• Heartless

  • The Parasol Protectorate, the Fourth
  • By: Gail Carriger
  • Narrated by: Emily Gray
  • Length: 11 hrs and 19 mins
  • 4.6 out of 5 stars (2,984 ratings)

Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.
Heartless  By  cover art

Heartless

By: Gail Carriger
Narrated by: Emily Gray
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $21.83

Buy for $21.83

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.

Publisher's summary

Lady Alexia Maccon, soulless, is at it again, only this time the trouble is not her fault. When a mad ghost threatens the queen, Alexia is on the case, following a trail that leads her deep into her husband's past. Top that off with a sister who has joined the suffragette movement (shocking!), Madame Lefoux's latest mechanical invention, and a plague of zombie porcupines and Alexia barely has time to remember she happens to be eight months pregnant.

Will Alexia manage to determine who is trying to kill Queen Victoria before it is too late? Is it the vampires again or is there a traitor lurking about in wolf's clothing? And what, exactly, has taken up residence in Lord Akeldama's second best closet?

©2011 Hachette Audio (P)2011 Gail Carriger

Critic reviews

2010, Alex Award, Winner

2009, Publishers Weekly Best Books of the Year, Winner

2013, Julia Verlanger Award, Winner

"Carriger delivers surprises with every book, and this one is no exception. With action, intrigue, and above all, proper manners, this excellent series will have broad appeal to readers of steampunk, urban fantasy, and paranormal and historical romance."—Library Journal on Heartless

Featured Article: No Full Moon Needed—Here Are the 20 Best Werewolf Audiobooks to Listen to Right Now


Tired of listening to stories about humans? Consider the werewolf! Taking various forms over the course of centuries and mythologies, often as flesh-devourers, werewolves now commonly appear in fantasy and romance novels as shape-shifters. The shape-shifting element in werewolves' stories has almost humanized them, depicting the internal struggles we all face within ourselves, on some level or another.

What listeners say about Heartless

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    2,051
  • 4 Stars
    749
  • 3 Stars
    144
  • 2 Stars
    22
  • 1 Stars
    18
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    2,087
  • 4 Stars
    452
  • 3 Stars
    89
  • 2 Stars
    10
  • 1 Stars
    9
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    1,781
  • 4 Stars
    688
  • 3 Stars
    140
  • 2 Stars
    20
  • 1 Stars
    9

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Do You Love to Laugh?

This book is hilarious. Do not take it serious. It is Steampunk meets PG Wodehouse and Urban Fantasy crossed with Jane Austen. I love her and even my 60 year old mom who hates Vampires loves all the books start with Soulless and then continue to Changeless then Blameless and now Heartless. Emily Gray is one of the best narrators out there. The only downside to this novel is that I have to wait until March to find out what happens next.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

10 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

The fun is BACK!

The fun is BACK. I think it is the best book in this series. It was a very quick ride all the way through. The last chase scene in London and to Lord Maccon's castle was exciting and reminded me of Testujin 28go a Japanese classic animation.

I also loved the part where Lord Maccon tried help and shield poor Biffy to adjust to werewolf life. One of the funniest scene is when he tries to explain to Alexia why Prof.Lyall cannot be Biffy's lover, "he's too beta." Fortunately for me this made sense, but for Alexia it did not. I don't think she ever understood. LOL

I was also happy to see a lot of Lord Akeldama and enjoyed his overly dramatic words and acts. I was also impressed with Lord Akeldama's intricate and complex scheme from the beginning to the end. What political savvy! Well done.

As for the baby wow what a XXX!

Now I can look forward for more with anticipation!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

8 people found this helpful

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

I can't wait for the next book!

The parasol protectorate is back and formalized. In Heartless, Alexia spoils a regicide scheme and gestates while dodging vampire conspiracies. This installment of Gail Carriger???s brilliant series also illuminates Mr. Tarabotti???s past. All of the loved and favorite characters are back. Specifically, Professor Lyall, Biffy, and the infant inconvenience take center stage, but Felicity, Ivy, and Major Channing also divulge their own special brands of insight, and the Macon passion shines through the narrative. All in all, this is an excellent addition to the series and is a ???must listen???. I cannot wait for Timeless! Emily Grey is also back and competent as ever.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

6 people found this helpful

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

Might be your five star cup of tea.

Gail Carriger's writing style is clean, and seamless. The plot progresses in a series of cameo's, introducing you into Carriger's world. It feels as if an absurdist steampunk comic book has been buried in layers and LAYERS of etiquette, and this is the result, The concerns of propriety are convincing of the English upper class in this alternate history's time period. The book values the tragedy of scuffed boots, or the scandalousness of a smudge on a man's face, as it does a murderous rampaging multi-story anthropomorphic contrivance.

Fancy words are used, and you'd definitely come away from this novel inclined to exercise a greater portion of the English language. The idea of werewolves caring about their crevats, or the state of their parlors, or executing the fluff necessary to function in Carriger's high London society, I have trouble buying into it.

Emily Gray's voices can get high pitched. The tone's convincingly reflect the physiognomy of the character (annoying characters SOUND so f'ing annoying). It's often hard to tell who is speaking, her accents and tones rubber band around.

This book DESERVES a 5/5 on story at least, but I just couldn't take the slow crawl, the weak plot arch, extensive character descriptions/backdrops, long-winded hedging dialogue, and all the impersonal focus on etiquette. Perhaps, if there had been a break, where some 'middle-class' or 'lower-class' or for me 'normal' people had been involved, I would be biting at the bit to read on, in this series, but it's just not for me.

May be an excellent read for you, though, especially if you're into monarchy reads, steampunk, or high society mysteries. Carriger has written a pretty original alternate history world, in this series, and she never breaks from it.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

5 people found this helpful

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

A Blindside and a Baby

I've already said in other reviews how entertaining and consistent this series is. I *love* it and will listen to these books over and over. Heartless had some impressive twists, an absolute blindside, and an adorable addition to the family. Time to download the last book!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Excellent series and narration

I love this serious, Emily Grey is a fantastic narrator! The only thing i'm questioning in this book is the pronunciation of Lord Akeldama's name. It was pronounced (a-key-el-da-ma) for the first three books and now its being pronounced (akel-dama). I just thought it was strange that they would change it up for the fourth book. Odd, isn't it?

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars
  • S
  • 11-07-11

Wow! That was boring!

Wow! That was boring! There was absolutely no story to this "book". Ninety-nine percent was the overly-detailed descriptions of the heroine's life as a pregnant woman. One percent mentioned the other characters briefly but usually while they were discussing fashion and home decorating. There was also no mystery. Nada. Someone mentioned the queen's life was in danger and that was it. Undoubtedly it was supposed to set up the next book, but give us something worth our time, please! Again, Wow! That was boring!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

The story unfolds

First off, you really need to read the first 3 books of the series before this one will make sense.

It's pretty clear that we are building up to a bigger climax in the final book. The humour is growing a little stale after 3 books (although there is a new element to joke about---Alexia's almost-completed pregnancy). Meanwhile, Alexia solves some problems and creates new ones. The Grand Mystery is unfolding and some of the questions that we thought were solved in previous books are raised again. (You REALLY have to have read the previous books for this to make sense.)

One big plus is that this book focuses a good deal of time on one of the more interesting secondary characters: Lord Akeldama (who was almost entirely absent from Book the Third). I like the fact that we don't have His Lordship's full biography, but we get some interesting hints about the vampire he is...and the man he once was. And, just generally, he is an amusing player to watch---clearly, the author had lots of fun writing his dialog and I had fun listening to it.

I'm finding the series enjoyable in a light, beach-reading kind of way: amusing, reasonably well-written...and mostly harmless.

The series finishes with a fifth book and, if you've gotten this far, you probably want to finish the series (I did, and yes, it really does end after five books).

I'm still of mixed opinions about Emily Gray's reading. She gets many of the characterizations nailed down well (Lord Akeldama being excellently delivered), but I think she does a so-so (at best) job with the Scottish and French accents, when required. This book required less of that than the previous two, but it was still a distraction when Lord Maccon was being read.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

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

Fun and perfect for lovers of the series

If you could sum up Heartless in three words, what would they be?

Humorous, light-hearted, well-read

What was one of the most memorable moments of Heartless?

The octomaton storming London, and the loss of the parasol!

Which scene was your favorite?

Alexia's drawn out and chaotic labor.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Alexia's devotion to the pack, and especially Biffy.

Any additional comments?

I would suggest you read the first three books before listening. (Hopefully they are recorded soon!) The characters, plot and world of the novel might not be very clear without this fore knowledge.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Thank Goodness.....

After the last book in the series I was not looking forward to this one....I am eating my words right now. I honestly think that besides the first book, this was definately one of the best. I am proud to say that I am throughly looking foward to the release of the next book Timeless in a few months. I can't wait

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful