Monday, October 28, 2013

Review: Death Masks - Book Five of the Dresden Files by Jim Butcher

Title: Death Masks
Author: Jim Butcher

By now, as I am reviewing the fifth book of the "Dresden Files" series by Jim Butcher, I expect most of you already know the following:

  • Harry Dresden is a professional wizard, who makes a living as a "private investigator" of sorts, taking cases which deal with "magic" of one form or another.
  • I have liked every one of these books I've read so far.

Shall I just write a review saying "Ditto" and be done with it?

Doesn't seem fair.  So here's a bit more to whet your appetite for the story.

Once again, Harry is approached at the beginning of our story, to help someone dealing with a request which is out of the ordinary.  This time:  Someone has stolen the Shroud of Turin -- the holy relic which was supposedly wrapped around Jesus after his death, and before his resurrection.

As I mentioned in my review of Grave Peril, one of the things I like about the world of magic and horror which author Jim Butcher has created is this: he incorporates religion and faith by treating it as something with power similar to the power of magic.  For this reason, the Shroud is powerful, though Dresden doesn't know what power it has, or what someone might do with it.  Nevertheless, he has been hired to find it, so he sets himself to the task.

Again, as in Grave Peril, Harry Dresden gets help from a Holy Knight, his friend Michael.  We had learned, in previous books, that there are three of these Knights, and so I was happy to be introduced to the others.

In any event, the case is confusing, with many sets of beings interested in the Shroud, and all of them seemingly interested in bringing Harry's life to a gruesome end.  We also get to add into this mix the return of Harry's girlfriend, Susan, who has been missing for a while -- for very good reasons, which I will not spoil for you if you have not read the other Dresden books.

The action is intense, the descriptions are concise (my preference) yet sharp, and the characters are wonderful.  And the mystery?  Excellent!  The books are getting grittier as Harry's life gets more complicated (by now, there is a war going on between wizards and vampires, so that complicates life for our hero) and Butcher handles the multiple storylines very well.

For anyone interested in fantasy, who does not mind a bit of horror, I cannot recommend this series more highly.  Very inventive; very fun.


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