Best Served Cold

Joe Abercrombie

Nov 2015 · Hachette Audio · Narrated by Steven Pacey

About this audiobook

Springtime in Styria. And that means war.

There have been nineteen years of blood. The ruthless Grand Duke Orso is locked in a vicious struggle with the squabbling League of Eight, and between them they have bled the land white. While armies march, heads roll and cities burn, and behind the scenes bankers, priests and older, darker powers play a deadly game to choose who will be king.

War may be hell but for Monza Murcatto, the Snake of Talins, the most feared and famous mercenary in Duke Orso's employ, it's a damn good way of making money too. Her victories have made her popular -- a shade too popular for her employer's taste. Betrayed, thrown down a mountain and left for dead, Murcatto's reward is a broken body and a burning hunger for vengeance. Whatever the cost, seven men must die.

Her allies include Styria's least reliable drunkard, Styria's most treacherous poisoner, a mass-murderer obsessed with numbers and a Northman who just wants to do the right thing. Her enemies number the better half of the nation. And that's all before the most dangerous man in the world is dispatched to hunt her down and finish the job Duke Orso started. . .

Ratings and reviews

Let me start by saying this: The book is great. I've read it multiple times, and it never fails to entertain. Joe Abercrombie writes fantasy for the modern reader. it's action-packed, politically and historically astute, and cynically funny as hell. I like Steven Pacey as a reader of Abercrombie's material, but I couldn't get my head around his reading of some of the characters. Too often times, I found myself a little bit annoyed, thinking, "Nobody talks like that!" He went over the top quite a bit in this reading and I do feel like it subtracted from the story. His reading of "The Heroes" was far better and while I'm sure most will enjoy this audiobook, I can assure readers that picking up a bound copy of it will be far more enjoyable of an experience. The story itself still merits four stars however. A great one.

Steven Pacey's reading elevates this already strong fantasy revenge thriller. A little long, but full of enough intrigue, violence, and sex to keep it interesting.

This is a good book overall but a little longer than it should be. I found myself drifting at times. Excellent storyline. Lots of killing and some humor in there for levity I guess. So many unanswered questions about some of the characters back story. I do recommend it. Rare to read about a strong female kicking butt.

About the author

Joe Abercrombie is the New York Times bestselling author of Red Country and the First Law trilogy: The Blade Itself, Before They Are Hanged, and Last Argument of Kings. He is a full-time writer and occasional freelance film editor who lives in Bath, England with his wife and three children.