Heart of Stone

The Negotiator Trilogy, Book 1

By: C. E. Murphy

Narrated by: Eve Bianco

Length: 13 hrs and 44 mins

Publisher's summary

What secrets lie shrouded in darkness?

Okay, so jogging through Central Park after midnight wasn't a bright idea. But Margrit Knight never thought she'd encounter a dark new world filled with magical beings, not to mention a dying woman and a mysterious stranger with blood on his hands. Her logical lawyer instincts told her it couldn't all be real, but she could hardly deny what she'd seen...and touched.

The mystery man, Alban, was a gargoyle. One of the fabled Old Races who had hidden their existence for centuries. Now he was a murder suspect, and he needed Margrit's help to take the heat off him and find the real killer. And as the dead pile up, it's a race against the sunrise to clear Alban's name and keep them both alive.

©2007 C. E. Murphy (P)2007 Audible, Inc.
All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. This edition is published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A. All characters in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

Blah

It started out interesting...then it just dragged on and on and I was not interested. I only finished it when I was waiting for my other credits to come in. Don't waste your time.

Incredibly long and boring

Would you try another book from C. E. Murphy and/or Eve Bianco?

Maybe? If it was free of charge I might give it a go? Under the pretense that it was a much smaller read.

Has Heart of Stone turned you off from other books in this genre?

Well the next 2 books i read were not of this genre, so i suppose so.

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Eve Bianco?

Someone with a less child like voice.

If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from Heart of Stone?

Where to start? If this story was cut in half it would have been half decent.

I can't finish this book!

The combination of an extremely slow story line and a pretty bad narration makes this audiobook unbearable. I have tried to make myself finish it multiple times, but can only stand it for a few minutes before I am bored to tears. I started relistening to older books in my library rather than finish this. I think the series has potential, but the author has got to find a way to build some intensity and interest. I suspect that the print version might be a little better, but the narrator reads slowly and it just draws it out even more. I think I may return this book, even though I got it on sale.

Might be the worst story I’ve ever listened to

There are so many things that I hated about this overly repetitive book that it’s going to be hard to keep this review short, but I’ll try to stick to my least favorite things. First, it is THEE most repetitive story I’ve ever heard. Ever. The following words or phrases were mentioned at least 50 (ok, maybe 25) times each: irrational, fear, inhuman -or- not a human, going for a run, bouncing on her toes, cacophony, cafe latte skin, jade eyes, wrapped her arms around her ribs, etc. I could go on, but again, I’ll keep this short.

If you can get past the constant repetition, I think this is the only book I’ve ever “read” where I didn’t like the main character at all. Her personality is just “I’m angry, I’m rude, I love yogurt, everyone is racist, I love running, I’m a lawyer and I know everything. Even things I’ve never heard of just 4 days ago, but now I’m an expert and you’re wrong, you century upon century old gargoyle who has lived through all of the old races.”

Those are the main things. Take all that and add an insane plot that realistically is not necessary. At all. Like thinking about why he would even come find her to prove he’s innocent when no one even knows he exists became infuriating to me. She is needlessly rude and vulgar to everyone and goes off and these ridiculous racist tangents when it is not applicable and then says nothing when it is. She says idiotic things to everyone and does equally idiotic things that almost never make sense and everyone just instantly falls in love with her for it and “she’s so brilliant” and “brave” and “has balls” and “challenges” them... blah, blah, blah.

It’s also hella boring and the narrator has some WHACK accents that just become more distractingly annoying than anything else. I’m sorry. I really hated this book. I’ve never not finished a book, but this was so hard to get through that I almost did.

Long and repetitive

This is the first audio book I have not finished. The characters do things that are unrealistic which makes me drop any connection I might have felt with them. Yet somehow the story also manages to be incredibly boring. I am glad I got it when it was on the $5 list. I can't imagine paying full price or using a credit

Couldn't get through it!

The narrator made every character sound alike and I never could get interested in the story.

Don't waste your credit, the story goes no where.

This book wasn’t for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?

I don't know, I was not impressed with story, it was so slow and nothing really happened. I guess I must read way too much to be entertained by this story.

Would you be willing to try another one of Eve Bianco’s performances?

Yes I did like the narrator which was the was the only reason I finished the book, I just kept hoping the story would get better. Not sure I will continue with the series. Can I get my money back?!!!

Last Resort

I enjoy this genre, but this was not an easy listen. It seems the heroine is the only one with brains. How can she know more than the "old races". It reminded me of the Gargoyle cartoon I watched as a child.

Boring

I thought the story was really slow and the narrator was really bad. The story itself may have been good but I couldn't get into it. The characters weren't engaging and it took forever to get to the point. I was so disappointed midway through that I simply stopped listening and I refuse to listen again. Maybe it get's better, but I was literally falling asleep at my desk and wishing the main character could just die and that the whole thing would be over, so I'm kind of doubting it.

Childish and boring

I wanted to like this! The narrator is very good. The story? It’s ruined by a childish protagonist who is surrounded by prattling caregiver “friends.” Trying to be a Beauty and the Beast story, but couldn’t tolerate it. The writer is good, too, but is writing for 12 year old girls.