Product Description

Harry Dresden, Chicago's only practising 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.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #26600 in Books
• Published on: 2005-11-03
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 416 pages

About the Author
Jim Butcher is a ten-year student of martial arts and works as a computer support technician. Jim lives in Missouri with his wife and son and a houseful of computers.

Customer Reviews

He’s more than a long leather coat
The fifth in the Dresden Files pits our hero Harry Dresden, Chicago’s only working Wizard – well, the only one in the Yellow Pages at any rate – against the demands of the other world, the underworld and those of his day job as a Private Investigator. The opening chapter sets up nicely the simultaneous conflicting pressures that Harry’s supernatural friends and enemies place on him. And by the second chapter, there has been an attempt on his life and he’s been given notice that the Red Court is threatening not only his own life, but that of those he cares about. Top that off with his human friends and their demands, and a bad day gets that much worse.

All in a days work for Harry, but that’s all the better for those of us following his adventures. Here the central mystery is a couple of gruesome deaths and the theft of the Shroud (that covered Christ’s body until he was resurrected). As events move forward it becomes clear that both are linked. As usual there’s much more to the book than just mystery – fantasy, adventure and an element of romance as Susan turns up in Chicago again also take precedence from time to time. This serves to heighten or slow the pace as required to drive the plot forward. There are no new threats here – it’s essentially the Red Court as we’ve met in the previous 2 books of the series - and the mob has it’s influence too. However the danger Harry faces is very real, unrelenting as the story is told over just a few days, and from all sides. This makes for a fast paced, action packed style that any who have read the series will recognise and appreciate.

While the majority of the players are those known already to Dresden file followers, Butcher has not fallen into the trap of making his story inaccessible to potential new readers. Past events influencing the story are briefly described, but in enough detail that the book need not be read as part of the series, although as a Dresden junkie I do think that because events are so skilfully handled in the ups and downs of being Harry, the books would be best read in order.

I did find the ending of Death Masks left me feeling a bit down – the roller coaster ride of not only the dangers Harry faced but the various emotional storms carried me along and left me a little wrung out. Also, although the danger has receded for a time, like the tide it is inevitable it will resurge again, giving that there is more to follow. Cool.

Getting better all the time
The Harry Dresden series is an undiscovered gem at the moment. The books were until recently only available in the US, and it took a while for the public to catch on to this cool, smart PI/practising wizard who risks fates much, much worse than death to save us poor oblivious mortals.
With the Dresden Files about to become a TV show, now is your chance to catch up with the first few books in the series. Each one is darker and more complex, and in Death Masks we see Harry (a non-believer) forced to help the Church recover the stolen Shroud of Turin, meeting new monsters and new friends along the way.

An Excellent Addition to the Series.
Typical of most of the Dresden Files this book is a non-stop page turner. The best thing is that Jim Butcher is improving in his craft. In comparison to his first two novels, which were a little awkward, the plot twists and characterisations in 'Death Masks' are markedly improved. The especially nice to see.

Another enjoyable aspect is that Dresden's actions have long term consequences; the war with the Red Court is a reaction to a minor scene in the first book and there is definitely a major future plot point that is set up in the last pages of this book. Jim Butcher handles this much better than most other authors.