Book Review Catch-up! "Heart of Stone" by C.E. Murphy

[megwrites]

Title: Heart of Stone (Negotiator Trilogy, Book One)
Author: C.E. Murphy (CEMurphy.net, mizkit)
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Page Count: 438
Publisher: Luna




Basic Plotline: Margrit Knight, a Legal Aid lawyer in New York, encounters a strange man on her late night jog through the park and discovers that not only is he the prime suspect in a string of murders in Central Park, but that he is an ancient gargoyle who needs her help to clear his name. As Margrit investigates, much to the chagrin of her on again, off again cop boyfriend, she delves deeper into the world of the Old Races and soon finds that if she doesn't figure out who is behind the murders, she may be the next victim.


The Positives: I liked this book more than I did Murphy's Walker Papers series, but not as much as I adore her Inheritor's Cycle books (The Queen's Bastard, The Pretender's Crown).

I was thrilled to find an urban fantasy delving into other mythologies aside from the overused werewolf and vampire tropes. While there is a vampire featured in this book, his part is rather small and he's actually one of the baddies. Or at least, not one of the tortured, misunderstood good guys. Gargoyles are not something that features very much on the urban fantasy/paranormal romance shelves, making any book that centers on them a refreshing change.

The book was a straightforward read, and the chemistry between Margrit and Alban worked for the most part. There were some hang ups for me, which I'll discuss in the next section. Alban, for a broody hero, kept his sense of humor up fairly well and seemed to avoid some of the pitfalls I see in other "tortured hero" types.

Janx, for me, stole the show. Though he was not one of the main characters, he was the one I found myself most eager to know more about. Gleefully amoral and tricky, Janx was also a refreshing change from a lot of urban fantasy I've read lately. His chemistry with Margrit, less besotten and more contentious and dangerous, was the most enjoyable part of the entire thing.


The Negatives: The book, I felt, had two main negatives.

The first negative was a plot that felt very padded even though it kept up a fairly steady pace at most points. There were scenes of domestic tranquility with the roommates - who got more screen time than I thought they deserved since they didn't play as important a role that my editorial brain wanted to cross out with a red pen as unnecessary to forwarding the plot. Of course, I'm a lean meat kind of reader and generally prefer to keep my eye on the ball as it were. The plot didn't take up all of it's 438 pages and, indeed, I think it would've been trimmed down by 100 pages quite easily.

The second negative was a lack of explanation about certain aspects of the Old Races and how they functioned in the world. Notably, I was a little dismayed to see that Selkies were included but there were scant information given on them and I don't think that they are a mythology that average readers (for whatever your value of average is) would be expected to know much or anything of.

I also didn't connect with Margrit as much as I would have liked. The first page which features her running through Central Park at night - knowing the dangers full well - made her come off as foolish rather than brave for me. I tend not to have my sympathy for characters who knowingly take extremely stupid risks for no good reason.

Alban's watching of the young women in central park also raised some personal squicks for me. I wasn't exactly comfortable with the idea of an ancient creature who watches women and selects some as his favorites. I think I might have felt more comfortable if Alban's people watching hadn't centered solely on attractive young women.

The relationship between Margrit and her cop boyfriend made me cringe and I honestly wish it hadn't been in the book. It was part of the other reason I didn't connect with her character. I really don't get the "on again, off again" dynamic and unfortunately there wasn't enough in this book to convince me why Margrit would keep getting back with a man who despises her chosen profession so vocally without her coming off as stupid.


CoC Score: 7.5 The main character is a black woman, though points are deducted because the woman on the cover is white. The cover art is not something the author had control over, but I'm reviewing the book as a whole not just the author's actions. There were some minor CoC's as well. I would have appreciated seeing Margrit interact more with other CoC and there was a speech she gives Alban about race that felt somewhat clumsy to me.

Gender Score 8. The book passes the Bechdel test and has a fairly strong, capable main heroine. Again, other strong, capable females would have been welcome. It seems as though power is vested in men, mostly, in this book (Alban, Janx, the cop boyfriend, the vampire etc) and women are victims (the Selkie, the women murdered in the park).

GLBT Score 0. No GLBT characters or issues in this book.