Out Law (The Dresden Files #18.75) by Jim Butcher(Goodreads Author)

Amy Caudill‘s review

Nov 02, 2026

Happy belated Halloween everyone! Lately life has forced my writing to take a backseat, so thanks to all of you who have hung with me until I could get this out. I hope you all have a great day!

In this short (200 page) semi-sequel to Twelve Months, Harry Dresden, modern-day wizard, faces a fight against an insidious evil known as The Lurker. The Lurker is a self-aware parasite that is capable of taking over living beings, animal or human, and its only weaknesses are sunlight and fire.

In order to fill a life debt from Baron John Marcone, the mob-boss-turned-sem-immortal, Harry must help a former enemy from the last novel who is determined to reform. Tripp Gregory has several former associates who do not want him to live long enough to make good on that promise, and they have supernatural enforcers. Luckily, Harry has a lawyer familiar with both mundane and supernatural law on his side.

This novella is a different, much lighter follow up to the previous book where Harry is mostly back to himself, a habitual good guy who always seeks to right wrongs and save people. Harry has finally(!) made peace with all of his magic and cool powers from both The Winter Queen and being the Warden of Demonreach supernatural prison, and is determined to live his life regardless of whatever enemies appear next.

Harry Dresden has gone through something of an odyssey in the last few books. He’s faced demons from outside the known universe, lost the love of his life, reunited with his daughter, and fully accepted his place in the court of the Winter Queen. While the lasts volume details his grief as he tries to cope with a life after a supernatural war has devastated Chicago, here Harry has largely come to terms with those horrible events and has come out stronger for them.

I have been a fan of this series for a long time, and am awed by the huge amount of world-building author Jim Butcher has conceived, as well as his amazing, powerful but fully human characters. I award this story five stars, and eagerly anticipate the next book in the series, due out either in 2027 or 2028 as of this current date.