Halfway to the Grave

Night Huntress, Book 1

By: Jeaniene Frost

Narrated by: Tavia Gilbert

Length: 11 hrs and 18 mins

Publisher's summary

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.

©2007 Jeaniene Frost (P)2010 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

“Take one half-human/half-vampire female with serious anger and parental issues, add in a sexy ancient vampire with his own agenda, and you have the makings for a truly combustible series. Sign me up for the sequel!” (Romantic Times)

Intriguing Beginning

I bought this book not knowing that this was an ongoing series so the open ending was a bit of a surprise and I was less than thrilled with the way it ended. Like others, I was quite put off by the depiction of Bones' voice. I understand why she went with the Cockney accent as he was low born and a criminal but it wasn't a good Cockney accent. It wasn't quite as bad as Dick Van Dyke in Mary Poppins but it was up there. I have too many British relatives to not roll my eyes whenever I hear a bad English accent. On the good side, Tavia Gilbert was very good at emoting. She didn't just read, she acted out the emotions and inflections of each character and she gave each of those characters their own distinctive voices. I liked it enough to get the second book in the series but mostly because book 1 ended so abruptly that I felt a need to see what happens. I saw that this is a 7 book series and I'm not sure the story is going to be able to be carried on for that long but I'll take it book by book and see how I feel.

Loved Em All!

No sense repeating all the rave reviews already posted. All I can say is read em and don't let the few negative negative reviews on the narrators portrayal of Bone's Brittish accent sway you. I'm no expert on accents, but since the character was born in England and also spent time in Australia, his accent could very well be a bit muddled! I think Tavia Gilbert's entire performance is A-#1 BRILLIANT!

I'm a grown up and thoroughly enjoyed this entire series. I read the first two "Twilight" books and found them somewhat entertainingg but too juvenile. The Twilight vamps were just too darn nice! What's the use of being a Vampire if you aren't gonna be "bad" once in awhile?? Cat and Bones and the rest of the Vamps in Frost's books are interesting, funny, charming, and definitely not afraid to be bad when the situation calls for it...

I'm on book 5, can't wait to listen to book 6 and hope book 7 isn't too far off!

Highly recommend.

P.S. Bones - I think I love you!

A Bad Guy is always a Bad Guy...right?

I loved this book. I think I found one to rival, Sarah McCarty's Shadow Reaper Series. I had bones pegged as a bad guy, one to destroy but Jeaniene pulled a fast one on me. His cruel tone slowly turned into respect and caring. I like Cat's uneasiness about what she is and who she is and how she feels about bones. Many other heroines don't take long to realize that the man before them is man of their dreams, she fights the feeling for a long time which sets up their undying romance for future books. I like the clench of failure before the magnificent save. Great up and down rollercoaster ride!

Very Enjoyable, Not Addicting

I've loved other novels by Jeaniene Frost, and Tavia Gilbert's narrations are fine (not bad, just not versatile, and has occasional odd inflections) but this one wasn't my favorite.

Please know that I still loved listening this this story, I was never bored, I just didn't have any burning desire to keep listening (or open this book again on my next visit to my phone's audible app ). Others may simply love this story, and looking back, I should have listened to it at 1.5x speed. The plot of this story was really interesting, and sounded awesome (tough half-breed girl takes down vampires, falls in love with her co-killer vampire, endless possibilities for them in their quest to squash evil, etc.), but either the stunted sentence flow, or the lack of big excitement, ranked this one lower than I expected.

Sorry guys! I know a lot of people loved this one- I fully admit that this was a fun story to listen to, but I wouldn't call it a favorite since I have no urge to ever listen to it again.

Good combos

Late review, but I enjoy the concept of 1/2 vamp, mystery, hunter, assassin and would recommend this one as a new series. Looking forward to finding out what happens next.

Wow

Wow I am so glad I got this book. Great story & narrator. Make sure you listen to this book in the series, First Drop of Crimson is actually the second book.

Halfway to the Grave

This book is just the thing to keep boredom at bay. Keep them coming girl.

Kept My Interest

What made the experience of listening to Halfway to the Grave the most enjoyable?

Tavia Gilbert is a wonderful narrater!!

What other book might you compare Halfway to the Grave to and why?

Nora Roberts JD Robb series

Have you listened to any of Tavia Gilbert’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Not yet, but hope to

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

Witty Reportoire

3 stars

This definitely has a Buffy (The Vampire Slayer) hooks up with Spike feel. The beginning seemed very childish, although the scene and topics weren't. Midway it did seem to get better. Narrator won't be on my favorite list but she's not on my avoid list either. Will give book 2 a chance to change my opinion.

Vampires and more...

This isn't my normal go to for books. It was my first vampire book. I liked it! The woman doing the reading was amazing! I loved all her different voices. I will be downloading the next book.