Best Served Cold Audiobook By Joe Abercrombie cover art

Best Served Cold

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Best Served Cold

By: Joe Abercrombie
Narrated by: Steven Pacey
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$8.99/mo. after 3 months. Cancel anytime. Offer ends July 5, 2026 at 11:59pm PT.

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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. . . Action & Adventure Epic Epic Fantasy Fantasy Fiction Historical Sword & Sorcery Law War Scary Suspenseful Revenge Epic Literature
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Critic reviews

"The battles are vivid and visceral, the action brutal, the pace headlong, and Abercrombie piles the betrayals, reversals, and plot twists one atop another to keep us guessing how it will all come out. This is his best book yet." --- George R.R. Martin

"Joe Abercrombie takes the grand tradition of high fantasy literature and drags it down into the gutter, in the best possible way. Monza is a beautiful mercenary who has sworn to kill the seven men who tried to kill her. No elves, no wands - just lots of down-and-dirty swordplay." --- Time

"Abercrombie is both fiendishly inventive and solidly convincing, especially when sprinkling his appallingly vivid combat scenes with humor so dark that it's almost ultraviolet." --- Publishers Weekly
Compelling Revenge Tale • Complex Character Development • Exceptional Voice Acting • Unexpected Plot Twists • Dark Humor

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The more I read Joe Abercrombie the more I like him. I was hesitant to start reading another series by the author after having already read the First Law series because I thought that I'd be bored. Wrong! The writing style is still the same gritty roller-coaster ride of anger and sorrow but the plot was very fresh and not at all familiar feeling. The fact that the author managed to really surprise me towards the end was highlight for me. I'm one of those readers who usually sees plot twists coming a mile away but I never saw this one coming.

Another reason I really enjoy Abercrombie's books so much is the outstanding narration that Steven Pacey gives. My first taste of Abercrombie's work came in an audio book and I have since read some of his books in print as well. I can honestly say that I enjoy the audio books much more and that's because Mr. Pacey does such a great job. There are a lot of characters in this book, both male and female, and Mr Pacey is fabulous at voicing both. He doesn't seem to be over dramatic but when the situation calls for it he is great at building tension. I haven't listened to any other authors that Mr Pacey has narrated for but I certainly will in the future.

Love his style

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Would you listen to Best Served Cold again? Why?

Having already done a read of First law series in the print version, I was forced to a revisit all of them simply by the strength of Pacey's storytelling skills. It's not a book for the faint hearted (like all of Joe Abercrombie's books). There are no clear winners, just people doing the best with what they've got. Its brutal, cold, relentless, exhilarating and gripping.

Just like life.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Best Served Cold?

SPOILERS: When Caul Shivers reiterates the Bloody-Nine's words during a melee..........

"I am made of death. I am the Great Leveller. I am the storm in the High Places.' The Bloody-Nine's voice, but it came from his own throat.

The chills.................

What does Steven Pacey bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Having read the books, the most important thing Steven Pacey brings is the emotion into the dialogue. You can feel Cosca's apathy and sadness, Morveer's narcissism, Shiver's rage, Friendly's love for numbers and prison and Monza's dying thirst for revenge.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

SPOILERS: Shiver's transformation after a loss...and his eye-for-an-eye attitude (wink) after that

Any additional comments?

Don't just buy this one book read by Steven Pacey. His reading of other books in this series is just as good!

Best Served via an audiobook!

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I am a fan of Joe Abercrombie's books and love Steven Pracey's narration.
In this book I really enjoyed the sections where things went wrong and the antics that they took place to deal with the situation. Like the 2nd revenge in the house of ill repute (Cardotti's) how things fell apart for all the characters. There were other episodes like this throughout which broke up the seriousness of the novel. Great writing!!!

Great story - love the humour

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JA’s Best Served Cold takes place almost 20 years after the first law trilogy. Only Cole Shivers reprises his role m in the dark, dark tale of Monza Mercotto’s quest for revenge over the 7 men who betrayed her brother Bella and herself. Bella was cruelly murdered before her eyes and tossed off a balcony high over a steep mountainside. Monza was mistakenly left alive when she was thrown off the balcony to bounce and ricochet past her brother’s corpse. Her dead brother ultimately saved her one final time. For the first impact her head received as she bounced ass over tea kettle down the mountain, bounced of Bella’s chest. Though pillow, his cracked chest wall did cushion her skull just enough to leave her alive and in nerve-shattering pain. Moments after her body was still, the pain shut her conscious mind off. 12 wks later she awoke in a makeshift surgery, in the care of a medical man who’d be known as an orthopedist today. Justifiably, Monza has broken or pulverized most of the bones in her body. The “bone collector” spent time with her periodically, helping her learn to walk again. The story is quite long. However the action scenes are plentiful, brisk, and amazingly accurate from my recollections as a Hghlander in my youth. The Bone Collector reprises his role late in the story, following her in silence, paid a kingly sum to eliminate her; or maybe her rivals? It becomes clear around this time the bone collector is one of the feared eaters of the daad. If the first law trio was enjoyed, BSC is just as entertaining, though significantly more violent and sexually graphic. A final tip from my sleepy brain: beware the man with different colored eyes! oooooooh!

The blade itself STILL incites to violence

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Great characters and story. On par with the first law series. Great twist at the end.

Great to read after the first law. Very well done

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