Brief Cases by Jim Butcher

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Content: Strong Language, an almost sex scene

 
Brief Cases is the second short story collection set in the Dresden Files world. All but one of these stories were previously published in other anthologies. Since I don't typically buy anthologies that multiple writers contribute to, I had not read any of them, so this was a real treat for me. It sort of helped to tide me over until the next Dresden Files book is released. Let's hope we don't have to wait too much longer for Peace Talks though.

Here are my ratings for the 12 stories in this book:

A Fistful of Warlocks: 3 stars. I really enjoyed this story. It was nice to get a look at a part of Anastasia's past, as she is a character I've always liked. The best thing about this story was the weird, weird west setting. Wizards -well the supernatural in general- and the old west just have this off beat vibe to it that I find appealing. There is also a surprise appearance by a famous someone from history. Overall this was a pretty good story, but I did feel like it got less interesting towards the end.

B is For Bigfoot: 3.5 stars. In the beginning I wasn't particularly interested in reading about Bigfoot, as he's never really appealed to me that much, but this story surprised me and I ended up liking it a lot. I sure wish all kids that were bullied had Harry Dresden in their corner.

AAAA Wizardry: 4 stars. In this story Harry is relating a story, as a teaching tool, to a group of student wizards. He's trying to get them to problem solve and think outside of the box. I liked this one a whole lot, mainly because I thought it there was a clever twist thrown in that I didn't see coming.

I Was a Teenage Bigfoot: 3.5 stars. This was another pleasant read about Bigfoot's son. There is yet another supernatural threat, he does seem to attract that kind of attention. This was very amusing at times, especially the whole Fabio bit, but the perpetrator was glaringly obvious, so that knocked a half star off my rating.

Curses: 3 stars. This story involved the supposed curse on the Chicago Cubs. It was a fun story and I loved having Bob in the story, if only briefly.

Even Hand: 4 stars. This one is from Gentleman Johnnie Marcone's POV. It was interesting getting to read something from his POV. This story has Justine coming to him for help and I completely enjoyed it.

Bigfoot on Campus: 3.5 stars. The third and final story about Bigfoot's son. He's in college now and dating trouble. I found this one to be pretty entertaining and I liked the resolution to the father/son relationship and the romantic complications. And of course Bigfoot's son, the supernatural magnet would be dating her, haha.

Bombshells: 4 stars. I always enjoy reading about Molly, and when she teams up with Justine and Andie for a case in this story I was thoroughly entertained. And the Charlie's Angels thing had me cracking up!

Coldcase: 3.5 stars. This was probably the darkest story in the book. It's about Molly and her first job as the Winter Maiden. There are a couple of hard lessons Molly learns here and I wasn't expecting that ending. Yikes! The lovecraftian feel to the story was interesting and I also liked the banter between Molly and Ramirez, I always thought they had good chemistry together, and it was nice that she was interested in someone besides you know who.

Jury Duty: 3 stars. In this story Harry finds himself on Jury Duty. Of course this case can't be a simple one. Harry has a nose for supernatural things, so he sets out to find out what really happened and exonerate the accused who looks dead guilty to everyone else.

Day One: 4 stars. I love Butters and seeing how he goes about becoming a knight and how it adapts to his nerdiness was very amusing. I laughed so hard at the game references in this story. And the sword turning into a light saber was pretty good too.

Zoo Day: 4 stars. This story is the one story that hasn't been published before. I thought it was a great look into Harry's relationship with Maggie. Part of this had me tearing up. People's struggles with fitting in and being accepted always make me cry, and this time around it's combined with Harry and Maggie getting to know each other, along with Mouse and his bond with them as well.