Throwback Thursday: Blood Rites (The Dresden Files #6)

Blood Rites (The Dresden Files #6)
By: Jim Butcher
Website: http://www.jim-butcher.com/
Release Date: August 3rd, 2004
Publisher: Roc Books
Series: The Dresden Files
Rating:


When White Court Vampire Thomas Raith joins Harry on an errand (well, a  rescue mission) to save stolen puppies (yes, stolen puppies) Harry thinks his night is interesting enough. Add in gorrilla demons and it’s another thing entirely. Things only get weirder when one of the puppies stows away in Harry’s car. He’s amused but also alarmed as the dog, while a great security system which alerts him to an attack by the Black Court, Harry really doesn’t know what to do with the puppy. Let’s just say Mister doesn’t approve of the new house guest. And this, like always, is just the start to Harry’s next insane adventure. And boy is this book a doozy. 

After the puppy rescue mission Thomas comes to Harry and asks him to meet with a friend, Arturo Genosa who produces…ahem…movies. The reality is that the movies are pornography (which excites and amuses nearly everyone but none so much as Bob the Skull). The reason for the introduction? Women are dying left and right on set. 

With being hired by Arturo to figure it out Harry finds himself working the set of Arturo’s next film and he isn’t really enjoying his time on set. First, however, Harry attempts to handle the Black Court and well…I said attempts right? We do see some awesome moments from Kincaid, Murphy and Ebenezer but we also see shades of a past adversary and we see more attempted murders of women on set.  

Throughout this book we learn a lot about the White Court and how Lord Raith really is just as bad as any of the other heads of the Red and Black Courts, he just pretends he isn’t. We also learn a lot more about Thomas Raith and I refuse to spoil that information here because, let’s face it, nothing will beat reading that sequence. Let me just say this, suddenly Thomas and his motives make a lot more sense.  

Another fun fact we pick up on in this book, and something I feel I can mention without ruining the scenes that surround this information, love is deadly to the White Court Vampires. When any White Court Vampire, as a succubus, attempts to feed on someone who was last touched by the person they love it can physically harm the White Court. Friendly reminder that Harry still loves Susan Rodriguez.

As usual with Dresden everything hits the fan, major plot points are revealed (again, I will say this, nothing prepared me for the big reveal about Thomas Raith) and we see a lot of spectacular cameos by beloved characters. The downside and difficulty of writing a review for this book is that nearly every part contains a huge spoiler.

What I can tell you is this, I’m already well past book six and everything that happens here plays a major role for Harry going forward. If you’ve stuck it out this far with Harry and find the humor and the cast of characters as amusing as I do, please just keep reading. I don’t believe you will be disappointed.  

And, because it wouldn’t be a Jim Butcher/ Harry Dresden novel without a great one liner here is my favorite quote from the book (and, trust me, it took me a long time to pick one.) 

“An errand is getting a tank of gas or picking up a carton of milk or something. It is not getting chased by flying purple pyromaniac gorillas hurling incendiary poo!” -Thomas Raith

Side note and mini-spoiler alert. Harry keeps the puppy. The puppy is now my favorite character.  

About author

Brittney Soban

Brittney is a writer, reader and general lover of all things that end up printed on a page. With a few published poems and a lot of unpublished stories and novels she spends her days doing a nine to five job while wishing she was home working on the worlds she loves to create. As “punishment”, her and her brothers were banned from watching television for a week, leading to Brittney deciding that the free books at the library were better than TV and, in a very Matilda fashion, she took home loads of books every day and has never looked back. A reader of all types of literature, she will read practically anything put in front of her as long as something within it, no matter how small, sparks her interest. Give her high fantasy, science fiction, mystery, it doesn’t matter, but her love does lie within the fantasy and YA genres. A series junkie on top of everything else, she picks and chooses when to begin a series based on how many standalone books also await her attention in her to be read pile. Once she starts a series she will read every installment available back to back until she finishes a series or is forced to wait for the next publication. Called a book dragon by her boyfriend, the term is fitting as she owns more books than anything else and is quite sure her obituary will state she died under an avalanche of books. She truly wouldn’t have it any other way.

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