Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Dresden Files 02: Fool Moon (Butcher, Jim)

Rating: 5/5
Year: 2000
Genre: Fantasy
Read again? Yup

A rash of grisly murders took place during the previous full moon. Now Harry Dresden, Wizard P.I., is trying to prevent more. Yup--this book's about werewolves!

Butcher gives us three kinds of werewolf:
The "classic" werewolf--human uses magic to change self into a wolf.
hexenwolf--human uses someone else's magic in a talisman (a belt, in this case) to transform into a wolf. Any weapon that'll kill a person can kill either of these.
loup-garou--human is cursed to become a wolf on the full moon. Only inherited silver can kill him.

Chicago is overrun with wolves: one loup-garou, his mate, a gang of nerdy college kids led by one Billy, a biker gang called the Street Wolves.

On the Law & Order side, there are four FBI agents who keep showing up and taking over Chicago PD's investigation.

On the Criminal Underworld side, there's crime boss "Gentleman" Johnny Marcone, who wants to hire Dresden.

Then there's Dresden's sometimes-girlfriend Susan, a reporter always looking for the next big story.

Butcher's second offering is as good as the first. The plot is fun and engaging and the chemistry between the smart-assed Dresden and the other characters just feels right. I really like how Butcher gives us several different kinds of werewolf at once--a werewolf biker gang? Werewolf nerds? Awesome.

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