I laughed by butt off reading this book. Harry Dresden is without a doubt one of the most unique characters I’ve ever encountered. His day-to-day life is the bomb. Harry is a private investigator with one little catch; he’s a wizard. He shares an apartment with Mister; his over-sized cat and Bob; the party animal who happens to be a talking skull. And let’s not forget the beetle - the car of all cars – blue in color; one green door, one white door, red trunk hood. Plot wise, the story was simple, however, this debut novel is still a five star read for me. When a book that entertains me, and makes me laugh the way this one did, it gets full points. I am really looking forward to the second book in the series, Fool Moon.

Meet Harry Dresden - Private Detective and the only Wizard in Chicago. Wizarding is hard business when almost no one believes in it, but Harry's relationship with Lieutenant Murphy in the Chicago PD at least helps keep bread on the table. Most of the time. But Harry's in for a rough time - he's been hired to find a missing person that might not actually be missing, and trying to help the police with a grizzly double homicide. Problem is, the couple was killed with strong, dark magic, and Harry is the only Wizard in town with that kind of power - something his superiors are only too aware of. Harry has mere days to find the real killer and prove his innocence before he is killed - either by his superiors, or the killer who has also set his sights on Harry's life. I've been meaning to read these novels for quite some time as they blend my two favourite genres together - fantasy and mystery. I loved the short-lived TV show version of these novels, although I have now realized how much they differ from the novels. The books, of course, are better! I enjoy the quirky, slightly geeky Dresden, his ability to get himself into, and out of, ridiculously dangerous situations, and the wide array of supporting characters that make up his reality. Mystery lovers will enjoy the inter-woven cases in this novel, and fantasy lovers will enjoy learning how a lone wizard can survive in modern Chicago.

on some very classic myths. I have read the first four books so far. There's been vampires, Fae, Werewolves, Wizards, Demons and I expect even more from the next book. I was kind of hesitant about picking up the second of the series because it included werewolves. I am so sick of werewolves and vampires both in pop culture. They're everywhere these days. Fortunately Butcher has not one type of werewolf, but four which keeps things a little more interesting. The main character is likable. He keeps stepping in the proverbial cow pie and I kind of smile because it`s like the whole universe is conspiring against him. We`ve all felt that way at one point or another. Though I do not like Murphy at all so far. There have been hints already in the books that she is who he`ll ultimately end up with, but just that character as a person so far she is not someone I would be friends with and let`s just leave it at that. I shall leave off this review by saying that the mysteries are pretty simple to figure out, I usually know who the killer is before we reach half way through the novel. To be fair though, I had stopped reading murder mysteries years ago because I kept figuring out who it was. This series is definitely a breath of fresh air from all of the fantasy that I have been reading lately even if it has more of a 'lite' feel to it because it has a bit more adventure than character development.

3.5 stars Harry is a private investigator, as well as a wizard. When two people are murdered, the police bring him in to help solve the case, as there appears to be a supernatural element to it. At the same time, Harry is hired by a woman whose husband has gone missing. She believes he has become too heavily involved in magic and is worried. The book was good, but I can't say that it blew me away or even say for sure whether or not I'll continue the series. I definitely preferred the supernatural element to it to the detective stuff.

After reading the first three books of Butcher's Dresden Files which belongs to the hybrid urban fantasy/mystery genre, I concluded that these novels are fast, easy reads. More than anything, these novels are over-stimulating, packing too much danger and near-death experiences to the point where the reader feels anxious just reading them. Harry Dresden never gets a break. He's always on the run. He's always getting hurt. Unfortunately, this action-packed pace takes from the characterization and friendships that in the small glimmers that I do get to read of them, prove to be charming and adds flavour to the stories. On another note, Jim Butcher does not reinvent anything in the fantasy genre, selling books solely on the luxury that it's mixed with a large dose of mystery to separate it from generic fantasy. His magic system is too "abracadabra" and the villains (demons, werewolves, ghosts) are too cliche. I also expected humour from these stories and was rewarded only small samples in each book. If you're looking for "immature" fantasy, or a fast read that involves no thinking, delve right into these pages. If you're looking to spend your time wisely and read "mature" quality fantasy, turn to Goodkind's Sword of Truth series, Jordan's Wheel of Time, Williams' Memory, Sorrow and Thorn, Hayden's Symphony of Ages and any book written by the Canadian genius, Guy Gavriel Kay. Or, if you're looking for a book with a completely original magical system, read Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn Trilogy.

The TV series was great and so is this book. Dresden's sense of humour is great and the characters are so well created.

"Wizards control their power. They don't let it control them. And wizards don't use magic to kill people. They use it to discover, to protect, to mend, to help. Not to destroy." Harry Dresden is a wizard who also happens to be a Private Investigator. Upon occasion he works with Lieutenant Murphy of the Special Investigations Unit of the Chicago Police Department to solve 'unusual' crimes. In this instance, two people were murdered when their hearts were blown out of their bodies. Not typical in any manner. This is a terrific start to the series that spans in to 12 novels and a number of short stories as well as a tv series. I was drawn to Harry right from the start. He's a little rough around the edges, living day to day, and he deals with all segments of society. Technology doesn't seem to function for long around him, so he has to rely on his magic training and wit to solve his cases. Throughout the book the reader is given glimpses into Harry's past. His mother died when he was young/born (not sure which) and he was raised by his father, but he has his mother's silver pentagram necklace. Was she a wizard also? I am left with the mental picture of Harry in sweatpants and cowboy boots. That topped with the long black duster works for me.

Harry is a Wizard. No, not Potter. In this case it's Harry Dresden. (No relation, I'm fairly confident.) Harry may be a Wizard but his business is more along the lines of PI in a more supernatural variety. He does the same things PI's do, help the police, take on new clients, refuse to take on other clients, visit vampires, you know, the ususal. This book is told in the 1st person, not sure if the whole series is though it would make sense from a continuity standpoint. I've often found books told in this tense to be too limited in their scope, this is not the case here. Harry's interactions with the other characters are more than enough to keep the story rolling along to its climax. Some of the secondary characters in this book give me great hope that the Dresden files will continue to entertain without growing stale. From opinions I've heard on this series, this seems to be the case. I will reserve judgement on the series until I've read a few more but I can certainly recommend that readers give this book a try.

I don't know if I can come up with enough words to express my LOVE of this book! I am in love with Harry Dresden. This book was clever and enticing and sexy. Fighting a demon naked in a thunderstorm? Wow. This guy rocks. I was pulled into the story on the first page and it still hasn't let me go. My mind keeps going back to various parts of the story, replaying them and loving them more every time. I want to commend the author. He knows his stuff. About pentacles and energies and mythology. And he came up with some stuff of his own that was not too shabby. I find it hard to believe this was his first novel. It was too good for that. I think that Kim Harrison and Jim Butcher should get together and write a novel staring Rachel Morgan and Harry Dresden. Now that would be epic! What a team that would be. Authors and characters!

So this series has been recommended to me by several sources and when it came out in a 3 book box set (basically 3 for the price of 2) I decided to give it a try. I have to say that right now I am kind of disappointed (and feeling stuck with 2 more books). Maybe it's just me, but the story didn't reach out and grab me. A great book is the kind of book where you just can't stop reading it. I had no problem putting this one down and in fact found that I actually had to force myself to finish it rather than grab the next book calling out to me from my "to read" pile. Harry Dresden is a wizard in Chicago. In fact he is the only wizard in Chicago, at least according to the Yellow Pages. Of course he isn't really the only one, but he is the only one that is practicing out in the open. The rest seem to function in some sort of otherworld called the Nevernever. The book doesn't really explain what this is, in fact, I had to double check that I was actually starting with the first book in the series because several times it felt like I must have missed a previous book. Being a 'practicing' wizard is tough - mostly because no one seems to take him seriously and so Harry is perpetually hard up for cash. This is why he finds himself working as a consultant for the police from time to time. It must be for the money because I don't know why else he would work for Karrin Murphy the cliched 'hardass' female cop (you know the type - she has to be tough as nails and twice as good and always worried that she will lose her hard earned position of authority). Murphy wants Harry's help and it seems the only way she knows how to get it is to continually threaten him with arrest. Yeah, that would make me want to work with you. This is the first book of this type that I have read that is written by a male author and has a male protagonist. Maybe it's a guy thing....I just didn't find Harry very likeable. Because he's a loner (another guy thing?) there isn't much opportunity for any sort of relationship dynamic or witty banter - you have to have friends for that (Harry's best friend seems to be some sort of spirit that lives in a skull). Also, the guy's a freakin' wizard but manages to get the snot kicked out of him not once but twice. You think after the first time, he might pay attention to his surroundings a bit better so that he doesn't get jumped (again). The book was readable and I am willing to give the series the benefit of the doubt and try the next book. Of course, that has nothing to do with the fact that I bought the boxed set....really.