Fool Moon

Fool Moon is the second novel in the The Dresden Files series by Jim Butcher, published in 2001.

Plot
Kim Delaney meets Harry McAnally's. Harry has been instructing her as to how complete and empower a magical circle for holding demigods and archangels and such —something that the White Council would not condone. Harry chooses to withhold certain information, so Kim won't be executed by the White Council wardens. Kim thinks he’s patronizing her, so she leaves angry.

Police detective Karrin Murphy comes to McAnally's and asks Harry to consult on a murder. She's still angry that Dresden didn’t give her the names of wizards that could have done the triple murder (a remnant of Storm Front). Ever since Marcone spread the rumor that Harry was on contract to off the ThirdEye dealers, Murphy’s been under investigation by the Internal Affairs Department of the Police Department. Now, her job is on the line unless she can crack a series of full moon murders. The most recent murder is particularly bad. Marcone's goon was gutted and shredded in a pool of blood. The only clue is a wolfish paw print. Dresden follows a lead that takes him into a confrontation with a gang of teenage werewolves and their pack leader, Tera West.

Surviving that meeting, Dresden writes a complete guide to werewolves for Murphy. Bob had provided him with intelligence on all four kinds of wolven theriomorphs, were-creatures: hexenwolves, werewolves, lycanthropes, and loup-garous. At the police station, he gets a tip from FBI Agent Harris that the Streetwolves biker gang might know something about the murder of Marcone’s goon. Unfortunately for Harry, he's headed into a setup. The Streetwolves and their packleader Parker are lycanthropes. Dresden escapes unscathed, but has earned a new set of enemies that want him out of the picture.

Just when things couldn’t get much worse, Marcone shows up in Harry’s office, wanting to hire Harry as his security adviser. It's clear Marcone wants Harry for a bodyguard to kill the were-creatures that are after him. Harry refuses, because Marcone’s money is dirty. On his way out the door, Marcone drops a hint that these killings are connected to Harley MacFinn and his Northwest Passage Project.

Marcone's clue pans out. Dresden’s arrested. Kim Delaney shredded body is found in MacFinn’s apartment next to a summoning circle. When Murphy had hired Dresden at McAnally’s, she had pocketed Kim’s summoning circle drawing. Here is yet another dead woman linked to Dresden(see Storm Front). To express her displeasure at Harry’s withholding evidence, Murphy beats the crap out of him and has Carmichael lock him in a cop car. Tera West busts him loose. Before the moon rises, she wants Dresden to draw the containment circle around her fiancée, Harley MacFinn, a loup-garou.

Dresden is shot during their escape. Tera gives him an ultimatum: "Run or die." Bleeding and in agony, Dresden runs until he passes out. He awakes, safe and bandaged. But he and Tera are miles from Chicago and moonrise is coming. Desperate, he calls Susan and bums a ride. Susan is less than thrilled to meet a naked were-woman named Tera. Harry promises her great story. He tells her about the murders, Marcone, and the Northwest Passage Project. Unable to resist an exclusive story, Susan drives them back to Chicago.

Murphy arrested and jailed MacFinn in his human form. Harry goes to the station to get MacFinn, but the moon rises. MacFinn changes into a loup-garou. It slaughters the suspects in the holding cells, the desk sergeant, and Murphy’s staff. Dresden blows it through the wall with a firebolt. The loup-garou gets up and lopes off to avenge itself upon Marcone.

Harry is on his way to catch the loup-garou when he is captured by Parker and the Streetwolves. They take him to their lair, the Full Moon Garage, and they attempt to dismember him for their entertainment. Harry is inadvertently saved by a shoot out among the lycanthrope Streetwolves, Johnny Marcone, and the FBI. The FBI agents each touch a talisman belt around their waists and change into were-creatures: hexenwolves. They exterminate Parker and the Streetwolves. Marcone and Hendricks escape. Tera and the Alpha werewolves rescue Dresden. And, Dresden captures FBI Agent Harris.

Harris explains that Denton and the hexenwolves were behind all the full moon killings. The plan is to kill Marcone and make Chicago a better place. They set up MacFinn to take the fall. Yeah, a bunch of innocent people were killed each full moon, Harris admits, but it’s just collateral damage. Marcone’s a monster; he’s got to go. Harris doesn’t realize that the belts have turned Denton and the agents into uncontrollable, murderous monsters.

Disgusted, Harry keeps Harris' talisman belt. Harry, Susan, Tera, and the Alphas regroup at a safe house to bandage their wounds and figure out their next move. They decide the best move is to take on the hexenwolves all at once. Otherwise, Denton will pick them off one by one. He'd probably kill Susan just to wrap up the loose ends. Susan and Dresden have a few quiet moments before the final battle. She changes his bandages, changes his outlook, and gifts him with a black, leather duster. Then, it's show time.

At moonrise, they pile into a rented van and head to Marcone’s estate to save him from MacFinn. If Dresden cannot corral MacFinn, he'll have to kill him. In Marcone’s backyard, a running battle ensues. The attacks are complicated by betrayal and killing bloodlust. Dresden uses the talisman belt. The killing power of his wolven form makes his heart sing. At the end of the blood bath, MacFinn's curse is lifted. Dresden and Murphy burn the hexenwolves' belts before Chicago PD arrives. Susan evacuates the Alphas. Chicago PD arrests Marcone on general principles. And, Tera changes from human form into a wolf and returns to her family in the Northwest. Dresden realizes there are wolves who can shapeshift into human form. He promises to keep his mind "even more open to the realms of possibility."

Plot points introduced

 * Werewolves: According to Bob, early on in the novel, there are at least four different variations of werewolves, all with different magical properties, strengths and weaknesses.
 * Dresden's enemy: At the end of the novel, Dresden concludes from the events in Storm Front and Fool Moon that there is a powerful magical being who is working specifically against him. (Much later in the series, this concept re-appears as the Black Council)

Characters

 * Harry Dresden
 * Lieutenant Karrin Murphy
 * Detective Ron Carmichael
 * Gentleman Johnny Marcone
 * Susan Rodriguez
 * Bob
 * Hendricks
 * Mister
 * Mac

Characters introduced in this novel


 * FBI Agent Denton: FBI investigative team leader
 * FBI Agents Benn, Harris and Wilson: Members of Denton's FBI team
 * Kim Delaney: A young woman being mentored by Dresden in the magical arts
 * Harley MacFinn: A millionaire environmentalist with lupine qualities
 * Tera West: A mysterious woman with lupine qualities Macfinn's fiancée
 * 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
 * Chaunzaggoroth: A demon informant
 * The Streetwolves: A Chicago biker gang of lycanthropes
 * Parker: The leader of the Streetwolves
 * Detective John Stallings
 * Detective Rudolph