Welcome to the Jungle

My first read of the year was a Christmas gift from friends of mine. I've wanted Jim Butcher's Welcome to the Jungle since it came out, but I do everything I can to avoid shelling out $20 for a book. So I waited a year and a half for it. And I loved it.

Welcome to the Jungle was the first graphic novel set in the Dresden Universe. For reference, there are eleven novels in the Dresden Files series, one novella, I believe only the first novel has a graphic novel adaptation, a (canceled) TV series, and a soon coming role playing game. And book 12 comes out in April. I love this series.

The basic premise of the series is that Harry Dresden is a wizard PI in present-day Chicago. He's the only one (as most people believe magic doesn't exist), and sometimes the Chicago PD will call him in as a consultant for strange (read: paranormal) cases. Oh, and Butcher infuses Harry with an incredible sense of humor. Overall, Butcher does a fantastic job bringing in several different myths from different areas of the world and changing them to make them his own. He also drops several geek references, which add to the story if you catch them but don't detract if you don't know the sources (I know I've missed a ton so far and I've loved every book).

In Welcome to the Jungle, a dead body is found at the zoo.The official theory is that the gorilla got out of his enclosure, took a magazine full of bullets without any injury, killed the man, then got back in - the only evidence of this is that the gorilla has some blood on him, but there are no break points in the enclosure. So Harry gets called in. I won't give away any more of it.

I loved this adaptation. For all of the reasons that I love the rest of the series. Now, it just so happens that I joined the Graphic Novels 2010 Challenge. So my first book for this challenge is complete! Now that I'm feeling a little more positive about my reading, on to the next book! :)