Book Review - Changes

The Dresden Files, by Jim Butcher
1. Storm Front      2/3/2007
2. Fool Moon       2/5/2007
3. Grave Peril       1/23/2007
4. Summer Knight 2/14/2007
5. Death Masks    2/16/2007
6. Blood Rites      2/18/2007
7. Dead Beat       8/23/2007
8. Proven Guilty   8/26/2007
9. White Night    10/30/2007
10. Small Favor   4/2/2010
11. Turn Coat     4/8/2010
12. Changes       5/10/2011  * * * *
13. Ghost Story (Currently Reading)

If you're already reading The Dresden Files, then you know that this is one of the best paranormal series available on the market.  If you haven't been reading the series, well, then, all I have to say is that you are missing out one of the best paranormal series available on the market!  Harry Dresden is a Wizard, living in Chicago, trying to do good, battling against the forces of evil, and helping those in need.  Sometimes, that's more difficult than it should be.

From Goodreads:

"Long ago, Susan Rodriguez was Harry Dresden's lover - until she was attacked by his enemies, leaving her torn between her own humanity and the bloodlust of the vampiric Red Court. Susan then disappeared to South America, where she could fight both her savage gift and those who cursed her with it.

Now Arianna Ortega, Duchess of the Red Court, has discovered a secret Susan has long kept, and she plans to use it - against Harry. To prevail this time, he may have no choice but to embrace the raging fury of his own untapped dark power. Because Harry's not fighting to save the world...

He's fighting to save his child."

My Thoughts:
Of all the novels in the series so far, I think this one may be my favorite.  Partly because of what's at stake - an innocent child, who may be Harry's own daughter, has been kidnapped and the Red Court Vampires are  planning to use her in a massive magical ceremony with devastating consequences - and partly because in this story, for the first time, Harry suddenly became more real to me.  Every book in the series plays off the naming convention of two words, each with the same number of letters, but in this book, as the title suggests, everything changes.  Harry's reaction to learning of the kidnapping of a young girl, who might be his daughter that he never knew about, is real, and visceral, and all else in his life ceases to matter, except for saving the child.  No price is too high, no sacrifice too costly.  Selling his soul to the Fae, which he's been avoiding for years, suddenly seems like a viable option if it will give him the power he needs to rescue his daughter and destroy the Red Court.  Actions and choices that he would never have considered in the past become less taboo, and as Harry and his friends brace themselves for an all out war against an overwhelmingly powerful enemy, we see who are truly friends and allies, and who are merely pretenders.

The story is fast paced, full of magical battles, mysteries, and strange encounters, and was nearly impossible to put down once I picked it up.  Several unforeseen twists along the way completed story perfectly, and the cliffhanger at the end made the wait for book #13 (Ghost Story) almost unbearable!

"Changes" gets 4 stars from me, and is followed by "Ghost Story" which was released in July 2011, and which I am now reading on my new NookColor!