Series are best read in order, period. I know this. Yet again, I failed to listen to my own rule and I read a book that was #4, without reading 1-3. Because of that, I didn't like the book. I couldn't buy into the storyline like you can when you first meet a character and crazy stuff starts to happen around them.
It seems no matter what series I read that if I don't start at the beginning, I have a hard time connecting to the main character. Is it because the author doesn't take as much time with developing the character in later books? Or is that the character's world is so twisted out of normal that everything they do without knowing the background seems over the top?
Whatever the reason, I shall now listen to my own advice and start with #1. Then by the time the main character is swinging from chandelier with two midgets, I could possibly buy it.