Bombshells

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Synopsis

Molly Carpenter has spent the last year recovering from the injuries, both physical and psychic, that she received in the battle against the Red Court, and trying to process the loss of her mentor, Harry Dresden. Although she's mostly kept to herself, all of Harry's old allies keep in touch and Molly has been trying her best to keep Chicago safe from the newest supernatural threats in his absence. One night, Justine comes to Molly asking for her help finding Thomas. The vampire and Harry's half-brother went on an errand for his sister, Lara, and hasn't returned, making Justine fear the worst. Molly tracks him to a svartalve stronghold, where a party is soon to be held to celebrate their signing of a treaty with the Fomor. Molly, along with Justine and the werewolf, Andi, crash the party in search of Thomas, but instead find an even bigger threat that could endanger the entire city if Molly can't contain it.

Review

"Bombshells" is a short novelette in the Dresden Files series that's written from Molly's first-person POV and takes place between Ghost Story and Cold Days in the series chronology. Molly is still recovering from the physical and psychic scars she received during the battle with the Red Court vampires at Chichen Itza and dealing with the grief of losing her mentor, Harry. She's still living on the streets where she's known as the Ragged Lady, but Harry's allies help her out as much as they can. When she goes to Butters's apartment for a shower, she receives a visit from Justine who is worried about Thomas. Her beloved went on an errand for his sister, Lara, and hasn't returned, so she fears the worst and needs Molly's help finding him. Molly tracks Thomas to a stronghold of the svartalves who are about to sign a treaty with the extremely dangerous new baddies, the Fomor. Since the svartalves appreciate beautiful things, Molly comes up with the idea that she, Justine, and the werewolf, Andi (all gorgeous women) will crash the big party celebrating this event. In doing so, she discovers Thomas being held captive but also a major threat from the Fomor that could endanger not only the lives of everyone at the party but the entire city of Chicago.

I've loved Molly since she was first introduced in the series, but over the past few books, she's been gaining new and impressive wizard powers. Her powers are very different than Harry's, but no less significant, and she manages to make exceptional use of them in this story. She's learned the lessons Harry taught her well, and now she's being mentored by Harry's fairy godmother, Lea, who's a harsher taskmaster but who's taught her some new tricks. With Harry gone, Molly has felt it's her responsibility to keep Chicago safe and along with their friends has been doing a very respectable job of it. It was nice getting a peek inside her head in this story and learning a little about what makes her tick. We find out now, without a doubt, that she's in love with Harry, but I'm hoping that her romantic feelings might eventually find a different outlet. She deserves to be loved in return, and Harry doesn't feel that way about her, nor do I think he should. I enjoyed seeing Molly join with Justine and Andi, two important female characters in their own right. The three made a formidable team. Thomas, Butters, Marci, and Lea round out the supporting characters. I was surprised to learn that Butters and Andi are now a couple, which is sweet. Overall, "Bombshells" was a very enjoyable read and a great play on words for the title. If Jim Butcher ever decides to write from Molly's POV again, I'd be totally on board with that. "Bombshells" was previously published in the multi-author anthology, Dangerous Women, before being reprinted in the single-author anthology, Brief Cases.

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Jim Butcher