“‘Unputdownable!’
The war still rages between the Red Court of Vampires and the wizards. Only now, the stakes (no pun intended) have been risen (again, no pun intended); Ortega, a duke of the Red Court, has come to Chicago with a purpose. A duel between himself a Harry - a way of drawing the war to a close. However, there’s another purpose to that - one that Harry manages to figure out.
Father Vincent, a priest from the Vatican approaches Harry, looking to hire him to find a holy relic stolen from the Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist in Turin, Italy. The Shroud of Turin, to be exact, believed to be the burial cloth used by Joseph of Aramithea to wrap the body of Christ after the Crucifixtion. The thieves, known as the Churchmice, are selling to the highest bidder. And who do you suppose that is? The Shroud needs to be found before the exchange can be complete, and before someone or something ‘evil’ gest their hands on it first.
Susan returns, supposedly to get some of her things and say good-bye.
Murphy calls, needing Harry’s help. Seems a handless, headless corpse has been found, but there are stranger things connected to it.
All in less than 24 hours. Now Harry has to fight a duel to the death, find a missing Shroud, somehow say goodbye to Susan forever, and fight something even more sinister than he’s ever faced before. Yep, sometimes it really just doesn’t pay to get out of bed.
I can’t help myself or stop myself returning to this series, book after book. Butcher sure knows how to write them. Harry is a character all his own. He doesn’t believe he’s courageous, and yet he stands up for what he believes in; That woman shouldn’t be used or violated, that weaker beings deserve to be defended, and that evil doesn’t deserve the light of day (no pun intended). Harry is determined, whether scared spitless or not, he’s chivalrous, has his own code of ethics and morality, no matter what is against him. But it’s the way that he reverts to sarcasm and smart-ass jokes when he’s tense or threatened that have me laughing. The things that he says is pure Harry - there is no way to describe it. You have to read it yourself.
Harry is clever, his mind figures out things even when it’s at the last possible second, and I love to seem him persevere against all odds.
Lots of action, magica or not. a romance that breaks your heart, several mysteries, pure suspense and plenty of activity to keep a reader glued to each page. This reader is truly a big fan or Harry Dresden.”