Mark Yon has been a reviewer and web administrator at SFFWorld, one of the world’s biggest genre forum sites, for nearly ten years. He has also been on the David Gemmell Awards organisation committee for the last two years. In this series of rereads, Mark will guide us below through the whole of Jim Butcher’s fabulous Dresden Files series as we count down to the new hardback Ghost Story at the end of July.
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Proven Guilty takes place about a year after the events of Dead Beat, and is a really terrific read in terms of both plot complexity and pace. It is here that the war (between the wizard White Council and the vampire Red Court) is at its bloodiest so far. Interestingly, things are not going well for Harry’s side, and thousands have been killed. This makes Harry feel guilty because, after all, it was Harry who (albeit reluctantly) started the War in the first place. And to his dismay, Harry has been made an active Warden, responsible for justice and giving out death sentences.

Consequently, the Harry here is a very different one from the person we first encountered in Storm Front. He’s more experienced, yet also a bitter and crippled Harry, a Harry with secrets and a darkness which threatens his life – or at least his sanity. He also feels conflicted by his conscription to Warden status, where the lines between good and evil are definitely blurred. At the beginning of Proven Guilty, Harry feels uncomfortable with the execution of a young man whose involvement with black magic was discovered. This reminds Harry of his own past, and although the punishment is perhaps deserved here, Harry clearly has divided loyalties.

This theme continues throughout the book. The main plot lines this time around are interestingly convoluted. Harry has been asked to go to the Nevernever (Faerieland) to contact his relative, Queen Mab, and ask why the Winter Court has stayed out of the War. The faerie Summer Court stepped in by declaring war on the Red Court, but surprisingly Winter did not.

Of course, these things are never simple. Harry will risk his life by entering the NeverNever, his earlier encounters there meaning he’s at great risk just by visiting. Just to raise tension levels even higher, there’s also a possible traitor in the White Council who is giving the vamps information. Harry is asked by the Council’s Gatekeeper to investigate a series of black magic acts in Chicago which might be connected to the traitor’s activities.

Harry has furthermore been asked to help out with terrible teen Molly. She is the daughter of Michael Carpenter, Harry’s great friend and Knight of the Sword, and is also Harry’s goddaughter. She seems to have got herself entangled with a boyfriend who’s been accused of a murder – which they both claim he didn’t commit. But he was the only person in the room where an old man was viciously and messily slaughtered. Harry suspects supernatural causes, but is going to have massive difficulty proving it.

Thus, as you can see, there’s an awful lot of good stuff in the mix there this time around. There’s also Jim’s trademark humour. Jim sets many of the initial scenes at a horror convention called Splattercon!!! (Apparently the three exclamation marks are important…). But convention goers get more than they bargained for when a ‘phage’ appears, which feeds on other people’s fear. Where better to soak up lots of fear but at a Horror Convention? The humour plays an effective counterpoint to some of the darker events here, by throwing them into sharp relief. It’s an old trick, but Jim does it so well.

At the book’s resolution Harry is again stronger and wiser for his experiences. And he’s made some difficult lifestyle changes that will be explored further in later Dresden books. Proven Guilty is a really interesting ride with a cracking climax.

SEE BELOW FOR A RUN DOWN OF THE DRESDEN FILES
Previous rereads are available here, though books don’t have to be read in this order:

STORM FRONT
FOOL MOON
GRAVE PERIL
SUMMER KNIGHT
DEATH MASKS
BLOOD RITES
DEAD BEAT