Rating: 
Summary: Suspenseful and Fun!
Review: "Fool Moon" by Jim Butcher is the second instalment in the Dresden Files series, and it is another great read. Butcher has penned another highly entertaining and thrilling tale that is guaranteed to keep readers glued to the pages. The characters we met in "Storm Front" are back for a second adventure, and in "Fool Moon" Butcher does an excellent job of fleshing them out into intriguing and well-rounded individuals who become very real in the eyes of the reader."Fool Moon" begins six months after the end of "Storm Front" and Harry Dresden, wizard for hire, is still having trouble paying the bills. His relationship with his friend and head of Special Investigations in the Chicago PD, Lieutenant Karrin Murphy, is still very strained because of Harry's decision to withhold dangerous information from Murphy on their last big murder case ("Storm Front"), which resulted in a rather disastrous outcome. But when vicious and obviously inhuman murders start occurring, Murphy has no choice but to call in Harry for help. The scenes of the grizzly murders speak for themselves; mauled bodies covered in teeth and claw marks, and enormous wolf-like bloody footprints. The experts say that the prints are too large to belong to a real wolf, and conclude it must be a hoax. But Harry knows better, and so does Murphy. They both know they're probably dealing with some rampaging werewolves, but there are all kinds of problems keeping them from solving the crime. Murphy is already in a precarious position as a result of the questionable goings-on from "Storm Front", and Internal Investigations is trying to get her to slip up so they can kick her off the force. In addition, some very nasty and territorial FBI agents are making it hard to even get near the crime scenes, and Murphy doesn't want to make any more enemies than she already has. So Harry, who suffers from somewhat of a hero complex and feels responsible for Murphy's predicament, is determined to catch the killers and save Murphy's career. After a consultation with his always-hilarious assistant Bob, an over-sexed air-spirit residing in a human skull, Harry's problems multiply. It seems that there are all kinds of werewolves; regular werewolves, hexenwolves, loup-garous, and lycanthropes, and Harry has to figure out what exactly he's dealing with so he can figure out how to stop it. The story really takes off from here, and Butcher treats his readers to a wild, brilliantly suspenseful, well-plotted and magical mystery. The character interactions begin to get really interesting in "Fool Moon", and Harry's relationship with paranormal reporter Susan becomes much more important. Mobster "Gentleman Johnny Marcone" is back again, along with some new characters, including a pack of werewolves who throw in with Harry. Harry runs into a lot of trouble in "Fool Moon", and there is plenty of violence in this instalment of the series. Poor Harry is beaten, shot, attacked, and beaten again, but through it all he continues fighting for what he believes is right. Harry Dresden is a wonderful character who readers can really root for. He is extremely likable, very unlucky, and has a habit of leaping first and looking much later. But despite his flaws, Harry is sure to find a place in every reader's heart. Harry has a wonderful dry wit that makes the story fun to read, and his self-depreciating sense of humour gets a lot of smiles out of me. Overall, "Fool Moon" is a highly enjoyable read, and I expect that if you give it a try, you will be pleasantly surprised!
Rating: 
Summary: Great followup to 'Storm Front'
Review: After reading the first 'Dresden Files' book, I eagerly dove into 'Fool Moon.' I was delighted to find it an even more engrossing read than 'Storm Front.' New friends, new enemies, and a mystery that seems to grow deeper with each clue uncovered until the final, climactic confrontation. If you decide to read this book, make sure you have a few free hours ahead, because you won't want to put it down!
Rating:
Summary: Great followup to 'Storm Front'
Review: After reading the first 'Dresden Files' book, I eagerly dove into 'Fool Moon.' I was delighted to find it an even more engrossing read than 'Storm Front.' New friends, new enemies, and a mystery that seems to grow deeper with each clue uncovered until the final, climactic confrontation. If you decide to read this book, make sure you have a few free hours ahead, because you won't want to put it down!
Rating:
Summary: On a Dark and Wandy Night
Review: After reading the first in this series "Storm Front" I had come to believe that the comic ineptness of Harry Dresden, the only wizard in the Chicago phone book (or any other phone book for that matter) was due more to the inexperience of the author than it was intentional. At that time, I thought the basic premise of the plot was serious. After all, people die when Harry gets things wrong. Well, it appears that I was wrong. Jim Butcher has clearly created one of the strangest wizards in detective fiction. Actually he is a wizard/gumshoe with the kind of do-gooder streak that is a cinch to cause trouble. In this volume Dresden is trying to solve a serial killer problem which seems to involve several different kinds of werewolves. These range from nasty people who think they are wolves right up to the honest-to-God tear-you-and-all-your-friends-to-pieces loup-garou. Inevitably Harry goes into each struggle well armed with wands, charms, and even guns. And inevitably he drops or loses all of them. In fact your first warning that Harry is going to get flattened again is when he points his magic wand. One of Harry's skills is the ability to alienate almost everyone. So this time Harry is not only dodging werewolves, he is also being chased by Chicago's number one gangster and all of the local FBI. Nor are the local cops fond of him. After the FBI manages to capture the loup-garou and lock him in a police holding tank, Harry manages to not get to the police station quite on time. Before Harry can do anything most of the occupants of the building are dead. What does Harry finally do? He blasts an invincible werewolf straight through the station's walls and several nearby buildings before setting him down so that the wolf can escape. Not too bright is our Harry. Sooner or later you give up and start chuckling. Despite Harry's continual insistence that he is one of the 12 best wizards in the U.S., only the gangster really wants Harry on his side, and that's because he thinks Dresden would make good wolf bait. Which is a mistake. Harry's real talent is sheer unmitigated luck, without which he would be a wolf dropping somewhere in the Illinois woods. Everyone else, however, has to fend for themselves. Despite my sarcasm, this isn't a bad book by a long shot. It just isn't quite what one is lead to expect by the cover. If you can handle occult slapstick and a bit of grim humor you will find "Fool Moon" great light reading. The plot is non-stop, Butcher's narrative abilities have improved, and the characterization is what you would expect from this kind of work. I wish Butcher has spent more time on Harry's oversexed skull assistant, but there's always the next volume for that.
Rating: 
Summary: Hrmmm...
Review: As a werewolf fan, I had to give the Harry Dresden series one more chance and picked up the second book. Not as hard to push through as book one, but in the end I was not satisfied with the read. I'll give it two stars for the interesting take on werewolf types, but that's about it. The content had me grinding my teeth as FBI agents and Police acted so outrageously unrealistic the suspension of disbelief couldn't hold. Spoiler -- In one part, the plucky female police detective has hostile words with a female FBI agent, and the FBI agent draws a gun on the police detective, at a busy crime scene no less. Ooookay.... right. Then, the plucky, but stubborn police detective only reaction to the whole event is act tough and tell our hero Harry that she can take care of herself. This scene alone killed the story for me. I enjoyed minute parts scattered through the book, but it's like picking the chocolate sprinkles out of an otherwised soured dessert.
Rating:
Summary: Harry Takes on the Hairies
Review: Book Two of the Dresden Files picks up six months after Storm Front. Police Lieutenant Murphy of Special Investigations calls consultant Harry in on yet another grisly murder. Their friendship has been decidedly strained since he withheld information from her in Storm Front-with the best of intentions but lamentable results. Now she's under investigation by Internal Affairs because of Mob involvement in the earlier matter. The current decedent, torn to shreds one night before the full moon, follows nine similar killings a month earlier. Paw prints, tooth and claw marks, plenty of blood. Murphy doesn't really need Harry to cry werewolf, and she's reluctant to trust him again, but she hopes he can help nab the perps and maybe save her job. Lupine shape-shifters come in assorted flavors. All have established a presence in the Windy City. In fact, readers will be forgiven for thinking that half of Chicago has gone to the wolves in one way or another. As Fool Moon unfolds, Harry tallies up a pack apiece of werewolves, Hexenwulfen, and lycanthropes, plus a lone loup-garou and a sort of reverse werewolf. Not all of the hairies are bad guys, and not all of the bad guys are as guilty as they could be. The carnage in Fool Moon is more graphic and widespread than in Storm Front. In addition to the high body count, Harry himself is shot, mauled, chewed, pounded on, and bodily hurled against unforgiving surfaces-in most cases several times-so he's understandably a bit less inclined toward cracking wise than in Book One. The mayhem seems to be part of a larger, long-range plot about which Butcher drops several hints; it could also be a harbinger of an emotional train wreck looming in Harry's future. There are intimations of a dark legacy from the mother Harry never knew. There's a glimpse of the youthful crime that clearly still haunts him. There was a girl in that part of his past, and she may not be as far past as he chooses to believe. There are even questions about the two most prominent women in his present: Murphy and girlfriend Susan Rodriguez, a tabloid reporter. Butcher still has moments where his plot strains against the willing suspension of disbelief, mostly in timing: conversations, travel, and other activities ought to be taking longer than his narrative clock reflects. There are a couple of minor plot issues at tale's end. Harry never quite comes off as one of the two dozen most powerful wizards in the USA, either. As in Storm Front, however, the plotting is well-paced and the story is absorbing enough to divert attention away from the minor sticking points. While it lacks some of the zest of Storm Front, readers with a taste for Sam-Spade-plus-sorcery stories will find Fool Moon an entertaining read on its own merits, and it raises several interesting possibilities for the direction of future Dresden Files.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent installment in the series!
Review: Butcher delivers again. This book, the second in the series featuring private investigator/wizard Harry Dresden, is more adult, more angsty and scarier than it's predecessor. It contains gore galore. but also features, as always, Dresden's dry and self-deprecating wit and down and out attitude. New characters are introduced, Tara West, who were not ever really sure if she's on the good or bad side; Billy and friends, young werewolves. (They show up later in Summer Knight, too.) And old characters, like Gentleman Johnny Marcone, return to harass Harry another day. There's also Dresden's girlfriend, Susan Rodriguez, who helps provide a little amour and comfort.(Very subtle, and steamy scene, there.)A taut and satisfying story, very suspenseful with good payoff. I look forward to the audio version being released (like Storm Front, also read by James Marsters), which I believe will be in August.
Rating:
Summary: Second novel worth a first look
Review: Butcher expands his protagonist's vampire/wizard-filled world by introducing werewolves. It's a fun read, with an especially harrowing setpiece at the police station, and a good follow-up to his first book. Have fun with it, and look forward to book three, where in my opinion Butcher really hits his stride.
Rating:
Summary: Second novel worth a first look
Review: Butcher expands his protagonist's vampire/wizard-filled world by introducing werewolves. It's a fun read, with an especially harrowing setpiece at the police station, and a good follow-up to his first book. Have fun with it, and look forward to book three, where in my opinion Butcher really hits his stride.
Rating:
Summary: Even better than the first.
Review: Fool Moon is the second book in The Dresden Files series. Dresden, the only wizard listed in the yellow pages, is called on to help solve a murder that looks like it could be the works of a werewolf. If you've read Storm Front and enjoyed it, stick around, it only gets better.
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