Halfway to the Grave by Jeaniene Frost Series: Night Huntress #1
Published by Avon, Blackstone Audiobooks on October 13, 2009
Genres: Paranormal Romance, Urban Fantasy
Pages: 384
Format: Paperback
Source: Library
Goodreads
Amazon, Audible, Libro.fm, Barnes & Noble, Apple
Half-vampire Catherine Crawfield is going after the undead with a vengeance, hoping that one of these deadbeats is her father – the one responsible for ruining her mother’s life. Then she’s captured by Bones, a vampire bounty hunter, and is forced into an unlikely partnership.
In exchange for help finding her father, Cat agrees to train with the sexy night stalker until her battle reflexes are as sharp as his fangs. She’s amazed she doesn’t end up as his dinner – are there actually good vampires? Pretty soon Bones will have her convinced that being half-dead doesn’t have to be all bad. But before she can enjoy her status as kick-ass demon hunter, Cat and Bones are pursued by a group of killers. Now Cat will have to choose a side … and Bones is turning out to be as tempting as any man with a heartbeat.
Meet our heroine, Catherine Kathleen Crawfield – she’s 22, a college student, lives with her mom and grandparents in Licking Falls, Ohio (that town’s name you guys) – oh and she is a half-vampire, half-human. Her mom was date raped by a “young” vampire and Cat was the result. When she was sixteen, her mother told her the truth; then Cat began hunting and killing random vampires – by using her body as bait and opportunity when it presents itself. She developed a nice set of skills in the six years since learning her truth.
Bones is in town, on a mission to stop a white slavery/sex trafficking ring headed by a powerful Master vampire. He meets Cat at a night club when she asks him to go home with her, he turns her down, then follows her when another vampire decides to leave the club with her. She kills the vampire and Bones knocks her out and takes her back to his cave. Once she is awake, Bones violently interrogates her, thinking she is one of the Master vampire’s human minions. Then he discovers that Cat has vampire powers all her own and they make a deal to work together. This is where I am glad I read the prequel first; the amount of violence Bones inflicted on Cat would have turned me off if I didn’t know Bones from the short story. And the violence continues during Cat’s “training”. The violence was a bit intertwined with their growing feelings for each other, although by that part the violence was against the bad guys, not each other.
As for the plot, I loved it – non-stop action and beating up bad guys. I like the twist at the end of the criminal ring, having the vampire and human world mirror each other’s politics. Small towns can have big secrets. But the plot really helped to deepen Bones’ and Cat’s characters, both as individuals and as a couple. Breaking up the gang would go to making the world safer for the innocent vampires in Bones’ worldview; saving women from sex trafficking and sexual violence comes from Cat’s understanding of her mom’s rape. Their character motivations and the plot really meld well together and made their partnership in and out of the bedroom stronger. The plotline is resolved, but the relationship is left on a cliffhanger that has me eager to read the next book.
Side characters really helped to shape the characters of Bones and Cat as individuals. Cat’s mom was a pathological bitch and honestly Cat should have left her to fend for herself at the hospital at the end of the book. To have your daughter risk her and her lover’s lives to rescue your sorry ass and then you spit on them when it was all over and you are still alive is just the height of hypocrisy and cruelty. I hope Timmie shows up in the other books, as I hope Tara and Spade do too. I don’t trust Agent Don Williams one iota and yet I think Tate is going to make a great team member for Cat (the guy learns fast not to fuck around when it comes to Cat and her abilities).
Games:
Who said (enter the answer in the Rafflecopter, don’t put in the comments)
Who said “Well, strike me pink!”.
There are other options in the rafflecopter for you to enter discussion questions and quotes to share.
Share your review/ thoughts on Halfway to the Grave:
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COYER FB Chat – Sunday January 16
Challenge is adopting our Read-along. You can read about COYER and join that challenge or just the Facebook community chat HERE. On the Sunday after the review posts, they will host a FB room (like we do for COYER book club) at 12 PT, 2 CT, 3 ET and 9pm Europe, for a one hour chat. You do not have to join the COYER challenge to participate, only the Facebook group.
Here’s your to-do list:
- Find your copies of these books, borrow them from a friend, get them at the library or buy them.
- Read book 1.5, Happily Never After.
- Read Book 2, One Foot in the Grave, by February 11.
- Make note of a favorite quote or two as you read the book.
- If you haven’t read the books before, make a list of questions you have for the discussion. If you have read them, please don’t spoil new readers.
- Think of some great questions for Jeaniene Frost for the Q & A post!
- Link up your review on Goodreads, FB or other site to the post.
- Join the COYER book chat on the Sunday following the post.
- Enter the giveaways!
Schedule:
We are doing one book every 3-4 weeks, posting on Fridays. We will have a review for the books with the team here at Books of My Heart plus some of our friends. We are following the author recommended reading order.
Jan 14: Halfway to the Grave – Melissa @ Tea & Books
Feb 11: One Foot in the Grave – Victoria @ First of All
Mar 11: At Grave’s End – Kimberly @Caffeinated Reviewer
Apr 1: Destined for an Early Grave – Stephanie @ Once Upon a Chapter
Apr 29: First Drop of Crimson – Kai @ Fiction State of Mind
May 20: Eternal Kiss of Darkness – Jen @ That’s What I’m Talkin About
Jun 10: This Side of the Grave – Brandee @Unconventional Bookworms
Jul 8: One Grave at a Time – Lorna
Aug 5: Once Burned – Lexxie @Unconventional Bookworms
Sep 9: Twice Tempted – Angela @ Angel’s Guilty Pleasures
Oct 7: Up from the Grave – Melanie
Nov 4: Bound by Flames – Sophia
Dec 2: Into the Fire – Berls @ Because Reading
Q & A with Jeaniene Frost
Jeaniene Frost has also been kind enough to commit to a Q & A post. I will collect questions for her through September 19th. I will send your questions to her and she will pick 3-5 questions and send me the response. I will post her answers in the December 2 post. So think up some great questions for her!
Bonus round – Read a Series in a Month January 2023:
Jan 8: Shades of Wicked – Carole @ Carol’s Random Life in Books
Jan 22: Wicked Bite – Robin
Feb 5: Wicked All Night – Anne
These are Sunday noon posts. There will be one COYER FB Chat at the end of the series on Feb 5th.
Be sure to enter the giveaways!!!
Giveaway:
For US paperback copy of At Grave’s End (read once),and for Intl a paperback from Book depository.
Grand-Prize Giveaway:
For a US winner, this will be 12 digital copies ( your choice of her books) generously provided by Jeaniene Frost (US only) but they can be from Amazon, Barnes & Noble or Kobo.
For an Intl winner, it will be $50 at Book Depository.
About Jeaniene Frost
Jeaniene Frost is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of paranormal romance and urban fantasy. Her works include the Night Huntress series, the Night Prince series, the Broken Destiny series, and the new Night Rebel series. Jeaniene’s novels have also appeared on the Publishers Weekly, Wall Street Journal, ABA Indiebound, and international bestseller lists. Foreign rights for Jeaniene’s novels have sold to twenty different countries.
Jeaniene lives in Maryland with her husband Matthew, who long ago accepted that she rarely cooks and always sleeps in on the weekends. In addition to being a writer, Jeaniene also enjoys reading, writing, poetry, watching movies, exploring old cemeteries, spelunking and traveling – by car. Airplanes, children, and cook books frighten her.
About Melissa at Tea & Books
Military wife and military veteran, mom of two elementary school kids, community volunteer, blogger
I read all types of books but my favorites are urban fantasy and romantic suspense.I like some romance and some action / adventure / mystery in everything.I like sex in my books but please, only between TWO people.Intimate conversation is equally important to the sex in a book.It lets me see the characters.The other thing I enjoy is humor.
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Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
- 22-COYER
Cat and Bones are awesome! I love how funny their dialogue is and I love how strong Cat is, I want to be her when I grow up. Great world building and the secondary characters are great. I’ve added the link to my review above!
Oh! And Jeaniene Frost is currently writing a full book that is told from Bones’ POV of meeting Cat for the first time! It’s entitled The Other Half of the Grave! I am so excited for this! The full book releases in April 2022 but Ms. Frost has the first 20 chapters up on her website now http://www.jeaninefrost.com
Elizabeth I am so glad to have you participating with the Read-along. I knew about the Other Half of the Grave but thank you for mentioning it. I hadn’t read this for about 10 years and it was amazing to read it again.
I really enjoyed this one! I don’t pick up PNR as often as I did before I started blogging. I didn’t realize how much I missed it til I started reading. I love Cat and Bones together. Their banter made this book. Can’t wait to read more 🙂
Well I like to think of this as UF instead of PNR but it’s kind of a blend. Each couple has a series, rather than a book. Mostly. But there is world development as we go along and that’s what I love which is not always in PNR as much. I guess I also think PNR is more to the romance and UF is more to the action/ plot? Anyway, this series has the right blend for me. I’m so glad you are reading with us.
Her mom was something else. It’s been years and I’m hazy on some side aspects of their story, but I remember that. Great review, Melissa!
The mom is awful. I can sort of see her feelings when her parents were murdered but she was horrid before.
Sounds both fun and brutal! LOL, Great review!
Yes? definitely fun and sometimes brutal. Fantasy has to have some good guys vanquishing the bad guys in the battles.
This book manages to blend savagery, romance, and personal growth seamlessly into the pages.
And humor! It’s a fun read and fiction after all.
Fabulous read-along and giveaway opportunity! I enjoyed this one a while ago. Wished I liked the narrator more to do a re-read.
Thank you Rachel. I totally understand but I’ll miss your thoughts. I always tend to do the ebooks so I can highlight and take notes for the read-along even when the narrator is fabulous like Gildart Jackson for Alex Verus. It’s ironic because I don’t do that for all review books.
I looooove your books!
I definitely enjoyed it! This is a re-read for me and I loved being able to see cat as she was before she became the kick a** heroine she is becomes and of course as she begins to realize that maybe her world shouldn’t be all black & white only!
I was also so excited to reread and remember all the things I loved the first time.
I’m looking forward to seeing Cat’s growth as the story moves on. Her mother is terrible and the sad thing is there are parents that turn their backs on their children over who their children are–I appreciated the allegory in this book. I know that lots of people felt that in True Blood the vampires were an allegory for the LGBTQIA community, and I suppose it was, but I think this book is a better allegory.
Yes I enjoy those things and your insightful thoughts as we read-along. But I also just think it’s fun and enjoy it.
I really enjoyed this one as well. The whole series is great! I’m glad you enjoyed it.
Lorna! I am so happy to have you joining us for the Read-along. It’s good to be reading these again and finishing up the last half of the series I let languish.
I haven’t read Halfway to the Grave but it’s on my TBR list!
Well it’s not too late to join us. We’ve only started.
Such a great book! I have read it twice now and plan to read it again. Great review!
It’s so much fun; it’s well worth the re-read.
I loved this entire series. Think I’ve read it twice by now. Maybe time for a third round?
It’s only my second round and the last was almost 10 years ago. It’s up to you but we would love to have you join us in the Read-along.
Hi, how does the read-along work? When do you decide on the book and then when does the read-along start? What’s the next book coming up?
The dates for the review of each book are at the top of this post. The book can be read at any time between the posts. So the this review just posted for book 1 Halfway to the Grave, so now we are reading – individually or in buddy reads – One Foot in the Grave and that review will post Feb 11. So each book you have 3-4 weeks to read.
not really
Great review! I agree 100% with the sentiments about Cat’s mom. I wish she would have abandoned her at the end too… but keeping her around leads to some compelling future story lines, so I’ll allow it lol
I felt a little bad for Justina when her parents were killed but she was a smug bitch before that. But she let one “vampire” turn her into a bigot about the entire population.
This brings back such great memories! It was one of my first paranormal romance stories and I was hooked. Read it back in 2011 but only left a one-line review. Outstanding review, Melissa💜
It was really so great to read again. And yes, Melissa wrote an excellent review!
I forgot how young Cat is and how it all started. And… I didn’t know that there is a Bones novella – what is the name? I’ll have to check it out. Thanks.
I had forgotten too much and enjoyed reading it SO much.
OK there is a novella about Bones which is a prequel to the series called Reckoning. There is also a NEW one coming out in April – The Other Half of the Grave – which is this book from Bones POV. It is currently a serial on the JF website. She was really awfully young when the series starts but there is a time jump from this book to book 2.
This is the book series that got me hooked on Frost. Though I have a question? I’ve tried to find where to enter the answer into the Rafflecopter but it only has two options, neither of which have a typing area? It says leave a blog comment but you said not to comment the answer so I’m a bit lost haha.
Caitlin, if you do the 2 options which are to enter an email to notify if you win and leave a blog post comment (which you have done) then it opens a whole bunch more options on the rafflecopter. There are ones to enter quotes and observations, it lets you enter one each day. You can also tweet about the giveaway each day, all to earn more points for the giveaway. This is for the first giveaway above, not the grand prize giveaway (which has different options). I hope you’ll enjoy reading or rereading along with us!
I love this series so much! I’ve reread the whole seried for like 5 rounds if not more.
It’s one of my all time favorites but I haven’t reread or even finished the series until now. I knew if I hosted a Read-along it would happen. Thanks for visiting and I hope you can share your thoughts as we go along.
I adore this series! I actually just finished a reread of Vlad’s series a few weeks ago ♡
This is a favorite but I’ve never finished the whole thing. I haven’t read any of the Vlad books but I own them and in multiple formats even. I’m so happy to be rereading and reading them finally. Thanks so much for joining us and sharing your review.
This is one of my favorite series I have read & listen to the book a few times!
I look forward to any thoughts you want to share and hope you may read-along with us for some of the books. Thanks for visiting. It’s a favorite of mine as well which is why I decided to host the Read-along, and to finish the series as I haven’t read the later books.
Love this series! It started my love of paranormal books
Night Huntress was very early in my PNR/UF reading and definitely a favorite. I’m so excited to be rereading the early books and finishing the later ones I own but haven’t managed to read. I hope you’ll share your thoughts as we go along. Thank you for visiting.
This is one of my favorite series. Every book is great and absolutely love Cat and Bones. I probably should read them again.
We would love to have you join us on the Read-along Cassandra.
I love this story the best, it was the book that started my journey into the Night Huntress World and I have loved every book since. I truly can’t wait to read along with you guys and be able to discuss and talk about this wonderful series because in my family I am the only book reader especially of this genre.
We’re so glad to have you joining us.