The Butcher's Masquerade: Dungeon Crawler Carl, Book 5
4.8 | 28,752 ratings
Price: 30.58
Last update: 01-30-2026
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- Jillian C⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️This is a phenomenal installment in the Dungeon Crawler Carl series! It’s the fifth book and absolutely should not be read out of order.
Carl, Donut, and the gang start out on the sixth floor. Aside from being even more deadly and dangerous, the dungeon now includes alien tourists who can pay to join and hunt the crawlers. At the end of the floor, all surviving crawlers and hunters (as well as a few special guests) will gather for a party dubbed The Butcher's Masquerade, which of course, won’t be horrifying or catastrophic at all.
This book was amazing! Right from the start, it’s action packed and intense, full of scheming and political intrigue. Even though we get Carl’s point of view, there’s still plenty of mystery and surprise reveals. I love how nothing ever goes as expected, even when it seems like we know the plan. This installment gives more depth to several background characters and pays off on storylines that have been building for multiple books.
I absolutely loved this one! It ends on a cliffhanger that made me desperate to start book six, The Eye of the Bedlam Bride.
Plot: 5/5
Writing: 5/5
Narration: 5/5
My Enjoyment: 5+/5 - Nathan LafontaineAbsolutely read this entire seriesI have read hundreds of books in the sci fi/fantasy genre and this is one of the best series I've read in awhile. Hilarious, deviously clever, and a story line that gets deeper by the book. The characters are memorable, with memorable lines, and moments of unexpected depth. Definitely worth reading.
- BooniecatWe will all have to work together to make sure you're incompetence doesn't continue.Book arrived as ordered, no issues.
If you are a DCC fan, this book is exactly what you need - more of Carl and Donut's adventures and attempts to survive the dungeon.
If you have not already read the series, start with the first book rather than starting here.
Endlessly quotable, laugh out loud and poignantly emotional, top tier writing. This book has Doughnut in perhaps my favorite class of all, a Bard. No, sorry, thats wrong: not a bard. A DIVA. She gets a headset and autotune and is absolutely purrfection as a singing cat. A quote:
"Because Donut sounded like a helium-drunk cat being crushed by a steamroller when she attempted to sing, that was why. And even though she wasn’t that bad of a dancer, when it came to making a song emerge from that tone-deaf gullet of hers, her rhythm was that of a drunk, three-legged donkey trying to negotiate its way down a set of ice-covered stairs."
Some pretty emotional scenes in this one, including a long-awaited confrontation with a character mentioned but not seen in the dungeon. Some big deaths (both heart breaking ones and satisfying ones), new characters join the already huge cast, an epic pet show and background politics start to have more foreground impact. This book will only make you want to immediately start the next.
Story is as infectious as double enthusiastic gonorrhea, and the DCC addition spreads just as easily. - HarrisMuch much betterI feel weird about giving this 4/5 same as the previous one(s). The 5th book is clearly the best of them all.
The story is coherent without being overly complex. There is action, reaction and danger, along with loss.
Donut is again meaningful and important and Samantha is a unique character that adds some little spice to the narrative.
Carl continues his descent into the path of revenge. A critical mistake not to explicitly mention and keep mentioning how class selection influences the character. That would have explained things so well. He is more aggressive now and it suits this new persona.
He now plays the long and the short game and things make sense.
The bad guys are ok. Nothing too memorable but still they don’t feel overly rushed. They are good enough.
I should also note down that this is the first book of the series where it tickled emotionally. That was a surprise.
The 5th installment of this story was the best read in my eyes. The most coherent story out of all. You are here - maybe you had some doubts after the 4th one, well, don’t think too much, get on with this book! I don’t give 5/5 because while this was a very fine read, it’s not a memorable one - probably the whole series is more of a fun read than something I will never forget