As Bob the Skull says, Harry has really started playing in the Big Leagues. His power and abilities are increasing, but so are the threats he has to face, as the world around him is getting nastier and more perilous every day. I compared Grave Peril to the second season of Buffy once, similar in how both characters really grew up all at once. I would compare Turn Coat to the fourth season of Angel: a movement away from the more s

Turn coat, turning point

Morgan has always been a major thorn in Harry Dresden's side. So of course, he appears on Harry's doorstep, half dead and convicted of murder. But that's only one of the problems facing Jim Butchers wizard PI in the eleventh Dresden Files Book,. The aptly named "Turn Coat is half whodunnit and half magical thriller, with plenty of explosive magic, hard-nosed wizards, deadly conspiracy and plenty of grotesque monsters and vampires. What's more, Butcher pulls some brilliant plot twists out of his hat, including some that are sure to wrench the heart. An injured Morgan turns up at Harry's door, hunted by Wardens and convicted of murdering Aleron LaFortier for the Red Court. Even worse, it's an airtight case against him. But Harry can't bring himself to believe that Morgan could ever do something treacherous (even if Morgan is a big bottom-pain). His investigations take him on an unpleasant tightrope to vampire hangouts and the Council HQ, where he learns that LaFortier's death could -- if left unpunished -- lead to a very messy civil war between the weakened wizard factions. In other words, the Black Council is making a move. And Harry has problems close to him as well -- a price on Morgan's head, the Binder's ectoplasmic hordes, and a chilling immortal monster of Native American legend called a naagloshii (skinwalker). When the naagloshii kidnaps Thomas and trashes the Raith mansion, Harry must find a way not only of saving his brother and Morgan from certain death -- but unveiling the traitor within the Council as well. Hard to do when everyone is very, very mad at you... "Turn Coat" is definitely a turning point in the Dresden Files series, where the Black Council becomes a widely-known -- though not widely-acknowledged -- reality, and Butcher is clearly setting up a massive conflict. Relationships are shattered, alliances are strained, personalities are changed, a traitor is revealed and the White Council is more openly threatened by the Black Council. A few people even die. And Butcher does a pretty brilliant job meshing together fantasy, political thrillers and Agatha Christie-style murder mystery. He fills the story with sharp dark-edged noir prose, fun dialogue ("Mission accomplished, my lord of pizza!"), and some literally explosive action scenes (including a pitched battle on a rainy magical island). But despite the dark, grim cast of the plot, Butcher doesn't forget to add some humor to the mix. Where else can you find a spell that uses Silly String? What's more, he fleshes out the rather mysterious Council, and shows the motivations and sacrifices that it has been built on, as well as its reasons for being so strict and reclusive. The one problem is that the murderer is a bit obvious, and I expected someone a bit more... important. Harry proves himself to be the right kind of guy simply by wanting to prove Morgan innocent, and by forging ahead with some really risky magic that even the Gatekeeper blanches at. But his quest for

One of the Best in the Series!

I have just finished reading the book, I spent most of the day devouring it. As a big fan of the series and Jim Butcher I can say without a doubt I was impressed and this book finally answers nagging questions fans of the series will have. In addition it sets up the next book with a great conflict and more intrigue. I would recommend though that those just getting started with the Dresden Files not make this their first book. So much in this book is dependent on previous books. Once again if you are a fan of great writing I recommend this novel.