My wife and I found ourselves sitting in traffic on a snowy day at a stoplight. In the rearview mirror, I noticed a behemoth of a car fishtailing behind me in a struggle to control his forward momentum. Alas... it was not to be. The monstrosity of a car slammed into the back of our minivan. Annoyed, I emerged from our vehicle and approached my assailant. As we waited for law enforcement to arrive, the scrubby individual who had battered my van raved maniacally about someone named Jim Butcher and his Dresden Files books. It seems to have made an impression on me because I have read every Dresden Files book written as well as the short stories on
www.jim-butcher.com and his Alera series as well. They are all great. I would warn not to judge the Dresden Files series by the first book. It isn't bad, but the writing, character development and story only get better as the series progresses.