Fool Moon is the second book in The Dresden Files. I apparently like skipping the first book in a series.
I watched the TV series on SyFy before I ever picked up one of the books, and I have to say they balance well. Paul Blackthorne makes an excellent and fitting Harry.
Onto the book!
First, a bit of background.
Harry Dresden is a wizard, in modern-ish times, living in Chicago. He runs a "consulting business", and is the perfect meld of hardboiled detective, gritty private eye, and bemused wizard.
Butcher is a joy to read. I mean that. Like, I really mean that. First-person point-of-view narratives are hard to get right — but he pulls it off beautifully. Information is controlled artfully, leading to some really good twists. Dresden has his own voice, and it's easily differentiated from that of other major characters (who only speak through dialog, but hey, it's first-person POV!)
Magic systems are hard to get right. Too little power and there's not much point. Too much, and there's not much plot. Butcher finds a good middle ground where magic has limitations (much like science) — rules it must abide. Dresden is a pretty powerful wizard in his own right, but spells and potions are sometimes worse solutions than a bluff and pistol.
Oh, yeah, the werewolves! This book is full of them, which shouldn't be surprising, given the title. We get to see the variegated world of shape-shifting monsters from the darker corners of the world - lycanthropes, werewolves, hexenwolves, and even a loup-garou!
tl;dr: Highly Recommend. I couldn't put this one down. Harry Dresden is one of my favorite characters of all time. Go read it. Now.
And then go read the rest of the series, which I'm sure I'll be doing.
