Rating: 3.75🌈

Masquerade finishes out the urban fantasy trilogy of Knight and Daywalker by Sam Burns and I have to admit it’s a little underwhelming. 

Both Smokescreen and Façade were excellent. The plots were very well executed and the characters were engaging and the growing relationships between Flynn Knight and his day walker vampire boyfriend, Davin Byrne, just were so well done. And that goes for the intriguing side characters like the scary void kitten Twist and the paranormal siblings who run the confectionery shop. Love them. 

But this story feels rushed. As though Burns had so many elements and unfinished storylines that had big implications that were never really explored but had to go into this book anyway.  Some were lovely while introducing new characters.

But most of all the storylines were just too one layered. There was no substance to them. 

I suppose that’s because there’s no page time for many main series plots to be developed and executed at the last book, often in the very last chapters.  So it feels underwhelming and certainly rushed into an ending where the villain gets his comeuppance, the characters their happy ending but the reader isn’t exactly satisfied. 

Spoilers. Don’t read further if you don’t want to know. 

The villain is revealed, as is his longtime nefarious plan that heinously threatens to destroy all dragons and a terrible magical machine. None of these are given much as far as depth of in storyline knowledge or exploration of any other laid out foundation. It’s more here they are or someone says they exist. It’s very superficial. 

The “dramatic rescue” as well as the preceding arrival of Flynn’s father, missing for decades, again given short shrift narratively speaking. The father is used basically to give Flynn’s mother a HEA, but we know nothing about him or his captivity.  He appeared and it’s happy family once again.

The rescue and fight isn’t much fun. No one lives up to any expectations of power or possible magical growth. Even Twist falls short.  And worse, when the cells , full of traumatized broken dragons, plus others who’s got wounds to be healed, instead of dealing directly with their injuries, Flynn’s dithering about in his head with “stuff “, for pages.  Which makes me lose interest and patience. 

Burns has made a big deal of Flynn being neurodivergent, but , imo, this is the worst decision to make narratively in the scene. The dragons and others are suffering and Flynn’s not paying attention to what’s happening instead of getting things done right away. It’s Davin to the rescue instead.  

I believe had this been stretched out to four books instead of cramming everything together into a trilogy, things might have been better handled. Or maybe not.

But as is, Masquerade as a finale and a story is too rushed and underdeveloped. Which is unfortunate because this had so much potential to be outstanding. 

Read them in the order they were written. 

Cover art © 2025 by Natasha Snow 

Knight and Daywalker :

• Smokescreen #1
• Façade #2 
• Masquerade #3 – finale 

Same universe as 

THE FANTASTIC FLUKE-complete ❤️

The Fantastic Fluke 

Fluke and the Faithless Father

 Fluke and the Faultline Fiasco

 Fluke and the Frontier Farce 

Fluke and the Fantastic Finale

Content Warning: gruesome deaths described in detail, violence, fraught parental relationships, serial killer & kidnapping (prior to book, off-page). 

Buy link

 Book 3 of 3: Knight & Daywalker 

Blurb 

Flynn is just out here trying to live his #bestlife. He’s feeding his cat, running his business, and dating his boyfriend . . . well, trying to date his boyfriend. Every time things start to get intimate, something seems to interrupt them, no matter where they are or how many cell phones they turn off.

When the interruption is Flynn’s cousin, having been attacked and drained of energy, Flynn realizes that the monster who’s been killing dragons isn’t just a distant thing, but a clear and present threat.

But can a man who’s always let other people fight his battles handle his own this time?

Masquerade is the final book in the Knight & Daywalker series, starring one scatterbrained detective, a spoiled kitten, a frustrated daywalking boyfriend who just wants a nice quiet dinner, the world’s most overprotective mother, and whole cast of other friends Flynn has made along the way, including a surprise or two.