Synopsis
For Harry Dresden, Chicago’s only professional wizard, there have been worse assignments than going undercover on the set of an adult film. Dodging flaming monkey poo, for instance. Or going toe-to-leaf with a walking plant monster. Still, there is something more troubling than usual about his newest case. The film’s producer believes he’s the target of a sinister entropy curse, but it’s the women around him who are dying, in increasingly spectacular ways.
Harry is doubly frustrated because he got involved with this bizarre mystery only as a favor to Thomas, his flirtatious, self-absorbed vampire acquaintance of dubious integrity. Thomas has a personal stake in the case Harry can’t quite figure out, until his investigation leads him straight to Thomas’ oversexed vampire family. Harry is about to discover that Thomas’ family tree has been hiding a shocking secret; a revelation that will change Harry’s life forever.
Review
From cute little puppies to the adult entertainment industry, this book packs a punch of urban fantasy goodness. Blood Rites takes us in a lot of different directions while still feeling limited in scope compared to previous entries.
Before starting this book and being five entries deep into The Dresden Files, there are a few things I expect to see in a Harry Dresden story.
- Harry getting into dredges of some wild case or goose hunt
- Harry not being able to go to sleep
- Harry saving the world interlaced with a sprinkle of comedy
- Harry being desperate for money
Blood Rites, the sixth installment in this series touches on most of the things I expect and want out of this series. It’s fast-paced, fun, and most of all, it’s entertaining urban fantasy. However, I was left wanting just a touch more out of the story.
This entry starts off with a flaming pile of poop. I’m being for real! Right off the bat, we start with some over-the-top comedic action that sets the stage for another classic Harry Dresden story. After successfully (well sort of) completing a case, Dresden is quickly brought on for a new assignment that sweeps him off his feet more than a few times with multiple twists.
So, what should you expect to find in Blood Rites? Fun action, an interesting case, witty one-liners, incredible world-building, and revelations in terms of Harry Dresden’s past. We also get to explore themes of family, love, and relationships.
If you’re a fan of the previous entries, you might feel that there is a certain “formula” when it comes to a Dresden story. New case, potential threat, surprise secondary threat, twist, climax, Harry (sometimes) gets paid. I don’t think this formula is necessarily bad to have but I can see how it can become monotonous for some readers. With Blood Rites, I do feel we slightly break away from this framework but not by much.
In terms of what was lacking for me in this entry is the case itself, the limited scope of the plot, and the major focus placed on character relationships.
The mystique of the adult industry case slightly fell off for me in the latter half of the book. For some reason, I was just not invested in this case as I have been with previous Harry Dresden debacles. I’m not saying the case was bad by any means. It’s interesting, but it just didn’t have the same level of punch as some plots in earlier entries.
We do have some huge character revelations that furthered some relationships with folks that appeared earlier in Harry’s life. One in particular, Thomas, was a lot of fun to learn more about since his appearance in previous books was memorable. At the same time, I think this is where this story slightly fell off for me.
The focus on relationship building felt like it took center stage, putting the plot in the background. In place of an initial interesting case, the story went down a few rabbit holes of character development. I will say though, that I enjoyed most of these character development moments with Thomas and Murphy being highlights.
Blood Rites fits the classic mold of a Dresden story and overall, I had a fun time. It touches on most of the points I listed above besides the big scope of a story that deals with huge impacts on the world or city. It wasn’t my favorite story up to this point but I am more than ready to continue and see what other shenanigans Harry gets himself into.
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