Cold Hearted

A Yancy Lazarus Novel, Episode 2

By: James Hunter

Narrated by: Charlie Kevin

Length: 9 hrs and 55 mins

Publisher's summary

Yancy Lazarus just wants to be left alone. He wants to play his blues music, smoke a few cigarettes, and otherwise leave the supernatural world to fend for itself.

He especially wants to be left alone by the Guild of the Staff - the mage ruling body where he used to work as a fix-it man. But when a little kid gets nabbed by an ancient fae creature from the nether regions of Winter, and the Guild refuses to set things right, he just can't seem to heed good sense and leave things be.

Nothing's ever easy though. Turns out, the kidnapping is just the tip of one big ol' iceberg of pain and trouble. It seems some nefarious force is working behind the scenes to try and unhinge the tenuous balance between the supernatural nations and usher in a new world order. So now, if Yancy ever hopes to see the bottom of another beer bottle, he's gonna have to partner up with an FBI agent - an agent who's been hunting him for years - in order to bring down a nigh-immortal, douchebag mage from a different era. And to top it off, Yancy's gonna have to pull it off without his magical powers...Boy, some days just aren't worth getting out of bed for.

©2015 James A. Hunter & Shadow Alley Press Inc. (P)2015 James A. Hunter & Shadow Alley Press

I love Yancy.

He is the epitome of a hard boiled reluctant hero. He is so busy saying he isn't one to realize he can't stop being one.

I love the lingo of Yancy Lazarus

Note: This is Book 2 in the series and can work as a stand alone.

Book 1 was good but this book is much better. It’s a bit darker, more gritty, some great secondary characters, awesome fight scenes, and some twisted fae. Yancy still fascinates me. He has his dated lingo and smokes like a chimney but his ideas of women aren’t dated (which is nice since it would have been embarrassing yet entertaining to see FBI agent Nicole Ferraro kick his butt).

Some of those background questions I had in Book 1 get answered here. We learn more about Yancy’s family and the reasons he left them. We also get to know more about the magic Guild Yancy was once part of through the Guild member James. There’s still plenty to learn about Yancy’s past but I like that we get a little bit more each book.

There’s plenty to do with the winter Fae and Old Man Winter in this story. It borders on epic fantasy because of the big sweeping implications of some of it but I liked that it stayed urban fantasy. That’s Yancy’s strength right now. There were some great messy scenes fighting ice dwarves and such. I also like Yancy’s take on using compulsion, even on evil fae.

Nicole is a great addition to the story. She’s got her own agenda and doesn’t take crap from Yancy. Yet she can play a role, keeping it cool, in order to blend in as well. She’s not all bite; she’s also a lot of brains. I really hope we see more of her in future books.

This is a fun, dark urban fantasy that wraps up the immediate mystery while leaving a few bigger questions for the series arc. Once again, it was the perfect companion to playing Titan Quest. 5/5 stars.

The Narration: Charlie Kevin was great once again. He’s the perfect fit for the gravely, snarky voice of Yancy. He also made an excellent Nicole, his voice being feminine without being ridiculous. I loved his voices for the various fae. He made them sound dangerous and deadly. All his character voices were distinct. There were no technical issues with this recording. 5/5 stars.

Cant get enough !

First off, Charlie Kevin hits it out of the park as Yancy, without a doubt.
This series keeps getting better and better, and Charlie brings every single one of James' characters to life.
Do yourself a favor, get this series, and binge it all.

Really good 2nd book.

Any additional comments?

For me this was better than the 1st book. Thought the story and narration were simply better than the first. In this genre it's very hard to be original, so the story has to be good or it's just gonna be compared to the dozen or so similar series out there. Kudos to the author and narrator.

worth your credit

Another great read. Narrator is a perfect fit. Will get the next book as soon as it becomes available on audible.

Way Better

This book series is starting to get better the first was good with the banter and ok on the story and some of the conversations but this has a really good story plus a little banter that made me laugh if you listen pay close attention when the FBI agent starts in on our "Hero" , can't wait for the next one the narrator is really good up there with some of the better ones.

Another great addition to the Urban Fantasy genre!

I enjoy this series so much I save his new books until I have listened to a few lousy books in a row, because I know I can count on Mr. Hunter to deliver an excellent tale. The story is engaging and his description of magic is truly unique. Looking forward to Episode 3!!!

amazing story. 10/10

love the story. I'm happy to say that the stories are interesting, the characters engaging, and overall is worth every penny.

Harry Dresden eat your heart out

Man, oh man. Where has this series been? How had I missed it? This is one of the best Urban Fantasy series I have ever read. It just plays out so wonderfully, and the character of Yancy Lazarus is so compelling. I mean this series carries real weight, it has depth, and you will care about the characters more than you will believe.

Yancy gets depowered, and then must face some real inner demon type stuff; stuff that might just lead to him becoming a bad guy. A really bad guy. He ends up doing a walk about through alternate parallel tiimelines, and learns that sometimes the worst enemy you can have is yourself.

This series continues to improve with every book. The characterization grows with every page, and you do get to see growth and change occuring as things move forward. As I've said before, Yancy becoms more and more real, and his plight will become yours. I am not an emotional guy, but I did get choked up once or twice, and this is only the SECOND book!!!!

As Urban Fantasy goes this is stuff top shelf stuff. I pute it against Harry Dresden and Nate Temple without any qualms. What I really like is that it isn't strictly an action foward type of story. Yes it has action, but there is more to it than meets the eye. Even though I did receive a promo code for this review it in no way influenced my considerations of the material, and in fact, inspired me to be more honest. In fact, getting a code generally makes me harsher as a reviewer as I am more often concerned what someone like Me will decide based on my review.

If you love magic, Urban Fantasy, are a fan of the Dresden Files or John Constantine, then you will want to put this book in fron of your eyes and set to reading at once. If you don't then you are selling youself short of a great literary escape!

Pretty good

What did you love best about Cold Hearted?

I like a hero who makes mistakes and isn't flawless.

What did you like best about this story?

Our hero doesn't want the limelight, knows his limitations and is realistic about the choices he made.

Have you listened to any of Charlie Kevin’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No. At first I was annoyed by his narration but like the main character, he grew on me. Now I doubt anyone else could be Yancy's voice.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No, I like to spread it out. Sometimes I replay some chapters as I go while trying to follow some of the more complex plot lines.

Any additional comments?

Pretty good read. Just got the next one and am looking forward to listening.