Fool Moon (The Dresden Files)

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Fool Moon
Fool Moon.jpg
Author Jim Butcher
Cover artist Lee MacLeod
Country United States
Language English
Series The Dresden Files
Genre Science fiction, Fantasy novel
Publisher Penguin Putnam
Publication date
January 1, 2001[1]
Media type Print (Paperback) & AudioBook (Audio Cassette & Audio CD)
Pages 352 pp (first edition, paperback)
ISBN ISBN 0-451-45812-5 (first edition, paperback)
OCLC 45752301
LC Class CPB Box no. 1853 vol. 14
Preceded by Storm Front
Followed by Grave Peril

Fool Moon is a 2001 contemporary fantasy novel by author Jim Butcher. It is the second novel in The Dresden Files, which follows the character of Harry Dresden, present-day Chicago's only professional wizard.[2][3]

Plot summary[edit]

After the events in Storm Front, Kim Delaney, whom Dresden helped to control her magical talents, asks Dresden how to create a set of three magical circles, which could be used to contain powerful entities. Dresden withholds the information, because such circles are generally used to contain demigods and archangels.

Lt. Karrin Murphy asks Dresden to consult on a homicide. A henchman of Johnnie Marcone's was found, savaged, near a group of wolfish paw prints. Without telling Murphy, Dresden magically follows the scent of the murderer's blood that leads him to a confrontation with a gang of teenage werewolves and their pack leader, Tera West.

Dresden consults with his oracular skull, Bob, who explains that there are four basic types of "lupine theriomorphs" (what popular culture refers to as "werewolves"); Dresden compiles these details into a report that he delivers to Murphy.

At the police station, Dresden gets a tip from FBI Agent Harris that the Streetwolves biker gang might know something about the murder, learning that The Streetwolves and their "pack leader," Parker, are lycanthropes. Dresden escapes unscathed, but now the Streetwolves want him dead.

Marcone shows up in Dresden's office. He offers to hire Dresden as his security adviser, for protection. Dresden refuses. On his way out the door, Marcone says that these killings are connected to Harley MacFinn and his Northwest Passage Project. Dresden summons the demon Chaunzaggoroth in order to get information, exchanging one more part of his name for information about Harley MacFinn. Before Dresden can check on Harley MacFinn, Lt. Murphy arrests him. Kim Delaney's shredded body is found in MacFinn's apartment next to a summoning circle.

Tera West sneaks in and frees Dresden. Tera tells Dresden that he must draw the containment circle around her fiancé Harley MacFinn before the moon rises, or innocent people will die. MacFinn is a loup-garou, an incredibly powerful werewolf that can only be killed with inherited silver. Dresden is shot during his escape from police custody, and is rescued by Tera. Desperate, he calls Susan and bums a ride in exchange for an exclusive on the wolf murders.

Ignoring Dresden's warnings, Murphy arrests and jails MacFinn in his human form. Dresden races to the station to get to MacFinn, but the moon rises, and MacFinn changes, slaughtering the suspects in the holding cells, the desk sergeant, and Murphy's staff. Dresden drives off MacFinn and goes in search of Marcone. While searching for MacFinn, Dresden is attacked by the Streetwolves, and learns the FBI agents are hexenwolves behind the murders after capturing one of them.

At moonrise, they pile into a rented van and head to Marcone's estate to save him from MacFinn. Dresden and his allies are captured by the FBI hexenwolves and are thrown into a pit Marcone had prepared to capture the transformed MacFinn, but Marcone frees them. Dresden and Murphy kill the FBI hexenwolves and MacFinn. Dresden and Murphy burn the hexenwolves' belts before Chicago PD arrives—so they can never be used again. Susan evacuates the Alphas, and Chicago PD arrests Marcone on general principle. Tera West, revealed to be a wolf that can change into a human, returns to her family in the Northwest.

Introduced characters[edit]

  • FBI Agent Phil Denton: FBI investigative team leader.
  • FBI Agents Deborah Benn, Roger Harris and George Wilson: Members of Denton's FBI team.
  • Harley MacFinn: A millionaire environmentalist with lupine qualities.
  • Tera West: A mysterious woman with lupine qualities and the fiancée of MacFinn.
  • The Alphas: A gang of college-age men and women who have werewolf abilities.
  • Billy Borden: One of the Alphas.
  • Georgia: One of the Alphas.
  • The Streetwolves: A Chicago biker gang of lycanthropes.
  • Detective Rudolph: A new officer at SI.


Thomas Wagner, on behalf of praised the book, writing "This is some sick, adrenaline-charged action storytelling, spun with a Hollywood sensibility for maximum endorphin rush. No, it isn't great literature. It's great escapism, a pure roller coaster ride. There's a difference."[4]

For, Bindi Lavelle wrote "The detective stylings of Foolmoon enriches a plot full of red herrings and clues that only come together in the book's climax; Fool Moon reads like a good detective novel, with magic. For a page turning mix or neo noir and urban fantasy, look no further than Fool Moon."[5]

Victoria Strauss wrote " Butcher keeps the thrills coming, with plenty of mystery, suspense, and edge-of-your-seat action scenes." in a review on[6]

Fool Moon in other media[edit]

  • The novel has been adapted into an eight-issue comic book mini-series, adapted by Mark Powers and illustrated by Chase Conley.[7]
  • Several elements of the novel were used in the episode "Hair of the Dog" of The Dresden Files (TV series).

External links[edit]


  1. ^ "Fool Moon: Book two of The Dresden Files". Retrieved 18 December 2014. 
  2. ^ "Fool Moon (#2) | Jim Butcher". Retrieved 18 December 2014. 
  3. ^ "Fool Moon (The Dresden Files #2)". Retrieved 18 December 2014. 
  4. ^ Wagner, Thomas. "SF REVIEWS.NET:Fool Moon / Jim Butcher". Retrieved 18 December 2014. 
  5. ^ Lavelle, bindi. "Fool Moon by Jim Butcher". Retrieved 18 December 2014. 
  6. ^ Strauss, Victoria. "The SF Site Featured Review: Fool Moon". Retrieved 18 December 2014. 
  7. ^ "Preview: Jim Butcher's The Dresden Files: Fool Moon #7". Retrieved 18 December 2014.