House of Cards (The Negotiator, Book 2) |
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List Price: $14.95
Our Price: $10.17
Your Save: $ 4.78 ( 32% )
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Manufacturer: Luna
Average Customer Rating:  
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PRODUCT DESCRIPTION
Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.6
EAN: 9780373802630
ISBN: 0373802633
Label: Luna
Manufacturer: Luna
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 416
Publication Date: 2008-03-01
Publisher: Luna
Studio: Luna
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Editorial Reviews:
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A covenant broken. A hell unleashed... New York City's only legal counsel to the fabled Old Races, Margrit Knight is levelheaded in all matters extraordinary. But when she's summoned to negotiate a peace treaty among rival factions, her own mortal world threatens to fall apart. Margrit's been in hot water before, but reentering the underworld brings a new set of problems. And a new set of friends and enemies, including a ruthless vampire mobster, a dragonlord who won't take no for an answer, a band of subversive selkies...oh, and Alban Korund, the sexy gargoyle who got her into this mess -- and whose granite-strong touch still haunts her every fantasy...
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: I don't want the journey into this world to end, but if it must, I'm sure I will be blown away in the aftermath.
Comment: After battling dragons and djinns and gargoyles, oh my! Margrit Knight thinks she is up for any challenge, even convincing her former gargoyle protector to step out of the shadows and back into her life. It is not an easy task - more difficult even than battling the powerful Eliseo Daisani. If only she could stumble into a dangerous situation and prove just how vulnerable she was...
Opportunity knocks on several fronts. If a death at the workplace, a new career opportunity with a mysterious and deadly employer, and a debt owed to a dragon weren't enough to send Margrit running to a land far, far away, the reemergence of a race formerly thought to be depleted just may do the trick. With this new discovery comes an upset in the balance of the Old Races, an upset that Margrit inadvertedly caused. Now Alban, the gargoyle whose name she cleared from murder charges, has no choice but to swoop back into her life and do what he can to keep her safe. With so many lives hanging in the balance, how can he hope to defend one lone human from the coming civil war among the Old Races?
Rarely do I encounter a sequel that not only lives up to but also exceeds the expectations created by the first book. House of Cards pleasantly shattered those expectations and raised the bar to an unreachable height. It was gritty, dangerous, sensual, and thrilling from page one to its startling conclusion. C.E. Murphy outdid herself when creating this magical world in which the characters must struggle to survive by any means necessary.
Admittedly, I tend to root for the bad guys. They do, after all, propel the plot and force the protagonist to grow and succeed or remain static and perish. In the Negotiator trilogy, it is difficult to pinpoint who the bad guys really are. Daisani, a ruthless killer in his own right, hides secrets of opportunities lost with a mortal woman. Janx, not one to hide his own ruthless nature, has indeed built a house of cards. Unfortunately, it is one easily tumbled. In its fall, his outer shell is shattered and the dragon within released. Both beings have shown their extent of influence and their ability to exact revenge if necessary, but they do so under a code of honor that supersedes human understanding. Margrit herself, driven by a need to right all wrongs and protect those she doesn't think can protect themselves, does more harm than good in her meddling.
There are so many unanswered questions following House of Cards that I'm anxious to have explained. The fate of the Old Races, with whom Margrit will end up, and the backlash from the attempted overthrow of Janx's domain will all be decided in the final installment of the Negotiator trilogy, Hands of Flame. I don't want the journey into this world to end, but if it must, I'm sure I will be blown away in the aftermath.
Reviewed at Bitten by Books Paranormal Fiction Review Site by Jackie
Customer Rating: 
Summary: Confusing
Comment: This book was just confusing. It started off so good, but towards to last third of the book it just made little sense. Some mysterious nobody just pops up out of nowhere, leading the reader to believe that Margrit could be taken out tomorrow by anyone. Loyalties are going in every direction. And I have to point out something so incredibly obvious here: MARGRIT IS BLACK SO WHY IS THERE A WHITE WOMAN ON THE COVER OF THE BOOKS?!? Really people -- she's described as being dark skinned with tight dark curls, but the chick on the covers looks like your average black haired white girl. The romance that was so compelling in the first book is absolutely dry in this one. I'm honestly wondering, after reading this book, what the attraction is between Margrit and her gargoyle. Does she have no self respect? She's got amazing guys everywhere falling at her feet and she's chasing after someone who really could care less for her. This could be taken in so many amazing directions, but it took the dry path instead. The charater all seem to lack depth, and Cole was a complete stranger to who he previously was. It's all so vague; more time or pages should have been dedicated to better plot and charater development. Did she quit her job all together? Was it ever explained anywhere who killed her boss? What ever happened with the muggers? Were they random or hired? The reasons for the police coming after the dragon in the end was confusing, as well as the blood ring around her mom to protect her. Is there supposed to be a link between the vampire and Margrit's mom? There's a romatic insinuation -- I think, once again, not sure. All I can hope is that the final book does a better job of explaining all of this, because this one was very frustrating.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Very Good Read
Comment: Actually this is a 4 1/2 stars. I read the first and gave it a 3 1/2 stars and this one is much better. And, I am ready to read the 3rd book. Each book builds up to the next one and each book makes you want to find out what is next for these "old races". I'm hooked.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Great Read
Comment: This is a great read, I love how CE Murphy draws the reader into the lives of all the characters and the developing love interest between Margrit and Alban is sexy. It's a page turner and will leave you wanting more....so lucky for you there is a book 3!!!
Customer Rating:
Summary: Gargoyles and Djinn and Selkies... Oh, my!
Comment: Legal Aid lawyer, Margrit Knight, loves to tempt fate and run at night in Central Park. That's how she first met Alban, a gargoyle, in HEART OF STONE, the first book, and how she finds out that about the Old Races, Djinn, Dragons, Vampires, Gargoyles and Selkies. As one of the few humans who knows about them, Margrit's skills as a negotiator are in-demand as the Old Races' balance of power is shifting and they need an outside party. Margrit also owes crime kingpin and dragonlord, Janx, a favor and he calls it in, concerned that a powerful rival, Daisani, a wealthy developer and vampirelord, is having his men knocked off as revenge for the death of Daisani's personal assistant in the last book. Janx asks Margrit to protect his second-in-command, the djinn Malik, a powerful being who hates Margrit. Margrit is only human. She tries to call on Alban for help, but Alban is trying to keep Margrit from further involvement with the Old Races, which includes himself. And there is Daisani, who wants Margrit to work for him...
Margrit continues to be an interesting character, gutsy, but very human (although with a touch of vampire blood from Daisani that makes her heal quicker). The strict rules and precarious balance of power between the Old Races is fascinating. They have old rivalries that could easily lead to them wiping each other out, but they are dwindling and rules exist to prevent this... somewhat. And they also prevent the humans from finding out about them. The strange dynamic between them all, and with Margarit, negotiator and also catalyst, it seems, is full of both action and suspense. This is still a more character-driven book... the various plots are there, but sometimes only in the background as Margrit deals with her friends and family and job and tries to fit her new life with the Old Races into it all. And to try to fit her longing for the reluctant Alban into her personal life that still has Tony, her on-and-off-again boyfriend, in it. There are also issues of what is human and what is not and how important it is. Margrit, who is mixed race, has no problem accepting that the Old Races count as beings as much as humans, but she finds that this is not true of all those she knows.
I thought that this was a solid sequel to HEART OF STONE. If you liked that one, you should like this one. Many of the characters are the same and we get to learn more about them all.
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