Skin Game

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Synopsis

As Mab's newest Winter Knight, Harry Dreden is never sure what the Queen of Winter might ask him to do next, but it's almost always something terrible. When she comes to give him his new assignment, he finds out that she's traded his services to none other than his arch nemesis, Nicodemus Archleone, in order to pay off a debt. Harry is tasked with working alongside a group of villains to break into a high-security vault in the human realm that in turn will get them into a vault in the Nevernever. The only problem is that vault belongs to none other than Hades, Lord of the Underworld. As if that wasn't enough of a challenge, Harry is all but certain Nicodemus isn't going to let his crew walk away alive at the end of the job, so he starts plotting a way to fulfill the letter of what Mab promised, while keeping his few allies safe and hoping to take out Nicodemus before his enemy can enact a plan to kill them all. But if Harry isn't careful he just might piss of the Denarian enough to make him come after everyone Harry loves just when he's at his most vulnerable. 

Review

Skin Game is the fifteenth book in Jim Butcher's Dresden Files series. It picks up a year after the events of Cold Days. Harry has been living on the island of Demonreach that entire time, because the forces on the island are the only thing that's keeping the parasite in his brain from killing him. Mab shows up, telling him that he only has three days left to live whether or not he stays there, and she has a job for the White Knight, to which he can't say no. She wants to lend out his services in order to repay a debt to Nicodemus Archleone, one of the Knights of the Blackened Denarius and Harry's sworn enemy. Nicodemus is putting together a crew to break into a secret vault belonging to Hades, God of the Underworld. One of the obstacles they'll have to get past is a gate of ice, which, as the Winter Knight, Harry should have no trouble cracking. However, after Harry's past dealings with Nicodemus, he'd rather kill the guy than work for him. He doesn't have a choice in the matter, though, so he instead decides to bring along a friend to watch his back. He also starts plotting a way to fulfill the letter of what Mab promised so as to not sully her reputation or get himself into trouble with her, while also trying to avoid unnecessary bloodshed and maybe even take Nicodemus out of the equation by the time the job ends. Unfortunately he doesn't know if there's anyone else on the crew that he can trust to side with him when things hit the fan. Their mission turns out to be a dangerous one with many life-threatening hurdles along the way, but even if Harry can survive the heist, he still has the entity in his brain that's about to kill him and he could piss off Nicodemus enough to make the Denarian target the people Harry loves the most.

Harry was told at the end of the previous book that he had a supernatural parasite in his brain that would kill him in short order, so as I mentioned, he's spent the past year on Demonreach. The island's power is the only thing keeping it at bay. Unfortunately few of his friends have come to visit and all of his messages to Molly, the only person who can deal with the entity in his head, have gone unanswered. However, while frustrating, the solitude has helped him learn more about both the island and his powers. In the previous book, Harry was learning how to use his new powers as the Winter Knight. While the mantle of Winter still sends errant thoughts into Harry's mind, he's starting to master them much better. I was quite happy that he seemed more his old, boy scout self in this book. He may have to do what Mab commands and work with his old enemy, Nicodemus, but he refuses to harm innocent civilians in the process. We also get to see some of the old, chivalrous Harry as he tries to reason with and protect the female members of their crew, even those who seem irredeemable. I thought it was also interesting that we get to see a more vulnerable side to Harry in this book. We begin to see him in a father role to Maggie. I don't know what he's going to choose with regards to fatherhood and Maggie in the future, whether he'll take her full-time or leave her in the Carpenter's care, but it's obvious that he loves her and is going to be a good dad, no matter what. He's also weakened by the entity in his brain, which allows others to step into the breach for him. All in all, I loved the Harry in this book and hope that he'll be able to keep the evil side of Winter at bay and continue to be the Harry we know and love.

Skin Game was unique in that Harry isn't really working with his usual Scooby Gang. Instead, he has a whole new set of characters to work alongside during the heist. Their leader, Nicodemus, is, of course, pure evil, completely controlled by the fallen angel, Anduriel. He'll do literally anything to get what he's after in the vault. His daughter, Deidre, a demon, is his right hand person, and an integral part of his plot. He's also hired a Genoskwa, a big foot of a different sort than we've seen in the past; Hannah Ascher, a warlock with strong fire powers, who I don't believe we've seen before; and Goodman Grey, a shape-shifter mercenary. Ascher's partner, is a sorcerer named Binder, with whom Harry has had past dealings. To round out their little crew, there's also Anna Valmont, a human master thief who Harry has helped in the past and whom he hopes might be an ally to him. Now that's not to say that none of the usual suspects are present, because several are. It's just that some are seen in lesser capacities. Molly really only comes into play at the very end and isn't a part of the main plot. Even still, I'm a little worried about her as she seems to be keeping secrets and there was no resolution here to the events in her novella "Cold Case." Butters is starting to lose faith in Harry because of his new title as the Winter Knight, but the ME eventually comes around, and boy, does he ever put in a great showing in this story. I can't say much more without giving away spoilers, but I loved the way he works with Bob and how he finds his courage to do something pretty spectacular. Mouse is now Maggie's constant companion and protector, and we get to see him a few times, including once in his warrior dog capacity. If memory serves, this is the first time we've gotten to see Maggie in a speaking role. She's content with the Carpenters, but I think a part of her wants her dad. The biggest supporting players, though, are Karrin and Michael who each act as backup for Harry at different times in the story, and they both did an amazing job.

Every few books or so in this series, I seem to keep finding a new favorite, and that designation now goes to Skin Game. At it's heart, it's a classic heist story in the vein of Ocean's Eleven, except with a supernatural twist. Harry and the rest of Nicodemus's crew face a number of obstacles to breaking into Hades's vault, each of which are handled by a different member of the crew who is a specialist in that area. But we also have the added tension of Harry's intentions to try to take Nicodemus out before the job is over so that he can't turn the tables on them, as well as the entity in his brain that's weakening him. In fact, this latter subplot had a pretty intriguing twist to it. Along the way, there are action, adventure, and battles aplenty as our intrepid hero and his allies fight to save the day like always. However, one unique aspect is that it shows the hero doesn't always have to be the strongest person in the room. Sometimes it just takes a brave heart, stepping up to do the right thing in order to win. Because of this, the climax of the story was just amazing. Chef's kiss perfection! The story was plotted masterfully and paced beautifully. And after complaining about it bitterly for many books now, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention that things look like they might finally be on the right track for Harry and Karrin romantically. Yes! Now I just have to hope that Jim Butcher doesn't ruin it for me in the next one, but for now I'm very pleased. Overall, everything came together to make this a perfect read and I couldn't have asked for anything better.

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Jim Butcher