PEACE TALKS is the sixteenth book in Jim Butcher’s “Dresden Files” series. This is not a book you can read if you haven’t read at least a few of the previous book in this series. However, Jim Butcher does fill readers in on who the main characters are, what the relationships are, and what the general parameters of his world are. When it rains, it pours in PEACE TALKS. Although Harry Dresden is more supernatural being nowadays than the Wizard gumshoe that he was, there are several elements in PEACE TALKS that remind me of a Raymond Chandler hardboiled detective story. There are several big shot supernatural types all looking to make their next power play and trying to manipulate Harry into doing their bidding, while Harry’s just trying to help his brother out of a tough jam.

Pressure is applied to Harry over the course of PEACE TALKS from several different directions and characters. The White Council is applying pressure to either make Harry crack and expel him from the Council or do exactly as they bid, even if he disagrees with it, or what they want isn’t fair. As Mab’s Winter Knight, she puts pressure on him in the same way as the White Council but for different ends and using different methods. Within the White Council, his Warden buddies are putting pressure on him to play nice and toe the line, and possibly admit to a bunch of things he hasn’t done. His grandfather is putting pressure on him to cut ties with his vampire half-brother Thomas, and with all vampire-kind in general. There is always the ever-present pressure to protect his beloved daughter Maggie. And of course, there is the pressure that drives most of his actions and the bulk of the story in PEACE TALKS – Harry must save Thomas from a death sentence. Jolly good fun. Harry’s dry witticisms help create lighthearted moments in a story that gets very dark at times. Harry’s daughter Maggie and girlfriend Murphy provide some much-needed solace for Harry as he embarks on his mission. I love the relationship between Harry and Murphy with the friendship and level of trust.

PEACE TALKS has superb storytelling, monsters, megalomaniacs, supernaturals, and the good, the bad, and the ugly. The end of PEACE TALKS is reminiscent of the last episode of the final season of the TV series ANGEL – on the verge of apocalypse, with the heroes doing their best to prepare while realizing that it might be the last thing they ever do. Although there is a lot of danger involved and some dire circumstances, I thoroughly enjoyed reading this story. Since I started reading it, I only stopped for meals until I finished. The next “Dresden Files” installment can’t come soon enough!