Mean Streets

I quite often find collections of short stories from successful writers to be little more than divided effort cash-cows, however Mean Streets was a cut above the rest. Jim Butcher's story is an action packed story from his regular character Dresden. I'm often leary when swords are mentioned due to my favourite groan-worthy quote "A sword gets you a lot of space, even on a crowded hovertrain" from Saintcrow's Deal with the Devil. This story kicks ass though. The next piece by Green is a pretty comical work "I opened my third eye; my private eye" (my eyes rolled) that isn't a bad read, probably more of a WTF don't take too seriously work though. Richardson's story is a lengthy tale of msytery which is a great read, but does become a little convoluted and the author tries to squeeze decent twists into a short story. Sniegoski risks melodrama of biblical proportions but pulls off a decent story with some cool action and a compelling lead character. Overall these stories are of a style of urban fantasy that will appeal to boys a bit more especially in a genre dominated by twlight fans. The stories are action dominated with good character development underneath. Well worth the read

If you have enjoyed the Dresden Files so far then this book will not dissapoint you. It is full of twists and turns that will keep you turning the pages. It was a little obvious as to who the antagonist was in the book, but it was still a great read. For another Great Jim Butcher series try reading the Codex Allera books, they are every bit as good as the Dresden Files.

This collection of four novellas was excellent. I'm a huge Dresden Files fan so that's the reason I picked up this book. Butcher's story was great as usual although with the novellas format was not quite as fleshed out as he's usual novel length works are but that's to be expected in a novella. Dresden is helping out an hold friend in this one and it was a quick and good read. The second story was a Greywalker story. I was not familiar with this series but I really enjoyed this story quite a bit. I liked it so much that I have already purchased the first book in the series entitled Greywalker. This story has our hero going down to Mexico to deliver a clay dog that has some unique features to it. Very cool story overall and like I said I already bought the first book in the series and plan on reading this series from here on out. Simon Green also contributes a tale from the Nightside. I like the Nightside books so this was a cool, easy read. Kind of short but it's a great way to spend an hour or so reading it. The last story was by Thomas Sniegoski and features Remy Chandler who is an angel that now works as a PI in Boston. It was a really cool story that picks up right after the first novel in the series titled A Kiss Before the Apocalypse. I had not read that book before reading the novella but I had no trouble following the story. I have since purchased both of the books in the series A Kiss Before the Apocalypse and the sequel Dancing on the Head of a Pin because I enjoyed the novella Noah's Orphans so much. Overall I can't recommend this book enough. You get four really good stories and if you are like me you get two new series that you had never previously heard of to now go and read.

I recently completed the first of the four stories contained in Mean Streets, a compilation book of stories from four of the best selling authors in the genre of "paranormal private investigators." I honestly did not even know this was a genre, but I am relatively new to the whole book reviewing gig. I am at the stage of "I don't know what the genres are, I just know what I like." And I definitely liked "The Warrior" by Jim Butcher. Well, "like" is not strong enough. "Flat out loved" would be more accurate. This is a story that fits into Butcher's 'Dresden Files' series right after the full length novel 'Small Favor'. One of my favorite characters from that installment was seriously injured; almost killed, in fact. This short story deals with the aftermath of that attack, and Dresden's reaction to almost losing his friend. And what happens when his friend is put in danger while he is still vulnerable. The writing is fast paced, as with most of Butcher's previous works. It is heavy on humor, action, sarcasm and snark which suits me just fine. As per usual, Dresden gets the living daylights kicked out of him while fighting against almost insurmountable odds and enemies so powerful that one cringes to think of even looking too closely at them, much less attempting to best them in battle. And as usual, Butcher ties it all up with a pretty bow in the end. Honestly, I think that is what keeps me coming back for more. I have read so many really great books (The Last Good Kiss by Crumley springs to mind) that just left me cold in the end. I know that a good story doesn't always have to have a happy ending. And there have been ones that did not end with everything all sweetness and light that I actually loved. But, Butcher has a lovely way of ending a book (or in this case a short story) with a good, solidly tied-up finale that leaves you feeling happy you read it and hungry for more. While "the moral of the story" aspect of the end of this story came on a tad strong this time around, it was still a sweet sentiment about who the "real warriors" in our world are. As a former social worker, it was an appealing argument. People spend a lot of time in the real world beating their heads against brick walls trying to help others. It would be nice if we all could have an angel named "Jake" to sit back and debrief us some days. Someone who could tell us if we are on the right track would be a blessing, no matter what his disguise. In short, as the primary reviewer for "Sherry's Blurbing Book Blog", I give Mean Streets... 4 and 1/2 (out of 5) stars!! This book is a "must have" for any Dresden Files fan. And while I didn't read the other stories in the compilation (I started to but it is really difficult when you don't know who the characters are and you don't get the "in jokes"), I am sure it would also be a "must have" for fans of Green, Richardson and Sniegoski as well. Wishing you the best of books, Sherry

I was expecting great work from Butcher and Green, but this whole anthology impressed me enough to pick up full length novels from every author. A must read.