Review: "Halfway To The Grave" by Jeaniene Frost

Oooh, I love me a good vampire book! On the sage advice of my new writing partner, Elyse, I read Halfway To The Grave by Jeaninene Frost, the first in the Night Huntress series. Cat Crawfield is a genetic anomaly, half vampire, half human. This unique combination means that she is mortal and has a heartbeat, but she is also blessed with certain vamp powers such as speed, strength and funky eyes that turn green when she’s pissed off or horny. Rock on!


When we first meet Cat, she has a major chip on her shoulder. It seems that Daddy-Dearest raped her mother, which resulted in her conception. As a result, her mother instilled in her a deep hated for the undead. (Apparently, her mother didn’t care about things like teaching her half-vamp daughter self-hatred…) So from the time Cat is sixteen years old, Cat is encouraged by her ding-bat mom to hunt vampires. The story opens six years into the hunt. Cat has successfully killed sixteen vamps, but mostly due to them being young vamps and her having dumb-luck. One night she meets Bones, an old Master Vamp with some serious skills. If it weren’t for the fact that he found her fighting amusing, cat might have been lunch inside ten seconds, even with her vamp power. Bones is a bounty hunter. He kills vamps with prices on their heads, but he also has another agenda – to kill a group of evil vampires who are hunting young human women to turn into blood & sex slaves. Together, Cat and Bones decide to join forces for a common goal. In the process, they fall in love. (Awwwww…)


I really liked this book! Cat and Bones made such a great couple. From the time they first meet, they have chemistry that crackles of the page. (In the beginning, they actually reminded me a little of Sidney and Sark from my favorite cancelled show, Alias, with the exception that Sark & Sidney never got it on when everyone knew they wanted to. I digress.) Cat herself is a tough woman who does not let her human side slow her down – in fact she uses her heartbeat to lull vamps into believing she is harmless, affording her the element of surprise. The fight scenes were realistic and exciting. The lovey-dovey sections were sweet and sexy without being over done.


What didn’t I like? If you couldn’t tell already, I hated the mother. She acted like a bigot. Imagine a white mother with a mulatto child telling that kid how evil African-Americans are. Worse, imagine that the child has a responsibility to hunt and kill all African-Americans. Hello, Lady? Have you looked at your kid lately? She’s half her daddy! I hope she gets off’ed in the next book.
 Overall, I give Halfway To The Grave by Jeaniene Frost…


Interpretation of Vampire Lore – 4 bookmarks


Character Development – 3 bookmarks


Fight Scenes – 4 bookmarks


Love Story – 4 bookmarks

Dream Cast (otherwise known as who I pictured while reading) – Don’t know her name, but the model on the cover of the book (Cat Crawfield), David Anders (Bones), Todd Duffey (Timmie).