Summary: Dresden, not quite as much of a mess this time, is searching for the Shroud of Turin, everyone else is trying to kill him.
Dresden is Chicago’s only professional Wizard. Essentially he is a Private Investigator for supernatural issues. That is when he is actually working and not trying to save the world from certain destruction.
Death Masks comes fairly closely on the heals of Summer Knight. The Red Court (the vampires) have declared war on the White Court (the Wizards) and in particular on Dresden. So the vampires are still trying to kill him. The local crime lord,who Dresden has previously had an uneasy truce with, seems to have some of his goons after him as well. And Susan, his (maybe ex) fiancée who is part way through her transformation to a vampire herself after trying to save Dresden in book 3, is back in town.
All of that is in addition to an actual job, finding the Shroud of Turin, which was recently stolen.
Michael, a Knight of the Cross, who was last in Grave Peril (#3) and is one of my favorite characters, is back. Michael is Catholic and devout and carries a sword around while defeating evil, raising his brood of kids, working as a contractor and keeping his wife happy. This time he is joined by two other Knights that are trying to save Dresden.
There are lots of demons and the standard mix of nasties (human and otherwise) that Dresden in his attempt to atone for his past sins and save people keep getting in Dresden’s way.
I think this is one of the better of the series because Dresden is more put together and less falling apart all the time. The humor is in the right place, there is a lot (maybe even too much) action. And certainly a lot of different characters that keep the story moving and the reader guessing, at least for a while. There is also enough “˜the enemy of my enemy is my friend’ going on that it minimizes some of the tendency for the villains to be over the top evil (at least the human villains.)
I checked this one out of the library on ebook, but the narrator is still James Marsters, who is perfect for this series.
Death Masks (Dresden Files #5) Purchase Links: Kindle Edition, Paperback, Audible.com Audiobook
