2007 Book #1 - Dresden Files 07: Dead Beat by Jim Butcher
This being book #7 of the series and I've READ all the previous ones, you can bet I like this series. There's something I definitely like about the main character, Harry Dresden. If you've paid attention to the other books I've read, you may have noticed that I prefer stories of heroics and courage in female leads, rather than they being the victims always running up the stairs when they should be running out the front door (to quote "Scream") or tripping on some root while trying to run away. So anyway, while Harry isn't the stereotypical ass-kicking female, he's not the stereotypical male hero overfilled with testosterone and a god complex. He's a good guy who does his best to do the right thing and he's not too sure of where the line is between Good and Evil. That does mean that he tends to flail around in Grey areas which does tend to get him in Trouble. Which brings me to the summary of this book:

Paranormal investigations are Harry Dresden's business, and Chicago is his beat as he tries to bring law and order to a world of wizards and monsters that exists alongside everyday life. And though most inhabitants of the Windy City don't believe in magic, the Special Investigations department of the Chicago PD knows better.

Karrin Murphy is the head of the SI and Harry's good friend. So when a killer vampire threatens to destroy Murphy's reputation unless Harry does her bidding, he has no choice. The vampire wants the Word of Kemmler (whatever that is) and all the power that comes with it. Now Harry is in a race against time - and six merciless necromancers - to find the Word before Chicago experiences a Halloween night to wake the dead....

Oh. And, yes, he has one major weakness. He has to rescue damsels in distress. Or at least ones he perceives to be or might be in distress. :D A few books back, I forget which, he picked up some Black magic taint by trying to rescue one, the daughter of his best friend and definite soldier for the Good side, Michael. Unfortunately now he gets to lug around a demon in his head, eternally trying to tempt him to take on a little more and a little more Evil taint. This demon comes into the forefront while Harry is trying to locate the epicenter of the inevitable Final Showdown and during the fighting as well.

Oh and there's also a good bit of one of my favorite minor characters, Waldo Butters (Butters), the assistant M.E., whose love of all things polka, timidity and complete lack of heroism always give me a chuckle. The book was as always packed full of action, including a magically animated museum replica-dinosaur, but character development isn't shirked in the least. In fact, this book has a turning point in the resolution for Harry. It's something that'll definitely take him in a different and unexpected (and somewhat undesireable to Harry) direction. An excellent addition to the series.

Humorous, but all too true quote from the book: "Listen to me," I snarled, "We are not going to die. . . . Because Thomas is too pretty to die. Because I'm too stubborn to die. . . . And most of all because tomorrow is Oktoberfest, Butters, and polka will never die." -- Harry Dresden