Major Characters: Harry Dresden, Karrin Murphy, Kinkaid, Thomas Raith, Mouse

Favorite Quote: The building was one fire, and it wasn’t my fault. (p. 1)

 
Thomas hires Harry to protect a video production company.  Only later does Harry discover that the production company makes porn films.  Butcher handles this setting surprisingly well.  Harry gets plenty of opportunities for snarky remarks, but the text never gets explicit or creepy. 

While trying to protect the people at the production company, Harry is also trying to run a hit on a nest of Black Court vampires he has discovered are in town.  Harry teams up with Murphy, Kinkaid and Harry’s long time mentor Ebenezar. Kinkaid reveals a secret about Ebenezar that causes Harry to rethink his entire past and his relationship with Ebenezar.

The beginning of the book starts with Harry accidently gaining Mouse, a dog.  While still a puppy in this book, in later books Harry will describe Mouse as a cross between a Chow and woolly mammoth.  Gaining Mouse is an important moment in Harry’s life, he gains a protector and a friend.

Harry also discovers a long lost relative, one he never even knew he had or that he wanted.  He spends much of this book defining his relationship with this new relative.  A minor character up to this point in the series, the relative will become a major player in the rest of the series.

Blood Rites has many small battles, but only one large-scale action sequence.  During that battle, Harry will discover the limitations of his magical preparations.  A mistake he will rectify later, but only because he got a costly lesson.

Blood Rites is a good book.  The porn setting gives Harry many wonderful opportunities for snarky comments.  The speed at which he accepts and settles into a normal relationship with his newly discovered blood relation was a little odd, but explainable by magic.  Overall, this is another great addition to the Dresden Files.