The Dresden Files is one of my favorite series so when the dramatized adaptation was offered for book 1, I was excited to relive the story again.

The story is no less fun even though I have restarted this series time and time again. It is a series I keep on my bookshelves to introduce to friends or pick up when in reading lull.

Dresden is a modern day wizard in Chicago. He has an office in mid-city and an apartment in the basement of an old house. Technology doesn't work well around his ambient magic, so his car is old and clunky and the landline phone is constantly on the fritz. However, a wizard in Chicago is not a hugely needed service so he tries to take the jobs he can to pay his bills. He freelances as a consultant with the Chicago PD when they run across a case where two people who were "getting down to business" have their hearts explode out of their chests. One of the people is linked to a Mafia Boss in the area. He also has a smaller case of a missing husband who seems to have started dabbling in magic and the occult.

This book is just awesome, start to finish. With the dramatization, there were some musical interludes which didn't seem to make a lot of sense, but the narrators and full cast of voices did a fantastic job to help this feel like a full radio show. I could clearly imagine the story as it unfolded. I hope they do more in the series.

I haven't read this for several years and man, it brought it all back how much I loved this the first time. I also really really loved how they did the narration; they picked the perfect voices and the side effects were cool.
Urban magic is one of my favorite things, because I want to be able to believe there's magic in the world. Dresden works with the police in Chicago helping solve mysteries while he also plays an important part in the wizard world. The explanation of the rules of magic, the description of the crimes, and the odd people that populate this alternate reality are just so intriguing.
This is as entertaining as a movie.