• Heart of Stone

  • The Negotiator Trilogy, Book 1
  • By: C. E. Murphy
  • Narrated by: Eve Bianco
  • Length: 13 hrs and 44 mins
  • 3.9 out of 5 stars (1,125 ratings)

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Heart of Stone  By  cover art

Heart of Stone

By: C. E. Murphy
Narrated by: Eve Bianco
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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.

What listeners say about Heart of Stone

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    395
  • 4 Stars
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  • 3 Stars
    219
  • 2 Stars
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Performance
  • 4 out of 5 stars
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  • 4 Stars
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  • 3 Stars
    99
  • 2 Stars
    24
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Story
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    259
  • 4 Stars
    204
  • 3 Stars
    108
  • 2 Stars
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  • 1 Stars
    27

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Her best by far

While I liked both of C E Murphy's previous books quite a bit, they pale in comparison. Heart of Stone is a great addition to the urban legend genre. This book is fast paced and captures your attention from the very beginning. A lawyer and a gargoyle, what a great twist!!

Lorna Harper
Dallas Tx

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22 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

This is the lamest, slowest story ever. Things pop up that you've never heard of. Stupidity is rampant. Instead of just doing what a normal person would do the heroine just talks and talks and talks and eats a lot of yogurt. I counted at least three scenes already where she eats yogurt???? ARGH Don't torture yourself. Choose something else. Patricia Briggs maybe?

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21 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

I do not care about your run

If like me you are pretty sick of hearing about how much people love running, don't read this book.

I'm not saying you shouldn't read a book about a heroine whose hobbies you do not share. Certainly I don't share the demon hunting or rock collecting hobbies of some other heroines that I have enjoyed.

I'm also not saying you should not enjoy running. I hear it can be exhilarating, and exercise is good for you.

But lets be honest, as a personality trait running is just not that interesting. Most people who run also do other things that form or describe their personality.

But this chick is "a runner." Something happens to the heroine, and then you are treated to a several minute description of her going on a run. Conflict with bad guy, go for a run, win a case, go for a run. Run in shoes that are bad for you and jeans that are uncomfortable to run in and then talk about how running in them hurts but you just love running so much omg. Her love of running even contributes to her willingness to run headlong into stupid situations, which would almost be interesting if she didn't follow up her stupidity with another run.

It just really wasn't interesting enough to keep my attention for so many reasons. Running is just the one I remember.

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18 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Entertaining if formulaic

Being a fan of the Anita Blake series, I thought I would give this book a try... It took me a little listening, but I started to enjoy the reader after a little bit... Yes, there's a lot of repetition in the writing but the story moved along enough to keep me interested... I recommend this for anyone who enjoys a lighter fantasy novel - one that is incorporated with a familiar environment (i.e. the US, New York, modern day, etc)... I've ordered the second book so you know it's entertaining enough to inspire caring in the characters.

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17 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars

I liked it and hated it

For the most part I would say that it was worth the listen, and the credit. I enjoyed the Characters, the overall story and the narrator.

That being said some of the parts in this book made me cringe the way the author describes things such as facial expressions is terrible, at times it felt like a bad TV movie with horrible actors. On top of that is the "romance" it seemed a bit forced and I actually thought at one point that the author is turned on by the idea of a massive gargoyle member... Crass I know but that's how I felt. I should state that the topic of the Gargoyles manliness is handled as tastefully as it possibly could be.

I liked the story it was enjoyable, its characters engaging, and the narrator is superb. If you like fun supernatural stories then give it a shot as I said its worth the listen. Its not quite as good as the Dresden files by Jim Butcher, but until Audible gets all of that series its a fun alternative!

There's a nice compliment sandwich.

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16 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars

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.

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12 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars

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

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11 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Interesting and Different

I love a bit of mystery with an unusual twist -- and abit of romance. The key being "abit" of romance --- no overt throbbing manhoods with heaving breasts!! I prefer romance, some sex and characters that think (as much as sci-fi//harlequin can)!! This book met my criteria-- I will follow through on the series.
Entertaining!

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10 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars

Why do I do this to myself?

I've never been able to finish a C.E. Murphy novel which is why it was probably heinously stupid of me to download this in the first place but there was a preview at the end of one of my other books and I thought, "OK, maybe it won't be so bad." It's pretty awful.

Murphy's heroine is cast as a tough, smart woman but she's not. She's a hypocrite who makes extremely poor decisions who lives in a land where her job is mentioned every now and then just to we remember she has one--or that it's part of her identity. Alas, Murphy seems to have no idea what it is a lawyer actually does and also seems to be allergic to telling things straight. I mean, would it really be so difficult to say: "He poured whiskey into a tumbler and pushed it across the table" instead of waxing rhapsodic about the color of the liquid as if flowed into the glass? For one thing, the phrasing does nothing for the tone of the story. If your heroine is a tough-as-nails, take-no-b.s. kind of girl, wouldn't she tell it like it is?

Eve Bianco, you are not always my favorite narrator but you are also wasted on this book.

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9 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars

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.

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5 people found this helpful