Harry Dresden, the only wizard to advertise in the Chicago yellow pages, has been murdered. Some might think that being dead would keep Harry down. If you believe that, then you don't know this particular wizard detective!
In GHOST STORY, Harry accepts the chance to track down his killer and is returned to Chicago as a ghost! He has some really cool spirit abilities which he gleefully compares to X-Men powers -- passing through walls like Kitty Pryde (Shadowcat) and 'jumping' from place to place like Nightcrawler. BUT as a ghost, the great and powerful wizard has no magic nor can he touch anything.
The people he would normally ask for help,wont be able to see or hear him so Harry must find someone to help him make contact with the living. He soon discovers that Karrin Murphy, his apprentice Molly, and all of his friends are fighting a desperate battle against a vicious new foe. Harry also learns the memories he has from his former life provide him with a form of power sort of like magic. Unfortunately, those same memories tend to attract other ghosts -- hungry ghosts who want to eat him.
I listened to the audio version of GHOST STORY and was surprised to find it narrated by actor John Glover; you might remember him as Lionel Luthor (the father of Lex Luthor) from the television series "Smallville." All of the earlier titles in the Dresden Files series have been narrated by James Marsters (Spike from "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and "Angel") but due to a scheduling conflict he was unavailable to record this title. Others may disagree, but I thought Glover was a great narrator match for Dresden, delivering just the right emphasis to Harry's wit and pop culture references and to ghost Harry's soul-searching remembrance of events from throughout his life.
The story had a definite 'life passing before your eyes' tone with Harry recalling practically everyone (friend or foe) from previous books in the Dresden Files series. I found this not only entertaining but very useful because I had not read the last few titles in the series and these reminiscences gave me the chance to play catch up. And even though I 'did' learn who killed Harry (and what a surprise it was!), the author left some rather interesting plot threads lying around.
This only made me eager to read the next Dresden Files book, titled COLD DAYS according to the FAQ's on Butcher's website; see http://www.jim-butcher.com/faq Sadly no release date was listed at the time of this post so I guess I'll just have to wait.
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