If anything, the second book in Jim Butcher's Dresden Files series is even better than the first. The mashup of mystery and fantasy is well-executed and very well written. I found myself inwardly cheering at Dresden's triumphs, laughing out loud at the book's humor, and puzzling at characters' motives. In short, I love the book.

A brutally mutilated corpse. Strange-looking paw prints. A full moon. Take three guesses - and the first two don't count...

Butcher's take on werewolves is different enough from the stock fantasy variety to add a lot of flavor, and as in most of the best fiction there are more factions than just The Good Guys and The Bad Guys. At least five factions, if I'm counting correctly. It asks just enough mysterious questions without disintegrating into the mess that Lost gives us, and has just enough different characters without stepping into the same mire that Robert Jordan's later Wheel of Time books did.

I'm looking forward very much to the later Dresden books.