House of Cards

The second book of the Negotiator trilogy picks up soon after the end of Heart of Stone. Lawyer Margrit Knight has become all too entwined in the centuries-old threads that bind and strangle the Old Races in New York City. A slick vampire wants her to work as his assistant, a dragonlord pulls all the strings in the underworld, and if looks could kill, a djinn would have killed Margrit several times over. Then there is Alban the gargoyle, the being she loves, the one who will barely talk to her because he fears further contact will only imperil Margrit. That involvement happens, whether Alban wants it or not: the lost race, the Selkies, have returned and want a say, and Margrit is the best mediator for the job.

This series continues to show more delight me. I liked Margrit much more in this book - she lost some of the abrasive edge that made her unlikeable at the beginning of Heart of Stone. The cast of Old Races really brings heart to this book; it's full of haggling, manipulation, and political intrigue far beyond human comprehension, and I enjoyed seeing all of the major players come together. show less

Liked:

Janx & Eliseo Daisani. I like them individually and as long-time rivals and friends. I love what Janx is, how it's described with such power and awe.

Grit's mother, who alternates between being protective and deliberately closing her eyes on things she doesn't want to--or can't--know.


Disliked:

Tony being written as an unreasonable jerk while Grit is portrayed as being nearly without fault. Tony doesn't have all the details, Grit deliberately withholds them from him (for good reason) so he can't be expected to understand.

Grit & Alban pairing off. It doesn't work for me. I'm told about Grit's fascination, attraction, and love, but I can't quite see it. Everything has happened so fast to her, how can she adjust that quickly?

Continuation of the story. Margrit the laywer still owes Janx the dragon and crimelord some favours - and although these were originally promised as like for like, ie information, they both seem to have forgotten this and so Margrit agrees to help protect Janx's mani henchman the djinn Malic from a series of attacks which Janx;s organisation has been subject to. Quite how a mortal human can protect one of the Djinn was uncertain to both parties, however they both though that the Vampire Disraeli was probably behind it, and it so happened that Margrit has some barginning room with him.

Meanwhile of course Aban the sexy gargoyle is still around, and Tony - Margrit's partime police lover - at least he was until she met the Old Races. And show more don't forget the selkies - one of the links back from the last book was the absence of Cara. She's back.

Much else remains as was the case in the previous book. Margrit is still a silly name, and she still doesn't really understand the world she's involved in. The romance is dialled up a bit with some actual sex. I was glad the author had thought about the physics and practicalities involved which makes such scenes more believable for the characters than purely thrown in as expected titillation for the readers. Still not totally convinced. I like everything else about the world though - the unusualness of the Old Races chosen, how well they integrate with modern humanity, and how normal humans interact with them. I was especially impressed with Margrit's housemates who managed (apart from once or twice) to appear as characters in their own right, with understanding and compassion - even if, again, they're way more tolerant than any two saints I know, if any of my flatmates had Margrit's lack of communal living skills they'd be long gone. Margrit's arguments with Tony were also well written.

Overall a very enjoyable continuation to the series and I'm looking forward to how it's all resolved in the last book.
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On re-read it's definitely weaker than the first book, always hard to follow the revelation that the other are among us, but not badly done at all. show less

Legal aid lawyer Margrit Knight may be known for in small circles her principles and a penchant for successfully tilting at windmills, but suddenly she's one the fast track, being greeted by the who's who of political New York. But it's the gritty underbelly peopled by the secretive Old Races that brought her notoriety - can she go back to what she once was? Or is she willing to sacrifice still more for love, honor and principles? (If you know Grit, you know the answer to that one!)

Great follow-up, and I can't wait to see how Hands of Flame continues.

Just got this in the mail not very long ago, so it wasn't exactly my fault that I didn't get around to this for such a long time, but... It works out for me, since the next one isn't going to be another couple of months, and now I won't have to wait nearly as long. So yes, I did enjoy this one, and it didn't disappoint when compared with where the first book left off, which is nice. It's not very often that a book doesn't disappoint when I’ve already set my expectations.

Anyway, the cover still doesn't quite match with the description of Margrit, but it doesn't matter much to me. The way it left off seemed to me like their relationship would have a rocky start at the beginning of the next book again, and now that she half agrees with show more her friend Cole, who's going to be the champion of the old races? After all, what made her special was that she refused to distinguish between the races and humans--if she loses that, she's no longer the heroine that's made all the readers cheer for her. I don't think I entirely got what made Alban that scary, which sort of made her reaction to him a little over the top.

As it is now, the next book is out in a month. It shouldn't hurt too much to wait for that one, and I wonder if that's the conclusion of the series. I would certainly hate for it to be, because I’m finding I like interspecies mixes in fantasy--not too much as to border on bestiality, but it seems nice for two different beings to come together and understand each other. I know Margrit is meant to make differences in Janx and Daisani's perspectives too, and can't wait till that happens.

P.S. - Is it just me, or does anyone else keep thinking of the spring water brand when they read the name Daisani? I do wonder at all their histories though, and how Daisani came to be. Curious stuff. A minor note though: there were a lot of spelling, sometimes grammar, errors throughout the book. I can't help but think that the copyeditor wasn't as awake as she should have been, or maybe that before the editor combed through this there were even more errors, hence why she missed some of these really obvious ones. I understand we're all human, but word processors do have a spell check option... show less

Hate. Hate. Hate. I can't even begin to tell you why I hate this book. I didn't quite hate the first book, but I do this one. The only reason I read it was because I was trapped for nearly 3 hours at the dealership waiting for a tire to be replaced.

I don't like the characters. I don't like the plot. I HATE the nickname "Grit" -- who wants to be called "dirt?"

Another page turner from CE Murphy, I loved the Urban Shaman books and this series keeps up the high standard. Grit is a strong character with whom you can empathise as she feels her way through her dealings with the 'old races' where she should tchnically be at a disadvantage