Death Masks
2003
- fiction
- wizards
- dresden, harry (fictitious characters)
- harry dresden (fictitious character)
- fantasy
- vampires
- fiction, fantasy, contemporary
- fiction, mystery & detective, general
- chicago (ill.), fiction
- private investigators, fiction
The story
Harry Dresden, Chicago's only practicing professional wizard, is hired by a mysterious priest to find the stolen shroud of Turin.
What it’s like
Wry, fast-moving urban fantasy with a noir undertow: the prose is first-person and chatty, full of rain-slicked Chicago streets, cramped apartments, and the grit of a broke private investigator working out of a dim office. The voice carries most of the atmosphere, with sardonic asides about magic, bad coffee, and his own bruised ribs sitting alongside eerie flashes of the supernatural, like a ghostly hum in a crowded church or the chill of something unnatural in an alley. Wizard duels and creature confrontations come in short, punchy bursts, with a fair amount of blood, scorched flesh and bone-deep injury, but nothing lingering or gratuitous; the menace is more dread than gore, and romance stays a low simmer rather than the focus. Pacing is brisk and chapter-driven, with a clue-by-clue detective rhythm that rewards reading in long stretches on a train or late at night with a lamp on. Harry himself is stubborn, self-deprecating and quietly decent, and his arc is about a loner who keeps taking on other people's trouble. It suits fans of wisecracking hardboiled heroes who want a supernatural twist, and readers who enjoy a fun, slightly grim mystery with a comfort-read warmth underneath.
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