In the second book in The Dresden Files, Harry Dresden races to solve horrific murders scattered across Chicago, before Karrin Murphy tries to arrest him again. The clues all point to werewolves, but in a city filled with lupine shapeshifters, who is the murderer and who is just the fall guy?

I thought this book was an improvement on the first book in some ways. Dresden let a little more of his backstory slip and we learned there is a mystery surrounding his mother. One thing I wasn't as fond of was the rather gruesome descriptions of the werewolves' victims. Just a little too much detail for my taste. There was also a non-explicit sex scene and the profanity seemed a bit higher. Hopefully this does not mean each book is going to be significantly messier than the next. ( )

Wizard Harry Dresden is back in another supernatural mytery. A series of murders are happening around the full moon and it seems like werewolves. This is not as simples as that as it turns out there are four types of werewolf. There are loup-garou's who are cursed to be werewolves and have amazing strength and when they change they loose their humanity. There are classic werewolves and also hexenwolves who wear a magicl amulet giving them the power of werevoles and causing their change. Lastly there are those that are wolves that can shapeshift and take on the appearence of humans.

He is initally hired by Murphy from the Chicago PD to help with the case after a long period of no work, but soon loses her trust. His protege becomes involved in the case but doesn't hang around for long causing even more problems between Harry and Murphy. He also has a love interest in the form of journalist Susan who he isn't sure is around to get aheads up on supernatural happenings for her paper.

The plot is quite complicated with lots of twists and turns, but it sweeps the reader along and it wasn't too complicated that I lost my place. I really like Harry and his pragmatic approach to the supernatural. I will definitely be continuing further with the series in the near future. Every time I read one of them though I am reminded that the series was sadly cancelled after the first series. It was so good, I really miss it but hopefully the books will keep going much longer and will remain as enthralling. ( )

Another enjoyable book from Butcher, poor Harry really knows how to get in deep. I think this one does a good job of setting up a through-line, which I think was missing in the first book. Recommended for those who enjoy Simon Green. ( )

Harry Dresden continues to be an interesting character and Fool Moon managed to win me over despite several flaws. Copy editing in this volume allowed a few none-standard words that I found glaring, for example: "oxidating" instead of "oxidizing". The abuse Harry suffers at the hands of various goons, creatures, and villains became repetitive and nearly made me incredulous. The plotting also flirts with the idiot plot problem--Harry's continued inability to communicate and trust allies is so much of a problem, that even Butcher steps outside of the narrative to address it in the dream sequence. Still, the writing is better and the ideas more creative than a good share of the vampire-flavored urban fantasy that's been written in the past 10 years. I haven't given up on the series yet, but I'm not in a hurry to track down volume 3. ( )

Reading this right on the heels of the first book, I have to say this one has a different tone. Much faster paced, feels a bit darker too. Butcher shows here that he's not afraid to kill off characters, so it really opens up the directions the series could take as well.

I found it frustrating how much trouble Harry had with being believed or trusted, especially by Murphy, even if it fits with the setup. Like I said with the first book, I hope the series ends up facing this issue and dealing with it in much more depth soon, perhaps having magic becoming more generally well known, though I hope that wouldn't ruin the image of the always broke wizard for hire. Of course, that seems to begin by the end of this book, given the action at the police station, but as with Terminator or The X-Files, sometimes the truth has a way of staying hidden. There is even a brief mention of some video going missing and the ensuing hoax spin in the media perhaps done by a government agency with a vested interest in keeping things outwardly normal, but we'll see what direction Butcher takes this in the next book.

Would I recommend it? Yes. It adds depth to the groundwork laid in the first book, and I like the ramped up action, even if some of the magic accomplished by Dresden seems a bit overboard (though he does reach a limit). Reread potential is also there, especially given the many parallel wolf myths interwoven in one story. Gimme the third book. ( )