Biting Cold

Chicagoland Vampires, Book 6

By: Chloe Neill

Narrated by: Sophie Eastlake

Length: 10 hrs and 40 mins

Publisher's summary

Turned into a vampire against her will, 28-year-old Merit found her way into the dark circle of Chicago's vampire underground, where she learned there was more to supernaturals than met the eye - and more supernaturals than the public ever imagined. And not all the secrets she learned were for sharing - among humans or inhumans.

Now Merit is on the hunt, charging across the stark American Midwest, tailing a rogue supernatural intent on stealing an ancient artifact that could unleash catastrophic evil on the world. But Merit is also the prey. An enemy of Chicagoland is hunting her, and he'll stop at nothing to get the book for himself. No mercy allowed. No rules apply. No lives spared. The race is on.

©2012 Chloe Neill (P)2012 Tantor

GIVE THE GIRL A BREAK

So Yes i have completed this book along with the books before this and yes, I do need to say that changing Narrators was a Bad move, especially since you already created a visual of the characters based on the played out voices and now you have to recreate... meh... Whatever... Its a still a damned good series and the Narrator is not that bad, give her a break... I am series( lol ), if she started the series off, and Cathy Halloway had come back as narrator we would be jumping down her throat... All in All... this is one of my best series and I absolutely love it... Never a dull day :-)

Good story, bad narrator

I've listened to all the books so far and was so disappointed that they got a new narrator for this book. It really made it difficult to get into it because she sounds so different but if you can get past that it's a good addition to the series.

New Narrator

I liked the previous narration better. I lobe thee books though, so I still purchased them anyways.

BAH!!! Change of Narrator

Sorry Sophie Eastlake but it's bad form to do a sequel book and not even try to sound like the original narrator! Oh I so hope they bring back Cynthia Halloway for the next book.

For fans of the series, it's not so heinous that you can't still listen with ease but after 5 books the voices are ingrained so it will annoy you a bit.

As for the story? It's another chapter in the ongoing dramas of Merrit, Mallory, the Cadogan House and all the other people in the orbit. Has a start, middle and end so now you are just waiting to see what happens in the next book as there are still a few loose ends.

Worth the credit, not brain surgery but a pleasurable way to use a few hours listening.

Chicagoland Vampires Book 6

I liked this installment. A little more talk than action in this one compared to the last couple, but this book sets up interesting changes to come and may be more of a transition book, although Merit and Ethan do get a chance to kick some butt. I missed some of my faves like the shifters, Morgan, Noah and Jonah but hope they will pop up for more than cameos in the next books. Good news is that Book 7, House Rules, is scheduled to be out in Feb 2013, so not terribly long to wait and see where it goes from here.

I approve of the narrator change. While I did like Cynthia Holloway's male voices a little better in that she has a wider range of male characters, I am thankful to have Sophie Eastlake's superior pronunciation and ability to perform accents, and I have really liked other books she narrated.

I Got Past It

What made the experience of listening to Biting Cold the most enjoyable?

The story is great, even after 6 installments it doesn't seem like she is running out off steam.

Any additional comments?

I, like many others, was VERY disappointed when I started the book up and heard a NEW VOICE! All I could think was that this was not our Hero! Not our Merit. It was very distracting throughout the audio, but about halfway through my subconscious just started to accept it. It is real life people. Maybe the voice actress had to go back to school or something of the sort. With a long series like this it is not a surprise that they had to change up. Keep up the good work with the story line.

Also, I feel that most people are being super hard on the new voice actress because of the change. She is also doing a great job. She had a hard act to follow.

STORY = GOOD / "NEW" NARRATOR = GOOD

Would you consider the audio edition of Biting Cold to be better than the print version?

Never Ever have the time to "sit & read" - only way to read a book is to Listen to a Book - sooooo I cannot answer this question!!!

What was one of the most memorable moments of Biting Cold?

When Merit & Ethan were at the Farmhouse in bed talking about how they get themselves to fall asleep when things are stressful - It was a very Tender & very Nice moment in the book!!!!

What about Sophie Eastlake’s performance did you like?

To me the narrator is "more" important than the Book it self!!!!

So do not take lightly my review of Sophie, which is: I was soooo scared to purchase the "New" Narrator book and was HAPPY = Sophie is a Good Narrator - YES...her "Man" voice could be better BUT overall Sophie is "almost" as good as Holloway!!!

"TRY" listening to the narrator of: Forbidden Days = Lauren Sweet - OMG it should be a Crime to allow her to narrate & if I was the Author I would SUE = 1st Time I have ever said this....I want my money back!!!!! -

Soooooo compared to Lauren Sweet, Sophie is WONDERFUL, at least I'll keep buying Chicagoland books, whereas I will NOT spend 1 more dime on The Firsts Series!!!!

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

Really don't know.....Dark One????

Any additional comments?

Everyone just needs to calm down about the Narrator - she'll come into her own- AND be "VERY GRATEFUL" that it's not Lauren Sweet doing the narrating!!!!!

Welcome back, Merit!

Chloe Neill has given us another enjoyable read. Supernatural Chick Lit at its best.
Merit, just a regular gal turned into a vampire is, once again, out to save the world, and tempt us with more of the best that Chicago has to offer, from baseball to pizza. Glad to see that Ethan is back and I'm really looking forward to see how that plot line works out.

Biggest complaint is that there is a new narrator! While Sophie Eastlake did a good job, she isn't Cynthia Halloway. Ms. Halloway IS the voice of Merit. She has a very distinct speaking style and I found it hard to get over the new narrator. Cynthia Halloway is to Merit what Johanna Parker is to Sookie Stackhouse.

Absolutely hate the new narrator for this series

I listened to this book on audiobook and have a lot to say about the new narrator (not positive). Anyway this is the sixth book in the Chicagoland Vampires series and it was a solid continuation of the series.

I need to comment on the narrator change in this audiobook first. The narrator change was horrible; all the characters fail to sound like themselves and all the voices for male characters sound the same. Merit sounds much drier and less emotional than in previous books; like a pale ghost of her fiery self. Why did they have to switch narrators? If they keep this narrator for future books I will no longer be listening to these on audiobooks. Such a disappointment; these were such great audiobooks....

This book follows up on a lot of issues that started in the last book. Ethan is dealing with Mal being stuck in his head and Ethan and Merit are trying to cobble together a new relationship. Things get even worse when Tate consumes all the evil in the world and goes rogue. Ethan's house is also under investigation by the vampire GP and they are threatening to kick the house out of the GP. So a lot is going on and it is up to Merit to deal with it all.

Merit and Ethan continue to have an on again, off again type of relationship and this drove me crazy. I wish they would just decide what they want and get on with the story. That being said there are some very good scenes between the two.

Mal is trying to kick her addiction to black magic. I am not sure how I feel about the whole Mal storyline; it is so sad to see her degraded from the sparkly and happy person she was earlier in the series. She makes some progress in this book to kicking her black magic addiction, but not a ton. It will be interesting to see how this storyline goes.

It was incredibly interesting to finally have the Tate storyline expanded on. We learn a ton about what Tate is and his history and that was fascinating.

We also finally get some incredibly interesting resolution around Cadogan’s status as a House. I am hoping that we can finally move past this whole political issue and get on to a different storyline.

These books are a bit hard to review because they are so connected to each other. You definitely need to read previous books in the series or you will be totally lost. There are a lot of little storylines going on here and because of that the story progresses, but slowly.

I still enjoyed the story and hope that the Ethan/Merit drama can be set aside for a while in the next book. The ending was exciting and I am eager to see how some of Cadogan Houses’s decisions play out in the next book. The book ends on a very positive note; which was nice to finally have happen in this series.

Overall I enjoyed this addition to the series. We get some resolution around the Mallory issue and around Ethan/Merit. This book ties up a lot of things and sets up some interesting new storylines. The ending is spectacular and I am eager to see where the series goes next. This was a bit of a transition novel and it tidies up a lot of the loose ends from the last couple books. I definitely recommend this series to fans of vampire urban fantasy.

Another Great Chapter

Merit and a newly returned Ethan Sullivan battle Black Magic, politicians with an anti supernatural lobby, and among other problems the secret of Mayor Tate! and before its all done the very future of Catigan house will be revealed!