Helpful Score: 5
Fifth in the Harry Dresden paranormal series. Once again Harry races through the book on 20 minutes sleep chasing bad guys, trying to earn enough money to stay out of the poorhouse, and to keep one step ahead of the White Council. In this book, Harry is challenged to a duel to the death by a warlord vampire of the Red Court, is hired by a Vatican official to recover the Shroud of Turin, which has been stolen by an international mob of religious artifacts thieves known as the Churchmice, and must deal with the return of Susan, his girlfriend who has been turned into a sort of 'half a vampire' and who has been away from Chicago for a year. Quick-paced, full of Harry's usual wit and wisdom, and enjoyable as always.
Helpful Score: 1
This series continues to get better and better. Very happy to see Susan return and her "situation" addressed.
Helpful Score: 1
This is Book 5 of the Dresden Files.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book...it was non-stop action from the very beginning. The plot surrounds two main issues: Ortega the Vampire and the missing Shroud of Turin. It might sound simple, but complexity abounds.
Harry is taken to his limits in this book, both physically and emotionally. There is no shortage of nasty demons, ruthless assassins, police conspiracies, double-crossings, moral dilemmas, narrow escapes, and mixed messages from a semi-vampiric superhuman ex-girlfriend.
Harry continues to evolve as a character. Many former characters return and several new ones are introduced. If you have been skeptical about the Dresden Files until now, at least make it through this book. You might find yourself officially hooked.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book...it was non-stop action from the very beginning. The plot surrounds two main issues: Ortega the Vampire and the missing Shroud of Turin. It might sound simple, but complexity abounds.
Harry is taken to his limits in this book, both physically and emotionally. There is no shortage of nasty demons, ruthless assassins, police conspiracies, double-crossings, moral dilemmas, narrow escapes, and mixed messages from a semi-vampiric superhuman ex-girlfriend.
Harry continues to evolve as a character. Many former characters return and several new ones are introduced. If you have been skeptical about the Dresden Files until now, at least make it through this book. You might find yourself officially hooked.
Helpful Score: 1
This is the one that really hooked me. I had been a so-so reader of Butcher until I read Death Masks. There was something about this one that finally clicked with me. Maybe it was the reappearance of Susan, maybe it was just that the writing finally did it for me. Maybe it was the growth in character for Harry. I don't know, but this is definitely a keeper!
This is the 5th book in the Dresden Files series and it's a great one. Harry gets himself into a mess when he is forced to duel a Red Court vampire. While the duel is being set up, Harry is hired by a priest to find the missing Shroud of Turin. Harry tracks the missing artifact and almost steals it back...just in time to be attacked by demons who also want the shroud. And while dealing with all of this, Harry's ex-girlfriend, Susan, returns to Chicago.
Very entertaining from the first page. This series just gets better and better. My rating: 5 Stars.
Very entertaining from the first page. This series just gets better and better. My rating: 5 Stars.
Standard Harry Dresden story. A real page turner, lots of fun to read
This is getting four stars from me. I love the series, love Harry, and his little gang. Just a little bummed that Susan comes back into play and they still can't make it work. By the end though it seems more like closure for them, but even Harry, in narrative, hints that maybe not.
Poor guy just can't catch a break...
Poor guy just can't catch a break...
I read one review about Death Masks that warned readers to count how many times Dresden says Coke or Coca-cola. Admittedly, I didn't do that, but I did notice how many blondes run around the series. Hey - even The Archive was a blonde! Insofar, there are only three exceptions: (1) Susan; (2) Lydia (from Grave Peril - afflicted with Cassandra's Tears) and (3) Meryl (Summer Knight).
To borrow a phrase from the same review: If you are a fan of the series, you will like this book too. Me on the other hand enjoyed Summer Knight more and will have to go back and give it another star. This one was just too predictable for me.
Nevertheless, in this adventure, Harry is on a mission to find the Shroud of Turin while not getting killed before a duel with Ortega of the Red Court. Since you know the Shroud of Turin is a holy artifact you should also know that it will involve Michael Carpenter and company.
What you don't know is that one bad guy doesn't end up being such a bad guy. One good guy wasn't what he seemed - predictable! Another thing to know is that this book had a lot of chasing after different sets of bad guys.
...and the end is nowhere near happily ever after. I don't know, the ending was simply a real let down for me.
To borrow a phrase from the same review: If you are a fan of the series, you will like this book too. Me on the other hand enjoyed Summer Knight more and will have to go back and give it another star. This one was just too predictable for me.
Nevertheless, in this adventure, Harry is on a mission to find the Shroud of Turin while not getting killed before a duel with Ortega of the Red Court. Since you know the Shroud of Turin is a holy artifact you should also know that it will involve Michael Carpenter and company.
What you don't know is that one bad guy doesn't end up being such a bad guy. One good guy wasn't what he seemed - predictable! Another thing to know is that this book had a lot of chasing after different sets of bad guys.
...and the end is nowhere near happily ever after. I don't know, the ending was simply a real let down for me.
Keeps getting better with each book in the series.
Another satisfying Harry Dresden adventure! As usual, it starts of fast-paced and just increases speed from there. Harry is called to a duel by a Red Court vampire, and hired by a priest to find the stolen Shroud of Turin. Demons come after him and his friend and Knight Michael Carpenter and his friends save his life but apparently there are more demons that want him. Susan Rodriguez, his former girlfriend who was half-turned into a vampire, comes back to complicate his life even as she tries to curb her blood-lust around him and break off their relationship. It's all in a day's work for Harry, and good rip-roaring read.
I first picked up this series because I watched the TV show which is based on the books and wanted more of Harry Dresden and his supernatural adventures. Sadly the show only lasted for one season, which is not that surprising if you consider that cool shows get canceled sooner than they should be and we end up with naked people covered in bodily fluids prancing around on the screen. But I digress. I read the first three books and could tell that they were a promise of better things to come. I was right. Book 4, Summer Knight, finished setting up the world and established the over-arching conflicts for the future installments (the wizard-vampire war and Harry's troubled personal life) as well as the mystery of Harry's parents' lives and deaths. At that point I felt that Butcher was done flexing his writerly muscles and was finally getting to the meat of things, while at the same time the day-to-day wizardly detective work was not going anywhere. I really like this about these books, by the way, there's always a more short-term problem to solve while the big-deal problem demands attention at the same time. Back to the book at hand though.
I was right about the meat of things. Death Masks builds on the conflicts, with some steamy and deadly consequences, and feeds us a pellet of information about Harry's mom. He is either too busy or too reluctant to pursue this tidbit, conceivably because he is afraid of what he might discover. Yes, I'm talking about feelings while discussing a high-action urban fantasy with death waiting at almost every page. There's quite a bit of that in this book, actually. Soul-searching, self-analysis, reflection, Harry does all that, and it balances the near-constant action. It provides for some down time while still allowing for things to happen, as it does perfectly when Harry has a heart-to-heart with Michael's wife. This is one of my favorite scenes in the book, by the way. Another means of tension relief is the humor which permeates this book and the rest of the series. Harry is a really self-deprecatingly witty guy! I chuckled on so many occasions that my husband started raising his eyebrows in my direction. I ignored the eyebrows and kept reading.
We've already met all the key players of the series so Butcher's main task here is to develop their character arcs. I really liked that Susan didn't just move to the beach to suppress her vampiric tendencies, she is no damsel in distress and in this book we really get to see her in action. It doesn't hurt that she has an ace up her sleeve either. Gentleman Johnny Marcone (I love how Harry always refers to him in this way, no exceptions) is a very interesting guy and I look forward to seeing where Butcher takes his character.
I didn't expect any surprises in this book but there was one: by now I'm used to Harry getting pummeled into hamburger in the course of the novel and then having to go fight The Fight severely sleep-deprived and broken. Not in this novel. I won't go into details but the way things worked out was very refreshing and satisfying. I wonder what Butcher will do in the next novel. Maybe if I can stop taking on commitments like I have something against sleep I'll even find out, soonish.
I was right about the meat of things. Death Masks builds on the conflicts, with some steamy and deadly consequences, and feeds us a pellet of information about Harry's mom. He is either too busy or too reluctant to pursue this tidbit, conceivably because he is afraid of what he might discover. Yes, I'm talking about feelings while discussing a high-action urban fantasy with death waiting at almost every page. There's quite a bit of that in this book, actually. Soul-searching, self-analysis, reflection, Harry does all that, and it balances the near-constant action. It provides for some down time while still allowing for things to happen, as it does perfectly when Harry has a heart-to-heart with Michael's wife. This is one of my favorite scenes in the book, by the way. Another means of tension relief is the humor which permeates this book and the rest of the series. Harry is a really self-deprecatingly witty guy! I chuckled on so many occasions that my husband started raising his eyebrows in my direction. I ignored the eyebrows and kept reading.
We've already met all the key players of the series so Butcher's main task here is to develop their character arcs. I really liked that Susan didn't just move to the beach to suppress her vampiric tendencies, she is no damsel in distress and in this book we really get to see her in action. It doesn't hurt that she has an ace up her sleeve either. Gentleman Johnny Marcone (I love how Harry always refers to him in this way, no exceptions) is a very interesting guy and I look forward to seeing where Butcher takes his character.
I didn't expect any surprises in this book but there was one: by now I'm used to Harry getting pummeled into hamburger in the course of the novel and then having to go fight The Fight severely sleep-deprived and broken. Not in this novel. I won't go into details but the way things worked out was very refreshing and satisfying. I wonder what Butcher will do in the next novel. Maybe if I can stop taking on commitments like I have something against sleep I'll even find out, soonish.
Excellent series! I highly recommend it!
Harry Dresden is back in this novel full of non-stop action. Not only is Harry dealing with the war with the Red Court Vampires, but some bodies have shown up that have been killed by a force stronger than anything he has ever faced. Throw in Susan showing up again and a missing religious artifact and you have a book that barely gives Harry or the reader time to catch their breath. The multiple story lines and non-stop action left me a little dizzy and confused at times. However, I was impressed with how Butcher was able develop more depth to some of the peripheral characters amidst all of the action. That is what keeps me coming back to the series and looking forward to the next book.
The entire Dresden file series is hilarious and a great read. I lost a lot of sleep with this series - once I started reading I really didn't want to stop (I know it sounds cliche but it is true).
I'm really happy with this series. Very good
Love it!
Harry Dresden, Chicago's practicing wizard and private detective has finally scraped up another case. Leave it to Harry to make it a doozy though. Some one has stolen the Shroud of Turin and everyone wants it. Also on the scene is the love of Harry's life, ex-girlfriend and partial vampire, Susan. Oh yes, there is also a headless armless corpse that Officer Murphy needs help with, the ongoing war between the wizards and the red vampires, 3 Knights of God (one of whoms wife still dislikes Harry a great deal), and Marcone, the local mob boss , gunning for him. Did I mention the duel to the death with a vampire mediated by a little girl? When does this man sleep?
I love this series. It is just action packed and full of wit. I will definitely be reading the next book.
I love this series. It is just action packed and full of wit. I will definitely be reading the next book.
