There's a bad moon rising for Harry Dresden. FOOL MOON: THE DRESDEN FILES VOLUME II
Written: Oct 24 '09 (Updated Oct 24 '09)
Product Rating:
Pros: Great characters in plot driven action with a flowing writing style.
Cons: Perhaps a little cluttered with flavors of werewolves.
The Bottom Line:
Harry Dresden delivers the best of the Gumshoe genre, and the supernatural thriller. Now he takes on the wolf man, in all his forms. Best read by moonlight.
Fool Moon: The Dresden Files Volume II by Jim Butcher
"So... Marcone had a fantastic motive to have Harding killed. It broadened his financial empire, and put him in a position to gouge MacFinn for as much money as he possibly could." Chauncy adjusted his wire-frame spectacles. "Your reasoning would seem to be sound." I thumped my pencil on my notebook, staring at what I had written. "Yeah. But it doesn't explain why everyone else got killed. Or who did it. Unless Marcone's got s pack of werewolves in his pocket...
Harry Dresden, the only professional wizard listed in Chicago's phone book, or any other, is on the outs with his major source of income. Lt. Karrin Murphy, leader of Special Investigations, the CPD's X-Files, is still mad at Harry for withholding information that would have gotten her killed in the case of Storm Front. Now, however, as the October Moon waxes full in the sky, she has little choice...it seems that the Windy City is being used as a stalking ground for a werewolf.
Werewolves come in four flavors; werewolves who are people capable of casting the spell to change shape. Hexenwolves are shape shifters dependant on a talisman, usually a wolf skin belt, the classic skin walkers. Lycanthropes are humans who channel the wild fury of the beast. They don't change shape, but they are far stronger and more ferocious than humans. And lastly, there is the Loup Garou; a cursed individual, who changes shape on the nights of the full moon (two nights a month) and slaughters anything that crosses their paths. The curse is hereditary, and Loup Garou are immune to most magic, and weapons. Only silver hurts them, and it must be inherited silver at that. None of these is contagious, as Bob, the magical memory skull, points out repeatedly.
But as Harry follows a single piece of blood covered glass, he encounters not one, not two, not three, but all four flavors of theriomorphs.
There is Tera West. She is powerful, graceful, and not human. She is also the fiancée of Harley McFinn. McFinn is a Loup Garou, and he is in trouble, because someone destroyed his magic circle where he spends the nights of the full moon. He is also, incidentally, a financial impediment to Johnny Marcone. There are the Alphas, who look like your average college Dungeons and Dragons group, and who are all some flavor of werewolves, and the protégés of Tera, and then the Street Wolves, a biker gang with wolfen ties.
One of these groups is in the pocket of Gentleman Johnny Marcone, Chicago's crime boss. One of the other interests is probably intent on killing him; certainly they have little respect for Harry Dresden; this could be because Marcone put it about the Dresden was on his payroll in the Storm Front Matter. Or it could be that they don't want a wizard asking too many questions, like, who destroyed McFinn's precious circle? Who killed Marcone's muscle on the first night of the moon when McFinn was not transformed? Some of the other groups that hate Harry are the FBI. Agent Denton and his three associates don't like Harry or Lt. Murphy. Karrin is still furious with Harry for withholding information from the Storm Front Case, and doesn't trust him now. Parker, leader of the Street Wolves, has to kill Harry to save face. And Marcone wants Harry in his pocket. The question is does he want Harry dead if he can't be bought?
Harry, as usual, is trailed by damsels in distress. Kim Delaney, one of his students, is dead, partly because he refused to help her learn about magic circles powerful enough to contain demons and demigods. Then there is Susan Rodriguez, reporter for the Midwestern Arcane, and Harry's sometimes girl friend. She is following Harry into danger; is it concern, or a reporter's instincts? And Lt. Karrin Murphy, whose neck is on the block if she can't stop these full moon murders. Harry is desperate to help her; now if she would just stop arresting him, handcuffing him, and beating him up, he might be able to save her career! This relationship is so central to the Dresden Files; and it really shows the difference between Harry and the modern man...Harry is an old fashioned gentleman, who really can't resist a lady in distress, even if the lady in question can kick his high hanging hiney. He also is a hero in the truest sense of the word. He does what he perceives is right, no matter the cost to himself, and no matter how scared he is. However, if there is any element I would call supernatural, it is how Harry can keep heaping bruises on top of contusions, and keeps on going.
Harry also has a tendency to do things in his own way, because he knows things others don't. It is nice, more than once in this book, to see Harry hoist on that particular petard. Just because Harry has information others don't doesn't mean he has it all.
As always, Butcher delivers a fine bloody tale. His prose flows, his characters breathe, and the plots are nicely convoluted. A gripping tale that is part gumshoe mystery, part horror story, it is a compelling read, expertly paced to keep you turning the pages. Plan on a few sleepless nights as you read four or five "one more chapters."
The Dresden Files:
Storm Front Fool Moon Grave Peril Summer Knight Death Masks Blood Rites Dead Beat Proven Guilty White Night Small Favor Turn Coat Changes
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