Review – Blood Rites by Jim Butcher

Posted March 6, 2019 by Carole in 2019 Audiobook Challenge, Audiobook, Book Reviews / 12 Comments

Blood Rites by Jim Butcher 
Narrated by James Masters
Series: The Dresden Files #6
Publisher: Penguin Audio
Publication Date: April 06, 2010
Date Read: February 22, 2019
Length:  13 hours 5 minutes
Source: Purchased
★★★★☆

HARRY DRESDEN — WIZARD
Lost Items Found. Paranormal Investigations. Consulting. Advice. Reasonable Rates. No Love Potions, Endless Purses, or Other Entertainment.

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’s 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’s even more frustrated because he only got involved with this bizarre mystery 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’s oversexed vampire family. Harry is about to discover that Thomas’s family tree has been hiding a shocking secret: a revelation that will change Harry’s life forever.

My Review
I think that I might have enjoyed this book even more than I did the first time I read it.  It has been several years since I worked my way through the Harry Dresden series the first time and I have been slowing re-reading the series on audio.  I am somewhat surprised that I remembered as much of this story as I did but I think that this is really a pivotal book in the series and it stood out in memory for that reason.  I really had a blast with the story and am glad that I made the decision to pick it up when I did.

Once again, Harry has his hands full.  The book starts out with Harry delivering some temple dogs to a monk which sounds like it should be a lot easier than it actually is.  One of the dogs stows away in Harry’s car and I really enjoyed having the pup along for much of the story.  Harry is a good guy and always seems to do what is right even when it costs him.  This book takes Harry on quite the ride and spends some time on the set of an adult film where things don’t really go as planned.

This felt like a pivotal book in the series because there are some pretty big revelations that are made.  You get some insight into several characters which will have an impact for the rest of the series.  I also liked the fact that we see others make some sacrifices for Harry.  Harry always seems to give but it is nice to see that he does have some true friends that are there for him and can be trusted.

James Marsters does a phenomenal job with this series.  I am really quite in awe of his ability to bring Harry and the story to life.  If I were to read one of these books, the voice that I would hear in my head for Harry would be James’s voice.  He is able to add excitement to the story when needed and seems to have perfectly captured Harry’s sense of humor.  He handles all of the voices very well and is easy to listen to for hours at a time.

I would highly recommend this series to others.  It is a series that needs to be read in order since each book builds on the previous installments.  I had a great time with this wonderful story and can’t wait to continue my re-read of the series.

About the Author

A martial arts enthusiast whose résumé includes a long list of skills rendered obsolete at least two hundred years ago, #1 New York Times bestselling author Jim Butcher turned to writing as a career because anything else probably would have driven him insane. He lives mostly inside his own head so that he can write down the conversation of his imaginary friends, but his head can generally be found in Independence, Missouri. Jim is the author of the Dresden Files, the Codex Alera novels, and the Cinder Spires series, which began with The Aeronaut’s Windlass.

Author Links: Website | Twitter | Goodreads

Related Posts

«
»

12 responses to “Review – Blood Rites by Jim Butcher”

  1. Rachel @Waves of Fiction

    James Marsters!! Spike from Buffy! I was always a Spike girl. I have the first book on hold at the library. Audio copy, but it's a looonnngg wait! 🙁 I may have to break down and buy it.

  7. Northwoman

    I love this series and narrator. I own every one including short stories on audio. I will definitely reread at some point but I just finished my first round last year, in time for Brief Cases. Anne – Books of My Heart

  8. Sophia Rose

    That is so neat how you are getting much more out of the re-listens. I still need to start the series. I know I'll enjoy these.

  9. La La in the Library

    My son loves this series, too, I think he will be reading book six next. For some reason he doesn't seem to think I will like them. ? I loved the SyFy Channel show and was pretty miffed when they cancelled it. ?

  11. Literary Feline

    I want to go back and listen to all of these books, having read the print versions. I did listen to the first book and enjoyed re-visiting it that way. I have a crush on Harry. 🙂

  12. Olivia's Catastrophe

    I've been seeing Kimberly reading this series over on Caffienated Reader and she seems like she is enjoying them too! I haven't read them before but I do want to read them now and they are on wishlist 🙂