Day Off By: Jim Butcher Series: The Dresden Files Book Number: 10.1 Star Rating: Sensuality Rating:

Purchase Amazon

Spoiler Disclaimer

Synopsis

Harry finds himself with an extremely rare day off in which he doesn't have to deal with anything remotely related to the wizarding world. He's very much looking forward to spending it on a date with Warden Luccio, but things start to go awry when a group of young people claiming to be wizards show up, making threats against Harry. Then two werewolves in the grip of lust come calling, saying they have fleas, and Harry can clearly see they're under the influence of some kind of magical force. Meanwhile his apprentice, Molly's alchemy is a little off, leading to an accident in the lab. So much for Harry's day off!

Review

"Day Off" is a fairly short story of only about twenty pages that falls between Small Favor and Turn Coat in the Dresden Files series chronology. In it, Harry has an extremely rare day off, where he has no wizarding business to take care of. He's looking forward to spending it going on a date with fellow warden, Anastasia Luccio. But things go awry when a group of young half-baked, wanna-be wizards show up at Harry's apartment, making threats, then a pair of lusty, naked werewolves appear at his door, claiming to have fleas, but are clearly under the influence of some magical force. Meanwhile his apprentice, Molly is busy blowing up his basement laboratory.

This was a really enjoyable story that's very light-hearted with no big baddies to conquer or genuinely life-threatening situations for Harry to deal with. But I do feel rather sorry for the guy. He simply can't seem to catch a break from all the magical mayhem, even on his day off. I enjoyed seeing a few of the werewolves from the Alphas pack again. In fact, it all starts out with the fun of Harry having a game night with them. What's really hilarious, though, is when Andi and Kirby, a young werewolf couple, show up at his apartment the next morning, and in between bouts of lustiness, end up on a merry chase with Mouse and Mister, around Harry's apartment, while Molly creates chaos in the basement lab. It was all thoroughly humorous fun. "Day Off" was originally published in the anthology, Blood Lite, and was later reprinted in the single-author anthology, Side Jobs.

Visit

Jim Butcher