Review: Death Masks (The Dresden Files #5) by Jim Butcher

Harry Dresden, Chicago's only practicing professional wizard, should be happy that business is pretty good for a change. But now he's getting more than he bargained for:

A duel with the Red Court of Vampires' champion, who must kill Harry to end the war between vampires and wizards...

Professional hit men using Harry for target practice...

The missing Shroud of Turin...

A handless and headless corpse the Chicago police need identified...

Not to mention the return of Harry's ex-girlfriend Susan, who's still struggling with her semi-vampiric nature. And who seems to have a new man in her life.

Some days, it just doesn't pay to get out of bed. No matter how much you're charging.

This year, as you may know, I set myself the long-overdue challenge of actually finishing some series! 😉 I’m linking up to the 2020 Finishing the Series Reading Challenge. Check out my progress here.

Today, I’m so happy to be able to check off another one from my TBR pile. I started The Dresden Files back in 2018! Eek!

So, what did I think of Death Masks?

 An Urban Fantasy Adventure With Non-stop Action!

I’ve read the previous books in this series and really enjoyed them. The Dresden Files has become one of my favourite reads.

I love the way that the characters in these books are written. They’re multifaceted creations that feel believable; they have depth and layers to their personalities. Good or bad, light or dark is an illusion, the reality is actually one of the myriad shades of grey.

Death Masks was more than a good story, it had everything that I look for.

There’s a great balance between the various aspects of this story: Mystery, crime, thriller, horror, detective, mythology and the paranormal. Jim Butcher blends these harder aspects with well written humour, love, friendship and hope. This mix helps to keep the story from being too dark and heavy for me. Death Masks also managed to surprise me a few times too. I enjoyed trying to second guess where the story would take us next and how Harry would get out of the various pickles he found himself in.

I bought the audiobook format as well as the ebook and alternated between reading and listening to the tale. James Marsters performance was fantastic. The pace at which he read the narrative was appropriate for each scene, while the voices he gave to each character added another level of believability to the dialogue. I feel that James has also personified our protagonist, bringing him to life in his narration of Death Masks as he has done in the previous books.

Death Masks is a fantastic book. However, it’s part of an ongoing series so don’t expect all the loose ends to be neatly tied up. There’s no life-or-death cliffhanger at the end but although Harry may have won this battle we’re left in no doubt that the war still rages on. I for one, can’t wait to find out what adventures Harry is forced to go on in the next book.

About Jim Butcher

Jim Butcher is the author of the Dresden Files, the Codex Alera, and a new steampunk series, the Cinder Spires. His resume includes a laundry list of skills which were useful a couple of centuries ago, and he plays guitar quite badly. An avid gamer, he plays tabletop games in varying systems, a variety of video games on PC and console, and LARPs whenever he can make time for it. Jim currently resides mostly inside his own head, but his head can generally be found in his home town of Independence, Missouri.

Jim goes by the moniker Longshot in a number of online locales. He came by this name in the early 1990′s when he decided he would become a published author. Usually only 3 in 1000 who make such an attempt actually manage to become published; of those, only 1 in 10 make enough money to call it a living. The sale of a second series was the breakthrough that let him beat the long odds against attaining a career as a novelist.

All the same, he refuses to change his nickname.

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram

About James Marsters

James Marsters is an American actor and musician best known for the role of the vampire Spike in Joss Whedon’s Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel series. His other TV credits include Hawaii Five-O and The Super Hero Squad Show. As a narrator, he is the voice of the Dresden Files audiobooks, a supernatural detective series by Jim Butcher.

Thanks for stopping by and taking the time to read my thoughts. I hope I’ve sparked your interest in Death Masks and that you add it to your towering TBR piles. However, if you’ve already read it, I’d love to hear your thoughts. 😉

Bye for now,

Flora x