Stone's Throe

Spirit of the Century™ Presents

by C.E. Murphy

Spirit Of The Century presents Stone's Throe

JUSTICE WILL BE DONE!

Some girls languish under the weight of a broken heart, but not Amelia Stone. After a youthful encounter with the villain known as le Monstre aux Yeux Verts, Amelia is left with regrets—and a stalwart determination to right the wrongs of the world.

Years later, when world-renowned performer Josephine Baker becomes the target of a nefarious plot, adventurer extraordinaire Amelia is there to protect her. But this plot is larger than it seems, and unweaving its threads will take her through the throes of love only to come face to face with her oldest enemy.

Hell hath no fury like Amelia Stone.

Genres: Pulp, Science Fiction

208 pages, Paperback

First published February 8, 2015

About the author

CE Murphy began writing around age six, when she submitted three poems to a school publication. The teacher producing the magazine selected (inevitably) the one she thought was by far the worst, but also told her–a six year old kid–to keep writing, which she has. She has also held the usual grab-bag of jobs usually seen in an authorial biography, including public library volunteer (at ages 9 and 10; it’s clear she was doomed to a career involving books), archival assistant, cannery worker, and web designer. Writing books is better.

She was born and raised in Alaska, and now lives with her family in her ancestral homeland of Ireland.

She also writes paranormal romance as Murphy Lawless and cozy mysteries as Catie Murphy.

Reviews

[Jami · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read the kindle format, because I was too impatient for my paper copy to come through the mail. As usual, love her writing. Kick ass women, sometimes even vs other kick ass women, and it's not all about the men. Amelia is fanastic, and lives up to the expectations I have for her name. (I'd backed this on Kickstarter, and at some point I'll need to finish reading the series, but the order doesn't seem to matter on these.)

[Jenica Rogers · Rating 4 out of 5]

Super fun, in the spirit of its pulp/gaming origins.

[Starfire · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a super pulpy, action-packed romp through 1930s Paris that - despite technically being urban fantasy, was well outside of my usual comfort genre read. It kind of felt a bit like Indiana Jones, except that instead of an archaeologist, we have a... whatever Amelia Jones is (a Centurion, I think she called herself?)

I did love that Amelia was both biracial and bisexual. I also loved the name-dropping with Josephine Baker and TE Lawrence. And Khan was just awesome - I suspect he's probably based on a character I'm not familiar with, but reminds me quite a lot of Pogo in The Umbrella Academy (I know, I know: different ape species, but still...)

But. Despite all of that, this wasn't a book I'd say I loved overall. I prefer my stories character-driven, and this one was very much about the plot and the action. It was fun, but I wouldn't say it drew me in or made me care deeply about any of the cast. I read it through to the end mainly because it was a CE Murphy book - I suspect that if it hadn't been written by a favourite author, I'd probably have DNFed it much earlier in the piece.

But, that's all good information for choosing future books. And now it's time to move onto something in a very different vein for a bit.

[L. PenDragyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

So what really drew me in was the cover. It's a great cover! This is a very action packed book, however I would not categorize it as "romance" the way it was by my library. It's a fun read, but no, not romance at all in my opinion - it doesn't hit any of the expected notes that a romance story hits.

It's adventure with a dash of history and lots of over the top action in pulp fiction style. I did enjoy it for all it wasn't at all what I expected, and if you want fast paced adventure with a hint of magic, I recommend giving this a read.

There is violence, though not described in exacting detail, and a 17 year old girl is taken advantage of by an older man but nothing is explicit.

[Adam Gutschenritter · Rating 4 out of 5]

The ending was fantastic, all the twists and turns paid off all the first 2/3rd. I also loved the almost constant name drops. This book on the downside took me a lot longer to get invested in. The set up (a large part of the early book) was not as consuming as I had hoped. Still, I am loving the Pulp genre.

[Mary Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good old-school, pulpy fun, but without the dated gender tropes

[Larisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rollicking good fun. Swash your buckle and buckle your swash!

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Total pulp

Lots of two fisted action! Fun, endearing, and reminiscent of the early pulp while including everyone (including Professor Khan!). Totally recommended.

[Joseph · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a great adventure! So many amazing twists and turns. Indiana Jones would be proud.

[Kat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pulp fiction steampunk fun set in an alternate pre-WWII Paris. Motorcycle races, divas, elixirs of power, mad scientist laboratories, Nazis... But perhaps the most quietly notable thing about this novel is that the main character is bisexual, a rarity for this, or frankly, any genre. Not in a Point Of The Story sort of way, but in a casual it's part of who I am sort of way. And oh yeah, her mother's from Ethiopia. In short, I continue to be impressed with the diversity present in Evil Hat books.