Proven Guilty

The White Council of Wizards has drafted Harry Dresden as a Warden, assigning him to investigate rumors of black magic operating in Chicago. At the same time, the tattooed and pierced daughter of an old friend arrives in serious trouble: her boyfriend is the primary suspect in what appears to be a supernatural attack pulled directly from horror-movie logic. The eighth Dresden Files novel runs two cases through a single frame, building toward a confrontation with malevolent entities that feed on fear.

James Marsters has become so identified with Harry Dresden that his narration functions as the character's definitive voice. His timing on Dresden's first-person wisecracks is exact, and the transition from comedy to genuine menace arrives without warning, which is exactly how the novels work. At just over sixteen hours, Proven Guilty is one of the longer and more satisfying entries in the series, and Marsters meets the expanded scope without losing the intimacy that defines the Dresden Files in audio.