History Literature / DeadBeat

He's just been [[{{Blackmail}} hired]] to find The Word of Kemmler, the personal spellbook of a powerful necromancer, which is also being hunted by any number of Kemmler's apprentices and, really, anyone who would want to unlock the secrets of powerful necromancy--including a spell that would allow the caster to become a demi-god by devouring the spirits of the dead.

''Dead Beat'' is book #7 in ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles''.

*** To clarify, Harry uses several different wards, layers and layers of it, on his apartment to achieve the "shocked to paste" effect. Furthermore, he needed a threshold (even the weak one offered by his bachelor's apartment) to anchor his wards. [[spoiler:The Merlin uses a ''single'' ward to stop an army of vampires, an army which included ''Outsiders, beings that are normally immune to magic''.]]
** Captain Luccio is on the lower tier of this but shows it by [[spoiler:dispatching a dozen or so zombies with such concentrated and fine form of fire magic]].

* ArtisticLicenseGeography: Butcher has Harry going up Lake Shore Drive to Evanston. Lake Shore Drive actually ends at Hollywood Avenue, well south of Evanston. "In 2004, a private foundation solicited plans, and the Chicago Park District considered a feasibility study, to extend Lake Shore Drive farther north through Rogers Park and into Evanston." so maybe in that setting the road was built longer.
** A more minor one; one of the necromantic hotspots Harry visits is Wacker Drive. Wacker is well known for having two levels, called Upper Wacker and Lower Wacker.[[note]]Lower Wacker appears prominently in ''Film/TheDarkKnight'', during the scene where the prison transport is attacked[[/note]] While the description makes it clear that he's on Upper Wacker, anyone who knows Chicago as well as Harry does would have specified if it was on Upper or Lower Wacker.

* ExactWords: One of the Laws of Magic forbids using necromancy against humans[[note]] it's a matter of imposing your will over another person, or mond control[[/note]]; most potential (or actual) necromancers use humans anyways, and are eliminated for this. Harry, after deciding he needs the support of necromantic energy in order to disrupt the Darkhallow ritual, finds a ''non''-human corpse to animate....

* ExactWords: One of the Laws of Magic forbids using necromancy against humans[[note]] it's a matter of imposing your will over another person, or mond control[[/note]]; most potential (or actual) necromancers use humans anyways, and are eliminated for this. Harry, after deciding he needs the support of necromantic energy in order to disrupt the Darkhallow ritual, finds a ''non'-human corpse to animate....

* SweaterGirl: When Harry meets Sheila, the clerk at the book store, he immediately notices how well she fills out a sweater.

* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: When Harry told Luccio [[spoiler:about Morgan hounding him and trying to push Harry into trying to kill him and then kill Harry in "self-defense" Luccio makes it clear not only didn't she know, but she is furious about this and believes Harry despite the little evidence he has]].

* ScrewDestiny: When Corpsetaker and the ghoul attack Harry in an alley, he is rescued by Johnny Marcone and Ms. Gard. Gard ([[spoiler:a Valkyrie]]) mentions Harry was fated to die there and their interference had changed his destiny, stating that there would be repercussions. Marcone's response? "What is the point of having free will if one cannot occasionally spit in the eye of destiny?"

* IfIWantedYouDead: [[spoiler:Lasciel's shadow makes it clear she could have killed Harry a dozen times since he actively used hellfire, such as making him not see on coming traffic and walk into it or think a building is on fire and jump out onto a non-existent fire escape]].