Best Served Cold

By: Joe Abercrombie

Narrated by: Steven Pacey

Springtime in Styria. And that means war.

There have been 19 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....

Springtime in Styria. And that means revenge.

First Law Trilogy

The Blade Itself

Before They Are Hanged

Last Argument of Kings

Novels in the First Law World

Best Served Cold

The Heroes

Red Country

©2015 Joe Abercrombie (P)2015 Hachette Audio

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)

My Favorite Book!

I found this title on a forum that listed books with strong and interesting female characters, and I can honestly say I was not prepared for what I stumbled into.This book is a stand alone work that precedes a trilogy set in the same world. I did not know this and went ahead with it first, which is honestly fine, but now looking back having read all of them, you might get more out of it having read the trilogy.Even without context this book completely blew me away, it was gritty, funny, and on an emotional level completely unique. The narration shifts frequently and each voice is so clearly driven by their own fully realized psychology,traumas, goals,hopes and fears.This inner monolog allows us to feel the characters develop outside of merely observing their actions and it really pulls you in. Take the leap, you wont regret it.

Bloody good times

If you liked the previous Pacey books this one is more of the same. Brutally good, no sunshine or happy endings. I feel like he set up some solid character's that hopefully will be in the next books.

All but an ending

I love how the stories go how you can’t guess what the next turn is but why can’t Joe write an ending

Good, but drags on

The beginning is much like other Joe Abercrombie books and offers new characters and perspective. However, the amount of syllogisms, platitudes, and rhetoric become distracting and the story played out. It's worth reading, but by the end you will want something else.

adult entertainment and I was entertained

I like Joe's rough realistic alternative world and even my wife, who isn't an action junkie like myself said Joe's fight scenes brought to life by by the narrator, painted a vivid picture.

Another Work of Great Epic Fantasy

Another Joe Abercrombie hit. terriffic characters, wonderful narrating and and great writing. I can't wait to read the next one.

Just a wonderful addition to this world.

I loved it. Steven is the best narrator on the planet. abrocombie is one of the most detailed visceral writer of our age. I highly suggest the entire series

Excellent! but needs to be X-rated...

After the Bloody-9, this story picks up nicely. Call me a square, but the sex scenes are so unnecessary! Really. Come on Joe - you area GREAT writer, but I am more than hesitant to refer this series to others.

Good not great

3.7
This story was good but not as good as I expected from Abercrombie!! Admittedly, the bar is pretty high.

Great premise for a good story.

In this day of Ultra Feminist equality, and me being a big fan of Warrior Women. I found the foundation of the story a bit light and passe. The main character, Manza, could've been a little more treated in the style of the warrior. The author shows a clear confusion in how he wanted her to be portrayed. On one hand she is given the image of a bad ass Franzetta fantasy ,while on the other she's gives the impression she's Jessica Rabbit in Mail and leather seducing the idiots who pass for men. c"Mon! I can dig the whole vengeance redemption thing, but it for kinda silly when at the end we have her, a maybe baby, and an elemental Ninja.....It was cool...though. I appreciated the wry humour, but as with all audio books the reading makes a great difference. And why do they all sound like they come from the British isles? .....Well let's see if the next one is an improvement.