Audio Book Review: Fool Moon by Jim Butcher

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In my continuous quest to understand the wide popularity of Jim Butcher’s Harry Dresden books, I decided to listen to the second book in the series, Fool Moon. In my review of Storm Front I had mentioned my several unsuccessful attempts to get through this book and how I finally decided to give the audio book a try, which I found surprisingly enjoyable. But even with my enjoyment of the Storm Front audio book, I still didn’t see what it is about these books that has captured such a large audience of readers. So I was hoping that perhaps listening to Fool Moon would help shed some light on this great mystery of mine.

Business for Harry Dresden has slowed down to a crawl since the events of the last book and it’s been weeks since the local police, Dresden’s main source for work, have thrown a case his way. But just as Harry is wondering how he is going to pay for his next meal, he gets approached by Murphey who reluctantly admits that his help is needed in solving a series of murders. Each of the murders have taken place on the night of a full moon and each of the mutilated corpses found on the scene have been surrounded by bloody paw prints. Despite Murphey’s lingering anger at Harry she realizes that he may be the only one able to solve this case and help catch the murderer before he strikes again.

Fool Moon starts off slowly with a series of events that rather closely mirrors the beginning of the previous book. An angry encounter with Murphey, a confrontation with Marcone, disparaging behavior from the local cops and some humorous interactions with the skull, Bob, all stuff we already experienced in Storm Front. The pace does pick up about halfway through the book at which point I found myself getting caught up in the story, but my enjoyment was frequently interrupted by certain aggravating aspects of the storytelling.

I think what irritated me the most were Murphey’s frequent angry attacks against Dresden, which came across as irrational and unprofessional, as well as Dresden’s constant self-recrimination, which I quickly got tired of. I found myself wondering why these issues are just coming up now between Murphey and Dresden if the two of them have been working together for years.

I was also annoyed by Dresden’s need to repeatedly rehash the current situation, unnecessarily reminding us of the fact that it’s up to him to protect Murphey and why. Nor did I appreciate Dresden’s long-winded reflections on magic or good and evil just when things were getting heated up. And rather than sounding philosophical I thought these monologues just sounded cheesy; like he was trying too hard to come across as deep and sensitive.

My magic. That was at the heart of me. It was a manifestation of what I believed, what I lived. It came from my desire to see to it that someone stood between the darkness and the people it would devour. It came from my love of a good steak, from the way I would sometimes cry at a good movie or a moving symphony. From my life. From the hope that I could make things better for someone else, if not always for me.

There's more magic in a baby's first giggle than in any firestorm a wizard can conjure up, and don't let anyone tell you any different."

I admit that Fool Moon was a step up from Storm Front, in terms of the story being more interesting and exciting, but I’m still not seeing what it is about these books that are drawing so many readers. The writing is not particularly impressive and the only character that I found remotely compelling is the crime lord, Marcone. I’m not sure if I could have gotten through the book without the help of James Marster’s dulcet tones and I'm not particularly tempted to pick up the next book in the series. So as far as I can see, the mystery of Harry Dresden's appeal still remains a mystery.