Halfway to the Grave

Halfway to the Grave (2007) Jeaniene Frost

Cat is half-vampire, and since her mother has told her of her history, has dedicated her life to killing every vampire she can find. Her heritage gives her heightened senses and strength beyond that of a normal human, but her hunt is surprised one night when she meets a vampire far stronger and more wily than she expects, and from there her changes dramatically as she learns what vampires are truly capable of.

Halfway to the Grave kept coming up as a recommendation, so I decided to try it out. When I started reading, there was something about the way Jeanine Frost wrote that rubbed me the wrong way, however, I was immediately drawn into the story, so whatever it was that bugged me quickly fell by the wayside as I read quickly to discover what would happen.

Before we go any further, there is a LOT of boinking and sexual talk in this book. Cat starts out as a prude, and Bones really enjoys embarrassing her. But what I like is that Bones has a very good reason to force her to get over being a prude: if she’s going to serve as bait–as a young woman who wants to pick up men in bars–blushing is going to give her away almost immediately.

And that was a very fun part of the story. It’s funny to see her learn to primp and learn how to troll for men, so she can effectively serve as bait. She hates it, but she sees the necessity, so she’s going to do it well.

I think what made Bones so likable so quickly was his disgust at the way Cat had been treated throughout her life. Even if Cat sees nothing wrong in the way she was treated, the reader does, and Bones’ indignation immediately put me on his side.

As with other supernatural books, I find it fascinating to see what vampire mythology is used and included as part of the way vampires work, and what is brushed off in the books as ‘folklore’. Her vampires are quite different from many other I’ve read about, not just in their strengths and weaknesses, but also in their morality and ethics. (Also, ghouls? Ew. At least she wasn’t calling them zombies.)

I also really liked the creation story for vampires. That was a very nice touch.

The other thing I liked was Cat’s relationship with her mother. There is so much going on that remains unsaid, but that makes you really wonder about the woman and her sanity–as well as her relationship with Cat.

If you like supernatural fantasy, and you don’t mind boinking (because there is a lot of sex in those book) then I recommend checking out Halfway to the Grave. I’ve already ordered the next two books in the series, in the hopes they’re as good as the first.
Rating: 8/10

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