September 2, 2002
Audio reviews reflect PW's
assessment of the audio adaptation of a book and should be quoted only in reference to the audio version. Fiction STORM FRONT Jim Butcher, read by James Marsters. Buzzy Multimedia ( www.mediafans.com ), unabridged, eight CDs, 8 hrs., $47.95 ISBN 096572550-2 Harry Dresden is a wizard, but he doesn't live in a fantasyland. He's a freelance consultant in a two-bit office in Chicago, and he's two months behind on his rent. When a woman hires him to track down her missing husband, it seems like easy money. But soon victims are being found murdered by sorcery, with their hearts magically removed from their chests. Harry has to track down the killer, an unknown, powerful wizard who's trying to take him out at the same time. Meanwhile, the White Council of Wizards believes Harry is the murderer and is about to pass a death sentence on him, the cops are suspicious of him and a mob boss is warning him to keep his nose out of the investigation. Butcher deftly blends the fantasy and detective genres in this entertaining yarn. His magic follows internally consistent rules, giving the fantastical proceedings a sense of reality. Actor Marsters (of TV's Buffy the Vampire Slayer) proves himself a talented audio narrator. He reads Harry in a dry, ironic tone, deepening his voice to concern and worry when innocents (or Harry's own life) are in danger. He adeptly handles the other character voices as well: sexy vampire Bianca; grim, gruff Council member Morgan; a nervous teenage pizza delivery boy; and upper-crust British Bob, a centuries-old talking skull. Based on the Roc mass market paperback.

As in the audio adaptation of Butcher's first Dresden Files novel, Storm Front, Marsters (who played Spike on Buffy the Vampire Slayer) slips easily into the role of down-on-his-luck wizard Harry Dresden. Marsters' self-deprecating tone fits the character perfectly; he reads with a dry, ironic humor that doesn't mask Harry's genuine concern for the lives of innocents. Marsters also displays a remarkable skill for lending even the strangest characters and creatures voices-including gentleman gangster Johnny Marconi, his henchmen, a sexy female werewolf and Bob, the British-accented talking skull. In this outing, Harry is again out of cash, and police detective Karrin Murphy, who's still angry at him over the events of the first book, isn't inclined to throw work his way. But soon a series of mysterious, violent murders sends her to Harry for help. Are the killings the work of a local motorcycle gang? Or a werewolf-and if so, which werewolf? Mac Finn, the werewolf environmentalist? The group of idealistic college kids who voluntarily become werewolves by night? Or the trigger-happy group of FBI agents turned werewolf vigilantes? Though the price of this audio package may put off some listeners, Marsters' lively telling makes it worth every penny.

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