Heartless (Parasol Protectorate Series #4)

by Gail Carriger

Overview

Lady Alexia Maccon, soulless, is at it again, only this time the trouble is not her fault in the fourth book of the NYT bestselling Parasol Protectorate series.

When a mad ghost threatens the queen, Alexia is on the case, following a trail that leads her deep into her husband's past. Top that off with a sister who has joined the suffragette movement (shocking!), Madame Lefoux's latest mechanical invention, and a plague of zombie porcupines, Alexia barely has time to remember she happens to be eight months pregnant.

Will Alexia manage to determine who is trying to kill Queen Victoria before it is too late? Is it the vampires again or is there a traitor lurking about in wolf's clothing? And what, exactly, has taken up residence in Lord Akeldama's second best closet?

Heartless is the fourth book of the Parasol Protectorate series: a comedy of manners set in Victorian London, full of werewolves, vampires, dirigibles, and tea-drinking.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780316402040
Publisher:	Orbit
Publication date:	07/01/2014
Series:	Parasol Protectorate Series , #4
Pages:	448
Sales rank:	189,751
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.20(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

New York Times bestselling author Gail Carriger writes to cope with being raised in obscurity by an expatriate Brit and an incurable curmudgeon. She escaped small town life and inadvertently acquired several degrees in Higher Learning. Ms. Carriger then traveled the historic cities of Europe, subsisting entirely on biscuits secreted in her handbag. She resides in the Colonies, surrounded by fantastic shoes, where she insists on tea imported from London.

Editorial Reviews

"Soulless is a character-driven romp with great worldbuilding and delicious rapier wit that recalls Austen and P.G. Wodehouse."—io9.com on Soulless

"Carriger has created a wonderfully detailed world that is just one step to the side of our own."—sfrevu.com on Changeless

"Carriger delivers surprises with every book, and this one is no exception. With action, intrigue, and above all, proper manners, this excellent series will have broad appeal to readers of steampunk, urban fantasy, and paranormal and historical romance."—Library Journal on Heartless

"A series for female fantasy fans that are looking for a stroke of ingenuity amongst the torrents of fanged fiction."—SciFi Now on Heartless

"Carriger's writing remains crisp and witty, and the affectionate banter between Lord and Lady Maccon will please series fans."—Publisher's Weekly on Heartless

From the Publisher

"A series for female fantasy fans that are looking for a stroke of ingenuity amongst the torrents of fanged fiction."

SciFi Now on Heartless

"Carriger has created a wonderfully detailed world that is just one step to the side of our own."

sfrevu.com on Changeless

"Soulless is a character-driven romp with great worldbuilding and delicious rapier wit that recalls Austen and P.G. Wodehouse."

io9.com on Soulless

Carriger's fourth Parasol Protectorate adventure is filled with steampunk creations such as zombie porcupines and harmonic auditory resonance disruptors, but its primary focus is on character. To protect Lady Alexia Maccon—eight months pregnant and feeling like a "stuffed goose with bunions"—from threats to her possibly soul-stealing unborn child, her husband, the Alpha of the Woolsey werewolf pack, suggests that vampire Lord Akeldama, Alexia's dear friend, adopt the baby. Alexia and Lord Maccon move next door to Akeldama, building a bridge to secretly connect the households. Meanwhile, Alexia's clueless sister Felicity moves in; new werewolf Biffy, once Akeldama's protégé, embarrassingly experiences premature transfluctuation; and a ghost sends Alexia to unravel a plot against Queen Victoria. Carriger's writing remains crisp and witty, and the affectionate banter between Lord and Lady Maccon will please series fans distressed by their long separation in 2010's Blameless. (July)

Publishers Weekly

In her fourth "Parasol Protectorate" adventure (after Blameless), Lady Alexia Tarabotti Maccon is entering the final stages of her pregnancy full steam ahead, and she is not pleased. Her werewolf husband, Lord Maccon, her pack beta, Professor Lyall, and her close vampire friend and fashion trendsetter, Lord Akeldama, have hatched a plan to protect her from repeated assassination attempts by the vampire hives. Since Alexia is preternatural, or soulless, and her husband is supernatural, with an excess of soul, no one is sure what exactly their child will be—or how dangerous. As Alexia deals with the plan, investigates a ghostly visitor, and shocks society by appearing in public when she should be in confinement, she is caught up in a battle raging through London and into the countryside that will change her world as she welcomes her first child. VERDICT Carriger delivers surprises with every book, and this one is no exception. With action, intrigue, and, above all, proper manners, this excellent series will have broad appeal to readers of steampunk, urban fantasy, and paranormal and historical romance.—Melanie C. Duncan, Shurling Lib., Macon, GA

Library Journal