TITLE: Death Masks
AUTHOR: Jim Butcher
COPYRIGHT: 2003
TYPE: Urban Fantasy
PAGES; 378
SERIES: oh yeah
1. Storm Front
2. Fool Moon
3. Grave Peril
4. Summer Knight
5. Death Mask
6. Blood Rite
7. Dead Beat
8. Proven Guilty
9. White Night
10. Small Favor
11. Welcome to the Jungle

REASON FOR READING: Well I’m working my way through the books. Love me some Harry.

SUMMARY: {From goodreads}
Harry Dresden is not having a good day. A vampire named Ortega is hunting the beleaguered wizard, intending to challenge him to a duel that, Ortega claims, will end the war between the vampires and the wizards. Harry has almost no hope of winning the duel, but soon he is preoccupied by another problem: Father Vincent, a priest, needs Harry's help in finding the Shroud of Turin, stolen by a trio of thieves. Harry traces two of the thieves to his hometown, Chicago, but when he finds them, he learns that he isn't the only one after them. A group of terrifying demons wants the shroud, and its leader is interested in Harry's soul, too. Harry must call on all of his friends, including three brave knights, his police-officer friend, and even his half-vampire ex-girlfriend, Susan. Butcher maintains a breakneck pace in Harry's exciting fifth adventure. This imaginative series continues to surprise and delight with its inventiveness and sympathetic hero.

THOUGHTS/OPINION:
This book takes off where book 4 left us. Maybe a few weeks or months in between this book and the last I think. It starts off with Harry on a TV show that is trying to prove he’s a fraud not a wizard. During that time we learn that Harry is still trying to contact his old girlfriend whom he feels responsible for turning her into a half vampire (all it would take is for her to kill to turn completely) a member from the Red Court offers him a duel (in order to stop the war) and he is asked by a priest to find the shroud (the cloth that Jesus was wrapped in). He is attacked in the parking lot by hired guns and manages to take on all three tasks. And that was just in the first chapter. The action continues throughout the book as all the plots tie seamlessly into one another leaving you on the edge of your seating wondering how bad of a beating he will receive and will he survive it this time.

Things I enjoyed:
-I love that Harry is a character that does what I can see everyday normal people making. Yes some of his decisions leave me speechless but his action and his character always back it up.
-I love that the plot is weaved so well together that you have to know what is going to happen. The twist are just enough to make it real and believable and the characters never sway from their morals or beliefs.
-The secondary characters in this story carried most if not all of the weight. Without them Harry would be just some guy fighting evil for no reason who gets his ass kicked.

Things I didn’t care for:
-As the series progress it feels as if Harry continues to get in deeper and deeper with no end in sight for a HEA. Don’t get me wrong I’m not asking for that but I can’t see how this series is going to end on a good note.
-Why does Harry have to get his butt serious kicked over and over. Just once I want to see him win without too much blood loss, just once.

Are you keeping it or passing it on? It was a library book because the series is so massive I have decided not to purchase the books but borrow them. However, if the series continues to keep getting better I might have to rethink that theory.

SCORE: 8 out of 10

Anything Else: This is a series you will want to read this in order. Even though you can understand it and it can stand alone in order to truly appreciate this book you should read it in order.
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100+ Book Challenge

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