Audiobook Review – The Butcher’s Masquerade (Dungeon Crawler Carl, Book 5) by Matt Dinniman, Narrated by Jeff Hays (5/5 stars)

Reading Level: Adult
Genre: Fantasy/Post-Apocalyptic/Science Fiction
Length: 23 hours and 33 minutes
Publisher:‎ Soundbooth Theater
Release Date: May 26, 2022
ASIN: B09ZJ84HC2
Stand Alone or Series: 5th book in the Dungeon Crawleer Carl series
Source: Bought Audiobook from Audible.com
Rating: 5/5 stars

“A lush jungle teeming with danger. Savage dinosaurs seeking blood. A fallen princess intent on vengeance. A mysterious, end-of-floor celebration for the top crawlers, dubbed “The Butcher’s Masquerade”.
The sixth floor. The Hunting Grounds.

As the remaining crawlers battle for their lives, a new, terrible threat looms. Outside, tourists are finally allowed to enter the game, and they are here and ready to hunt. Among them is Vrah, a famed and veteran hunter, intent on collecting the biggest trophy of her career.

But their prey is far from harmless, and this season they are fighting back.

Series Info/Source: This is the fifth book in the Dungeon Crawler Carl series . I bought this on audiobook through Audible.com.

Thoughts: This was a fantastic addition to the Dungeon Crawler Carl series. I really loved this one, although I am a bit skeptical about some things that happened right at the end. However, Dinniman hasn’t let me down yet, so I am willing to trust him.

We have been hearing about the sixth floor, The Hunting Grounds, since the first book and we are finally there. Between trying to take out the hunters, dealing with Vrah, dodging vampiric dinosaurs, and trying to stick it to the producers of this insane dungeon, Carl and Donut have their hands/paws full.

I don’t have a ton to say about this book except that this series continues to be absolutely awesome. The story has so many layers to it and just keeps getting more complex, but it is done in a way that is never confusing. All of the characters in here have a lot of depth, and there are so many of them at this point. However, again, they are introduced in such a way that I never struggle to keep track of who is who.

The action scenes are perfect, the world-building is amazing (just like the characters), and I love the layers of complexity. Things keep happening that I find surprising and highly entertaining. I just don’t even really know what else to say, if you aren’t reading this series you should. I guess keep in mind that this whole series has been very violent and gory, so if that bothers you, this may not be the series for you.

We (my whole family listens to these; my son is 17 years old now) listened to this on audiobook, and everyone in my family loved it. The audiobooks for these are really well done. I feel like the last couple audiobooks in this series have had better balance in the volume between different narrators (we struggled a bit with the first book because when the AI talked it was really soft). I would highly recommend listening to this series on audiobook if you enjoy audiobooks.

My Summary (5/5): Overall I absolutely loved this book and continue to adore this whole series. I would highly recommend this series to pretty much everyone (who is near adult age because of violence, gore, and sexual references). This is a wonderful post-apocalyptic, science fiction, fantasy dungeon delving mash-up that is highly entertaining and engaging. The story is just so well done, keeps me guessing, and is so entertaining. I am going to start listening to “The Eye of the Bedlam Bride” shortly.