Book Review – The Butcher’s Masquerade by Matt Dinniman

Ah, yes. The dreaded sixth floor of the dungeon where outside hunting parties are allowed in to hunt the crawlers so the can loot their inventory and claim cash prizes for the top crawlers. Unfortunately for these hunters, the system’s AI has grown more unhinged with each level and Carl, Princess Donut, and their friends aren’t giving up without a fight. As Carl says repeatedly, you will not break me. I will break you. And now he has Samantha, the bodiless head of a sex doll inhabited by a Withering Spirit (a banished lesser diety). She’ll kill your mother. And ruin well set plans simply by being stubborn Samantha.

Carl soon finds out that the game runners have a nasty little surprise for both the hunters and the crawlers. At the end of this level before they descend the stairs down to the next level, the top crawlers will be forced to attend a Butcher’s Masquerade. A party of sorts where they will have to face the hunters and a tough boss battle. It isn’t meant to be survivable. And Carl soon comes up with a plan to save as many people as he can. But there’s a problem or two.

Donut’s pet raptor Mongo has discovered female raptors and impregnates one, scandalizing Donut in the process. Signet reappears and gives Carl another side quest involving intricate plot points and going out of his way for an NPC who has no idea her entire life has been a farce. Most notably, Carl’s ex-girlfriend and Donut’s original owner, Beatrice, and the neighbor cat Ferdinand (Donut’s lover) have been found alive on Earth and are being brought to Carl and Donut. Fortunately for them, they have friends outside of the dungeon and they only see her in passing on a show as opposed to seeing Bea and Ferdinand become a gigantic boss battle they need to survive. At least for now.

The notion of outside parties buying their way in to hunt contestants of a game like this isn’t new. Stephen King did it with The Running Man. Black Mirror also had a similar episode. The horror film The Hunt using this trope is probably the best example of it. Author Matt Dinniman, though, takes it to all new extremes using a protagonist who is so unbalanced and borderline insane that its hard to stop reading. AND THEN, Dinniman pairs Carl with a god damn cat so full of herself that its shocking that their egos can sit in the same room together. They do though, and this book is the first one where Carl finally lets Donut know that he will never leave her behind. This heartwarming moment was so needed in the series that it might be my favorite part of the book.

What makes this series of books so great is that I never know what will happen next. Carl’s plans are so utterly insane that they can’t possibly work but somehow, they always do even with the AI throwing in wrenches in here and there. There is also a twist with Katia at the end of this book that I won’t spoil here. It’s going to make the ninth floor very interesting and heartbreaking for everyone involved. I can’t wait to see how it plays out.

5 out 5 stars.