Working for Bigfoot

May 4, 2015
Butcher emphasizes the lighter
side of his Chicago-based wizard PI, Harry Dresden, in this collection of
three novellas with a common client, a Sasquatch known as River Shoulders.
In “B Is for Bigfoot,” River Shoulders hires Harry to look out for the Sasquatch’s half-human son, Irwin, who is unaware
of the truth of his parentage. Irwin, an
elementary school student, is the target
of bullies, who prove to be motivated by more than just ordinary cruelty. Having successfully resolved that problem, Harry is again approached by River Shoulders when Irwin is taken ill with a mysterious malady as a teenager in “I Was a Teenage Bigfoot.” In the concluding section, “Bigfoot on Campus,” River Shoulders fears that his now college-age son is in danger. Butcher leavens classic hard-boiled first-person narration (“She was blond, about five-foot-six, and my logical mind told me that every inch of her was a bad idea”) with humor in these amuse-bouches aimed squarely at longtime fans. Agent: Jennifer Jackson, Donald Maass Literary Agency.

Private investigator/wizard Harry Dresden has seen it all. While performing this audiobook, narrator James Marsters gives voice to a weariness that perfectly conveys Dresden's worldview. In all three stories in this collection, the magical PI is hired by, that's right, Bigfoot. As described by Butcher and performed by Marsters, Bigfoot has a rumbling voice with a slight Native American accent. Butcher's long-running Dresden Files series has a champion in Marsters; he has narrated all the audiobooks. His familiarity allows him to slip seamlessly into Dresden's shoes and spin a magical aural web, which even new listeners will become caught up in. G.D. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2015, Portland, Maine