HALFWAY TO THE GRAVE by Jeaniene Frost

Halfway to the Grave
Jeaniene Frost

Rating: A+

Synopsis from goodreads.com:
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 unholy partnership.
In exchange for 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 newfound 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.

My thoughts on this book:
This has got to be one of my favorite books of all time. It's the novel that introduced me to Jeaniene Frost's writing, and I am so glad that I picked it up from the library that day a few years ago. Cat and Bones are two of my favorite literary characters, and Frost's writing is hilarious. She has a fantastic sense of humor apparently, and it transfers into both Cat and Bones. Bones is the funniest of the two with his obscene humor. My favorite quote from this book is: "Love to do it in a truck."

As the first book in the series, Halfway to the Grave explains the world that Cat, our heroine and narrator, lives in. However, the explanation of the world does not slow the pacing down. There is plenty of action going on as Cat learns about her world and shares the information with us. Her first lesson is that things are not as clear cut as they seem. This book seems to be saying that you can't generalize people and judge entire groups of people. I think that's a wonderful message, and I support it wholeheartedly.

Cat, half vampire and half human, is a snarky, kick-ass character who refuses to get pushed around. She has an attitude problem and is stubborn as hell. That's the best part about her in my opinion. I hate female characters who just lay down and die *coughBellaSwancough* without their men. She doesn't even want to like Bones, and at first she doesn't. She actually tries to kill him when they first meet.  Thanks to her upbringing, she is very prejudice against vampires, and she kills them indiscriminately. Bones makes it one of his missions to show her the error of her ways.

Bones is the kind of hero that you can't help but love. He's a 200+ year old vampire, and he can kick some major ass. He's a vampire assassin. Yes, you read right, he's a vampire who kills other vampires. Why, you ask? Well, you'll just have to read and find out. He is an extremely complex character with a terrific sense of humor. He's brave and loyal, and even though he's a killer, he has morals. I know, that sounds strange, but it's true. He looks out for Cat and protects her at all costs, and he trains her to be a better fighter on her own. Instead of expecting her to depend on him and wanting to be the knight in shining armor, he instead makes sure she can take care of herself. Not too bad for a 200 year old, eh? Very progressive.

The world that Frost builds is believable, even though vampires, ghosts, and other supernatural nasties exist. For everything that may have the chance of seeming unbelievable, she explains perfectly. Frost obviously put a ton of work into her world building and mythology.

The pacing of the story is spot on and it's an extremely quick read. We start with Cat carting a dead body in her truck and getting pulled over by the police. The suspense builds from there, and you will not be able to put this book down.

Jeaniene Frost has built a believable and fascinating world complete with interesting and complex characters. Throw in action and romance, and you have a winning combination. The Night Huntress Series is a series that you don't want to miss.

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