Heart of Stone (The Negotiator Trilogy, Book 1) (Paperback)

by C.E. Murphy (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
In Murphy's exciting series opener, Alban Korund, a winged, shape-shifting gargoyle, is framed as a murderer. He begs legal help from Margrit Knight, a human lawyer who at first thinks he's your average Central Park stalker. Margrit soon becomes attracted to her stony client and fascinated by the shadowy world of the Old Races, who live secretly among humans. As she struggles to prove Alban's innocence, Margrit herself battles a dangerous dragonlord, other gargoyles and a powerful vampire, as well as taking on the case of a selkie mother and baby living in a building destined for demolition. Margrit must also decide what to do about her jealous on-again/off-again boyfriend, Tony, a homicide detective who dislikes Alban and thinks he's guilty. Realist, feminist Margrit makes for a deeply compelling heroine as she struggles to sort out the sudden upheaval in her professional and romantic lives. Murphy (Coyote Dreams) has created a refreshing addition to the urban fantasy landscape. (Nov.)
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Product Description
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.

As they worked together to figure out who was framing Alban, Margrit discovered that this man with a heart -- and body -- of stone made her feel more alive than ever, And as the dead pile up, it's a race against the sunrise to clear Alban's name and keep them both alive . . .

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Product Details

• Paperback: 448 pages
• Publisher: Luna; First Edition edition (November 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0373802927
• ISBN-13: 978-0373802920
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (45 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #31,665 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

• This is item 1 in The Negotiator Series.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

38 of 43 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Starts off with a jolt and doesn't let up, October 21, 2007

By	R. Kyle (USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Some might say Magrit Knight was looking for trouble when she ran through Central Park at midnight. Whatever her intentions were, trouble found her when a handsome blonde man approached her during a brief rest. After she got back to the apartment she shares with two friends, she discovered he was wanted in a murder that took place in the park right after their conversation.

Then, he contacts Magrit again asking for her help--she's a Legal Aid attorney and he believes he's being framed for murder. Oh, by the way--he's a gargoyle. Alban Korund is one of the Old Races--gargoyles, selkies, etc who have lived among us in hiding for many years.

If Alban wasn't enough, Magrit's also agreed to represent a selkie Mom and her child whose building is being destroyed against a prominent industrialist. Oh, and what about Grace O'Malley, who some say is a modern pirate?

"Heart of Stone" is a great opening to the new Negotiator series from Luna. C. E. Murphy's really honed her craft as a mystery writer--she's got more hooks in this story than a bait shop. Chapter One gets your attention and the remainder of the text keeps hold.

Magrit's the kind of tough heroine urban fantasy readers love. And she uses that toughness to fight for deserving people with good causes.

There's definitely going to be some romantic tension in this story. Magrit's on-again-off-again lover is Tony, a homocide detective, who isn't entirely enthralled with her career or her clients. Then, there's Alban.

Plus, already Ms. Murphy's touched on some less common races of fantasy origins: gargoyles and selkies. I'm looking forward to seeing what other types of beings she'll introduce us to in later novels.

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not as good as Urban Shaman series, December 4, 2007

By	Lisa "Fantasy fan" (Plano, TX) - See all my reviews

I am a big fan of the authors' Urban Shaman series, so when this book came out I bought it right away. Overall I managed to finish it but I didn't love it. The heroine is very annoying- who in the world would insist on running in Central Park in the middle of the night.Why would someone smart and strong do such a thing! It is like one of those cheesy horror movies where the young actress knows her friends are being killed by something nasty and yet stays alone in the house and wanders down to the basement alone!
I like that the heroine is African American, but why do we have to focus on the fact that she is a light skinned woman of color? Who cares whether she is cafe au lait colored or ebony! She is attracted to the gargoyle and several comments are made that one reason is because his skin color is white as marble.
The Urban Shaman series had a vulnerable heroine who was in no way perfect.This heroine is perfect in nearly every way, from being beautiful to being smart to being a defender of the poor. She is too good to be true. Also in the Urban Shaman series there was a nice romantic tension between the protagonists, here the gargoyle is already in love with her. I am dissappointed that the author has put the Urban Shaman series on hold for a couple of more years to focus on this series. She is capable of really creative work, but this was more streotypical urban fantasy.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Promise but not a complete delivery on that promise, March 13, 2008

By	booksforabuck "BooksForABuck.com" (Dallas) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

Lawyer Margrit Knight knows running in New York's Central Park after nightfall isn't exactly the safest way to spend her time, but she works late and needs the exercise. Still, the beautiful man who approaches her seems simultaneously fascinating and dangerous. She escapes him only to find that he's been implicated in a Central Park murder that occurred only minutes after they parted.

Margrit's sometime-boyfriend, homicide cop Tony, desperately wants to talk to her mystery man, Alban. But Margrit can't believe Alban killed a woman--no matter how strong the evidence against him. When Tony uses Margrit as a tool to track Alban down, she wonders about their relationship, and about her feelings for Alban. As she probes, though, Margrit discovers a whole world she had no idea existed--a world of dragons, vampires, selkies, and gargoyles.

Author C. E. Murphy introduces us to a world of super-masculine but not quite human males. Daisani, the vampire, Janx, the dragon, and Alban the gargoyle all seem fascinated by Margrit, admiring her spunk and fearlessness (old races females, in contrast, seem to come in cowardly and crazy--maybe that's why the old races males are so fascinated by Margrit). Margrit flies from dangerous male to dangerous male, attempting to discover the true killer's identity and, by the way, head off a housing condemnation and help the police arrest a copycat killer.

Murphy's writing kept me involved in the story, but I had a hard time identifying with the energetic but not very thoughtful Margrit. I would have thought a lawyer would think things through a bit before acting, but Margrit seemed more into acting first and thinking never. Margrit's fascination with Alban seemed more based on physical attraction than on any real shared interest (and his fixation on her came from his continued feelings for his long-lost wife). I would also have expected a bit more of an emotional resolution when Margrit finally confronted the real Central Park killer.

HEART OF STONE holds promise, but ultimately it only partially delivered on these promises.