Customer Reviews

House of Cards (The Negotiator, Book 2)

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I felt this book was better than the first one, Heart of Stone (The Negotiator Trilogy, Book 1), but it still wasn't a 5-star book. The first third of the book is very slow which is the same problem I had with the first book. This might have a lot to do with the author setting up the story and not all the players being involved, but it bordered on boring.

Once all the players get involved, however, the story picks up quite nicely. The dialogue is snappy and humourous at turns. Magrit, the main character, is more involved with the Old Races in this entry in the trilogy and the story is better for it. In particular, I really like the further exploration of Janx and Biali. Magrit's friends, Cole and Cameron, are more involved in this story than in the previous book as is Magrit's mother, Rebecca. They all add humanity to the story and make Magrit more fleshed out in her interactions with them.

I look forward to seeing where the last book in the trilogy takes everyone.

After reading Heart of Stone, I was not sure if I would be that pleased with Murphy's second book because it would have been very easy to fall into the traps of cyclical romance and two-dimensional characters. In House of Cards, Murphy continues to tread on the line between typical and fantastic. My final verdict is favorible, however, and I am definitely hooked now for the third book.

In House of Cards, our heroine Margrit Knight continued her crusade for right and good in the face of the foolish and ignorant. Her attention to details and willingness to make "human" leaps of logic held the story together even as we chased her all over the city. The characters around her continued to grow as well. Margrit's passion-of-the moment choices made me shake my head at times, though Murphy is realistic enough to make the other characters' reactions to those choices just as painful and regrettable.

The main themes of defining a "person" and how rules shape society continued in this book, and ended up driving the convergence of the Old Races in a confrontation that was more puzzling than violent. "Grit"-the-public-defender and her human friend Tony-the-cop were set in juxtaposition across the book as they argued their interpretations of right and wrong.

In case you didn't catch it in the Amazon plot summary -- The plot this time focused on Janx's belief that someone was trying to kill the djinn in his employ, a conflict among the Old Races regarding interbreeding (and even interacting) with humans, and Margrit's struggle to stay upright in the winds of change in her life. Margrit continued to have trouble with Alban and Tony. The Old Races in New York City continued to play their power games, with a new twist that arrived from Hawai'i.

I do have to warn the readers that Murphy pulled a Laurell Hamilton towards the end of the book, where a completely unknown character appeared to drive a plot point. That painful flaw aside, it was a solid read from end to end. Enjoy!

SOME SPOILERS FOLLOW:


It's something of a cliche of Urban Fantasy that even in settings where Humans know about vampires and werewolves etc, the various supernatural clans get to wage vendettas and kill each other without being subject to the state's monopoly on lethal force (the Kitty books are an exception). I don't like this: If a vampire is a person, then staking him is murder (or self defense as determined by a proper jury). Anyway, that's a lead-up to saying I find Magrit's attitude towards the Old Races puzzling. She's a lawyer with a passion for justice, but is prepared to forgive all of Janx's illegal activities just because he's a dragon and dragons need hoards? She made the connection in this book between the Old Races coming forward and the Civil Rights struggle. Well, that struggle was for ONE justice system for everyone. If Janx needs a hoard, he should amass it legally.

The Tony problem from book one continues here. It was obvious from chapter one, book one, that Magrit/Tony wasn't going to happen, so the romantic triangle was stillborn, but yet we keep having to deal with Tony. In this book, even after Magrit and Tony have a definitive breakup, under bad circumstances and with finality, we *still* have to deal with Tony.

I had a bit of a character problem with Janx and Elisio (the vampire) also. We're told many times that these are dangerous men, but Magrit faces them down so many times that they are starting to seem like creampuffs. They're only dangerous because the author says so. The way Cole reacts to Magrit's revelation seems out of character as well, as does (in a diffrent way) the reaction of Magrit's mother.

It's still an entertaining series, and I'm looking forward to the final book.

This is a very good second book in a series -- it is strong, with a very natural continuation of friendships, romances, and business interests. That is, where business interests equal meetings with Eliseo Daisani and a group of attorneys with something to hide. I have to say up front that one of the things about this book which seemed more realistic to me was this: Margrit and Alban do not get together quickly or without misunderstandings on both of their parts. This book is not just an urban fantasy romance, where the majority of the story is a romance. The romance is definitely a part, but not overwhelmingly so. Also, the action falls down the line very naturally, with plot points that lead one to the next. I am very eager to read book 3, and give kudos to this author for breaking out with a very different urban fantasy and her own mythology

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

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.

It's been a few months since gargoyle Alban Korund pulled back from New York City lawyer Margrit Knight after exposing her to his world and the Old Races. His intentions were sound; he wanted her safe from the machinations of monsters and he wanted her to have a normal human life with normal human trials and tribulations. The only thing Alban didn't take into account was Margrit's complete disregard for what he wanted for her. The spunky, feisty woman had tasted the magic of the Old Races, and as dangerous as she knew they were, she wanted more.

Margrit ran every night in Central Park, frustrated by the situation but comforted by the knowledge that, though he wouldn't talk to her, her gargoyle was protecting her. In fact, it wasn't through Alban that she was drawn back, inevitable really, to the Old Races. A dragon crimelord and a vampire business mogul, locked in an ages-old battle of one-upmanship, yank her back into their world with meticulous forethought...and maybe even malice, of a sort.

For those two powerful and ancient beings, Margrit is a pawn to be used. For Alban, she's a woman to be loved from afar. When a surprising and abrupt shift in power among the Old Races shakes them to their foundations, however, it is Margrit's very humanity that they will have to rely on to save them all.

This second book in The Negotiator trilogy is so much fun, once it gets going. The first half of the book is a little slow, and I still haven't got much use for Margrit's human life or her human friends and family, but this series totally shines when she's maneuvering her way through the mine fields surrounding the Old Races and negotiating them into submission. There's a delightful plethora of that in the latter part of this book.

I'm totally in love with the world that Murphy has created in this trilogy, and I'm more than a little in love with Janx. Daisani has his own charm, too, but the flamboyant ebullience of the dragon is the most appealing to me. Oh, don't get me wrong, this series belongs to Margrit and Alban, and I love that we got to see Alban working more independently in this book than in the last. As much as I adore him, though, and want nothing but him and Margrit to have a shot at some sort of Happily Ever After, sometimes I want to shake Stoneheart for his slow thinking and stubbornness, and occasionally Margrit's tempestuous personality rubs me the wrong way.

Still, there is a steadfast solidity to Alban's character that is ultimately appealing, and more than a little brilliant from a character standpoint, and I admire Margrit's tenacity and grit, not to mention her intelligence. She is often out of her depth with the Old Races, but she holds her own in ways that consistently manage to surprise all the Old Race characters she deals with on a daily - and nightly basis.

I can't help but really dislike Margrit's roommates - they don't add anything to the series, and I find Cole's judgmental bigotry, and the wretched way he speaks to Margrit (AGAIN, actually, as he did it in the first book, too) pretty distasteful. Nor have I ever liked Tony, who has never struck me as anything but close-minded and selfish, and for all his platitudes and the sleepless nights next to Margrit's hospital bed in the previous book, he is forever blind to the core of Margrit's heart and personality.

This is a solid second book in a trilogy, and it straddles the line between Margrit's old life and her new one. I wasn't quite as happy with this installment as I was with the first, it's actually my least favorite of all three of them, but only slightly so. There is a lot of juicy development with the Old Races in this book, and much change for creatures not known for being quick-change artists. I'm thrilled with the trilogy as a whole, love the world and the characters, and am anxious to continue on to the conclusion. I can't wait to see how all the change here impacts the characters in The Negotiator trilogy conclusion, Hands of Flame.

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Reviewed for One Good Book Deserves Another.

I've read this author's work before, and Heart of Stone (Book One) caught my imagination thoroughly. House of Cards takes up where Heart of Stone left off, and sweeps you away immediately on a whirlwind of events that immerse you all over again in the world of the Old Races.

This series is a trilogy which I liked as I am tired of books never ending. Loved all 3 story lines and the characters. Was surprised I would enjoy a Gargoyle as a romantic figure. The author sure knew what she was doing. This was a wonderful read.

The second book in the trilogy, House of Cards, is a good middle book.

Strong, intelligent female lead character set in a clever, though sparse, world of supernatural beings. She finds herself between the Old Races once again despite the efforts of her once-lover, Alban, and sometimes boyfriend, Tony. She literally finds herself to be the belle of the ball as she dances from race to race playing a delicate game of negotiation and subterfuge. Brought tears to my eyes and made my heart race at times!

The writing in this series is smart, tight and compelling. This is a fanatasy series that is largely driven by the characters. I thoroughly enjoyed watching them continue to play around eachother and our protagonist Grit learn as she goes.

The only thing I will say is that there were one or two plot elements in this book that seemed strangely illogical- these races have only 3 major laws and address them once only every 500 years wherein they can only vote to throw them out completely or keep them?? Not sure that makes any sense. It seemed as though there should have been a great deal of room to negotiate the intricacies of making archaic laws work in the modern world and our main character would have been uniquely qualified to do just that.

Maybe this was avoided because it could have been a book unto itself...? Not sure, but there definitely seemed to be a bit of tension here that was falsely created.

If you can get past that and just enjoy the interactions between the characters and the superhero-like quality of the romance between Grit and Alban, you will love this as I did. Enjoy!!