Death Masks (The Dresden Files, Book 5) by Jim Butcher Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Death Masks (The Dresden Files, Book 5)
Book Review: A duel, a battle and a holy relic...all in a day's work!
Summary: 3 Stars
Harry Dresden's latest adventure builds upon the previous for books in Jim Butcher's series about Chicago's only practicing wizard.In Death Masks, Harry must duel the vampire Ortega, find the missing Shroud of Turin, battle against foes both supernatural and mortal, and deal with the return of his girlfriend Susan. The fact that she's now a half-vampire and part of a secret Brotherhood makes things complicated. Butcher introduces some new nasties in the Denarians, associates of the Fallen, who gain power and corruption by possessing the thirty coins of Judas. The main thrust of the story is the search for the stolen Shroud of Turin, and trying to figure out the purpose of its theft. Butcher also throws in Gentleman John Marcone, Chicago's crime boss for good measure. Luckily Harry has help from the Holy Knights and his friend, Michael Carpenter, plus Susan with her newly suped up powers.
The story is well-paced, the action well-orchestrated, and the threads of the plot are laced together deftly. Butcher obviously takes time to piece together his stories, drawing on twists of religious history and the occult, and building on events from the previous books. Harry's world is increasingly complex, and he continues to grow as a character. I like the storyline remains interesting, and the author is having fun creating this universe.
I still find it tough to swallow when Harry always seems to be at the center of all things, as if the entire supernatural world revolves around him. Why do all of these creatures seek him out? Where the heck are all of the other wizards all of the time? There was an interesting moment toward the end with Marcone as less than adversary, but Harry seems to try to irritate people.
Finally, I didn't get a feeling of resolution with very many of the plot points. This was just a bridge to the next story in the series. But hey, I'm still hooked.
Book Review: Great book, great series
Summary: 5 Stars
I've enjoyed Harry Dresden from the first, and with this book the series just keeps getting better.Harry has to fight his way through a world filled with magic wonder and dark, dark demons. His power is in his magic, but also in his heart.
Great mix of fun, excitement, danger, lots of narrow escapes, a little romance, plot twists, and FUEGO shooting out of Harry's blasting rod.
Book Review: Best Yet......
Summary: 5 Stars
I read this book the fastest of all the books so far. There is a little recovering of last books information that kind of tiring but for a new reader it will get you more interested in the past (the Susan issue, Alphas and Marcone.) I have enjoyed the whole series but for some reason this one hit the spot. All the way to the last page there is something new and interesting.Book Review: Harry's in trouble again
Summary: 4 Stars
Life has its up and downs for our hero, Harry, the down-on-his-luck wizard from modern-day Chicago. Susan, his almost-vampire lost love returns, but only to say goodbye. He's challenged to a duel by a vampire champion of the Red Court, but on the good side, if he loses, the wizard-vampire war will be over. The Shroud of Turin has been stolen and shows up in Chicago, and everyone wants it: the scary gangster lord of the city, the Fallen Angels and their demon agents, the White Knights, and the Vatican, which hires Harry to find it. Along the way there are shoot-outs aplenty, strange and twisted beasties to defeat (or run away from), and Harry gets asked some questions he has a hard time answering. All told in Butcher's typical fast-paced hard-to-put-down style, from Harry's charming and sardonic point of view. If you've read the other books, don't wait, just buy this and devour it. If you've picked it up as the first book of Butcher's, go ahead, read it first. Butcher will give you what you need to get up to speed. Then go out and get the other four.Book Review: Ambitious, Entertaining, Absorbing ... Uneven
Summary: 3 Stars
Harry's back on the case in the Dresden Files, Book Five. "Death Masks" brings back many familiar faces, too - good, bad, and indeterminate. Butcher has returned to a storytelling device he pulled off perfectly in "Grave Peril:" various, apparently-unrelated bits of action are tossed together early on, leaving Harry to sort them into some kind of sense throughout the rest of the book. Not so perfectly this time. And readers who especially enjoy the more arcane aspects of Harry's exploits may feel a little deprived; the magic is slow in coming and mostly low-key.There's no lack of plot material. A stolen Shroud of Turin and a challenge to a duel are the biggest pieces. Cops, corpses, demons, Knights, lover, mentor, mob, thieves, vampires, and miscellaneous other friends and foes figure in somewhere. It ought to work better.
"Masks" may be the least successful Dresden File to date. Butcher continues to expand his exploration into darker, more adult themes. Ambitious, but he doesn't handle the grimmer stuff as expertly as he manages the fun. He pulls his punches in a few key places, and he can't seem to decide which way he wants certain characters to go. Serious themes aren't as forgiving of weak writing as humor is.
The problems aren't limited to the darker plot lines. Overall, the story is just plain uneven. It isn't as cleverly plotted as "Peril." Its pace is choppy. The title itself isn't as evocative as usual. Continuity errors are up again, too. The biggest involves major déjà vu over the shroud's buyer in Chapter 27; been there, Chapter 19. Most are niggling annoyances, like the two times Harry drops his blasted - er, blasting - rod and fails to reclaim it before exiting the scene.
Broken-record time. Yes, it's fantasy, but Butcher still puts too much gratuitous strain on the willing suspension of disbelief. Especially if he wants to be taken seriously. Several characters strike random false notes (Michael laughs at that?). Events don't always ring true, either. Many clinkers are minor (Harry dances in those shoes?), but a few - like the whole river-jump-from-speeding-train bit - are pretty substantial.
On the plus side, Butcher doles out more tantalizing tidbits about Harry's past. Harry's present is finally showing long-overdue signs of more control over his power and his pocketbook. There's the usual fun sprinkling of future plot hints. And while Butcher needs to work on his command of mature themes like passion, sacrifice, obsession, and damnation, his grasp of the worlds of magic and mayhem remains as robust as ever. His humor, where appropriate, is in top form.
Death Masks has some great moments. Its mysteries aren't as well-executed as in Peril, but they're entertaining and absorbing. Butcher writes well, when he chooses. And the series' emerging dark side is not unwelcome. Mixing humor and drama is much harder than writing in either vein alone, but lends far more dimension to stories and characters; once Butcher gets the hang of it, readers will follow Harry anywhere.