The Grip of Death
Arcane Hearts, Book 8
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The Grip of Death
Narrated by:
Zachary Johnson
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Narrated by:
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Zachary Johnson
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By:
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Nazri Noor
About this listen
Wedding bells. Death knells.
Jackson Pryde and Xander Wright are hard at work preparing for their upcoming wedding. Good thing they have everything they need right in the Black Market, whether it’s an enormous cake or the perfect wedding rings.
Jack is working on an incredible project, too: an arcane engine inspired by his parents’ schematics. If it works, artificers and mages alike will unlock untold stores of energy, making it the guild’s greatest discovery to date.
But it’s not all wine and roses. Echoes from the past point to dark secrets still lurking within the Black Market. Jackson and Xander must unearth these mysteries before they wreak havoc and ruin the wedding... or put their very lives in danger.
©2025 Nazri Noor (P)2025 Nazri NoorListeners also enjoyed...
Listener received this title free
After battling evil crystalline plants and mad fae queens, confronting enigmatic goddesses, saving the Verdance and Grayhaven Academy, all while trying to earn a living, perfect his inventions and forge ties with the other guildmasters, artificer Jackson Pryde and his fiancé Xander Wright are finally taking some hard-earned time to themselves, and preparing for their wedding. Or rather, Xander is; Jackson has been having nightmares about everything going horribly wrong – a cake full of crysanthemists is the latest one - so Xander has very kindly offered to deal with the wedding stuff while Jackson concentrates on completing the Arcane Engine, the project his parents were working on before they died and which, if it performs as it should, will unlock stores of magical energy the like of which has never been seen before, and will put the Guild of Artificers back on the map for good.
The first half of the book is mostly devoted to the wedding preparations, with Lore – now a fully-fledged member of the baker’s guild – producing the most amazing wedding cake, Jackson and Xander visiting Zephyr to entice him into being their ring-bearer and King Oberon offering to let them have the wedding at the Summer Court. It’s cute and fun and I loved that all their friends - Reza, Niko, Preston, Sedgewick, Beatrice Rex, Master Vikhyat, Master Lobelia, Lore, Whitby, Oberon, the Summer Knight, Zephyr – are involved in the preparations in some way. There’s so much warmth, affection and trust between all the people in this found family Jackson and Xander have created, and the strength and constancy of their love for each other really shines through.
While this is all going on, Jackson is thinking about how to attract some of its former members back to the newly-reformed Artificer’s Guild. But then, in a sudden and terrible twist, everything is thrown off course when it seems as though history is doomed to repeat itself – and Jackson must, once and for all, get to the bottom of the mystery that has dogged him for all of his adult life: what really happened on that fateful day so many years ago when his parents – and many other Artificers – were killed?
I have to say that I did not see that reveal coming! But despite the shock value, the identity of the villain comes out of the blue (I haven’t had time to go back to re-listen to any of the other books, but I don’t think there were any clues as to their identity seeded through them). I know Nazri Noor is capable of crafting strong plots, but the mystery element of this story is somewhat underdeveloped, and while he can write terrific action scenes full of drama and momentum, the climactic fight scene here is a bit… well, anticlimactic, especially when compared with what he’s delivered in earlier books.
I’ve enjoyed all Zachary Johnson's performances in this series, and he’s got better and better with each one, finding a wonderful variety of vocal characterisations to fit fairy kings, cryptic goddesses, evil fae creatures, majestic gryphons, enthusiastic sentient crystals, benevolent bakers and all the other members of the large secondary cast. The narration is well-paced and expressive; all the characters are easy to identify and the emotional beats of the story are all perfectly timed. Mr. Johnson is clearly having fun with the material, and that enthusiasm communicates itself to the listener.
I enjoyed The Grip of Death despite my criticisms of some aspects of the story, because the characters and their relationships are what has made this series so consistently entertaining. There are some real tear-jerker moments near the end, and I loved that Jackson is a big ol’ marshmallow when it comes to his friends and love of his life. The guys have come such a long way since we first met them; they’re so much in love and so right for each other and they deserve nothing less than the happy ending they’ve been given. Thanks, Nazri, for the entertaining stories and to Zachary for bringing them to vibrant life. Bravi, gentlemen!
An Entertaining Finale
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Listener received this title free
There are a fair few emotional parts, but I will just share my favourite line from the whole book:
“I can’t offer you everything Xander Wright, but I offer you everything that I have. My heart, my body, my soul - I promise to give you all the gifts I can afford.”
I loved this book so, so much. It was so worth the wait.
The perfect ending to the most wonderful series
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