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.

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This series continues to get better and better. Very happy to see Susan return and her "situation" addressed.

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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.

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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!

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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.

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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.

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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...

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