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)

Fantastic Series Redux!

One of the best (perhaps only?) perks of getting older is a challenged memory. Given enough time, rereading my favorite books again is almost like new. This is possibly my third time reading this series over the past 4 or 5 years and I'm having a great time! Definitely more entertaining than 75% of what's out there.

Tavia Gilbert is amazing reading this fantastic series, so I'm dipping into the Mark of the Vampire series for the first time because she's the reader of that too.

Note to Kevin Hearne fans: Just found a great new (to me) series by John Conroe called the Demon Accords. It's amazing! Check it out on Kindle cause it's not on Audible yet. I plowed through the whole series in a week and loved it!

It's 4.5 stars of FUN

Never thought I'd ever read books with a topless male gracing the cover, but I read this book - and then the rest of the Night Huntress series and the spin-offs as well. (Even though Night Huntress series covers don't, check out the cover of "Once Burned" and you'll see what I mean.)

The characters are enjoyable and it's just a fun ride. The sex scenes get more and more graphic from one novel to the next, but that's not why I read the books (they would be just as good without those scenes - the chemistry between the main characters is almost more palpable before they get to the dirty deed). The action, sense of humour and fun characters keep it entertaining in a way that kept me coming back, even if the basic storyline lacked originality at times.

Tavia is great, Bones's accent even grew on me.

I quite enjoyed these books, so glad I took a chance on the over-done Vamp genre!

Engaging story

The story of Cat, the half-vampire vampire hunter had me rather hooked. I couldn't wait to start the second book of the series when I had finished this one.

It took me a long time to get used to the voice of Bones, the main protagonist vampire. It is cockney and rather annoying, I had a hard time believing that it was the voice of a sexy vampire. That said, given his heritage, he probably would sound like that. Eventually the voice grew on me.

I've listened to the first 3 books of the series now, so I think it's fair to say I enjoyed this book!

Ha ha

In the Night Huntress series, Jeaniene Frost focuses on the exploits of Cat Crawfield, an emotionally crippled, half-human, half-vampire 20-something who spends her leisure killing undead. That is until she meets Bones, a sexy undead. With Bones' harassing training, Cat becomes a focused and lethal grim reaper. Ok; So far, I have not really separated this book from the rest of the genre, but Frost's writing does standout on a crowded bookshelf of urban fantasy. Her characters are irritating, fun, violent, and hilarious, and Frost doesn't feel the need to give all of her undead characters famous/infamous historical identities. Instead she creates full backgrounds for her characters, and in doing so, her world comes alive with humor, action, and romance while elevating the story past that disappointing genre mold feeling. But don't worry. Let's face it; the dime store quality is part of the fun, and Frost doesn't forget that either. There is still a dime store essence to her stories. Finally, Tavia Gilbert is phenomenal narrator for this series. I hope to find the rest of this series at Audible soon, because I am hooked.

Good beginning to a series

I don't normally expect much from the first book in a series. I've found that an author usually take a little time to get into the storyline and characters but this was actually a really good book. It wasn't the most riveting story I've read, but it kept me interested. The characters were fairly well developed and the premise is different enough to be fun. I'll definitely read more of the series.

I'm hooked!

When I first read the reviews...I was really skeptical. However, I am soooo glad that I went out on a limb and bought this because by the second chapter I was flat out enamored! I was on vacation in Chicago and had my headphones in the whole time because I just HAD to know what was going to happen between Cat and Bones.

Now I'm not going to give away the goods that happened in the book but what I will say is this series is a must read! I have just forced myself to take a break after book 4, but thats because I want to have something to look forward to....and because my husband is tired of me talking about vampires and me asking if I became a vampire would he want to be changed lol. Yeah, it has you that involved!

Also, I wanted to take the time out to discuss Tavia Gilbert's performance. Like many people I was a little confused (somewhat weirded out) about Bones' voice. I wanted him to sound all suave and sexy but then as you read on in the series you learn why he speaks as he does. He was born poor in London...so he has poor grammar. I cannot stress enough how amazing Tavia Gilbert is as a narrator!!!! Yes every now and then she mispronounces a word...such as poinsettia and yes she does put a ridiculous amount of stress on the word believe. It sounds more like be-lieve lol. Now that I have said that....sooooooooo what!!!!! She is human and hello...she is awesome! All of her characters literally have different voices. I know them all by sound and don't even need to have her say who is speaking. I promise as you progress in the series you will more than appreciate her talents.

With that being said.....Tavia Gilbert is the absolute best narrator I have had the pleasure of listening to.

Ok I'm done rambling....bottom line: the book is good, the story is good, the narrator is awesome. Yeah hurry up and add to cart!

I'm Hooked!!!

If you could sum up Halfway to the Grave in three words, what would they be?

Exciting (Lots of action and romance), Enthralling (I just can't get enough), and Captivating (I've listened to it more than a few times and love it every time)!

Who was your favorite character and why?

I love Bones and Cat but my favorite is Bones. He's got to be one of the best vampire male characters I've yet to read and fall in love with. He's well rounded in personality but not wimpy or weak. As I love my vampire books, I've read a lot of them and most male vampires are not as diverse in their personalities as he is.

Which character ??? as performed by Tavia Gilbert ??? was your favorite?

Again, I love both Bones and Cat. She did an excellent job reading both sexes. Her accent for Bones is so sexy. I'm very pleased with her as a reader. I really couldn't find anything about her reading that I did not like.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

To pinpoint just one moment that really moved me is hard to do. I love the internal struggle that Cat goes through going from hating all vampires to falling in love with Bones. To nail it to one particular scene in the book, I guess it would have to be when Cat finally realizes that Bones must be going through the same type of struggle but one forced by her rules and double standards was just beautiful.

Any additional comments?

I had seen this series before while searching for other books to read and always passed it by. I'm not sure why. I think it had something to do with another

Irreverant, funny, surprisingly engaging

What did you love best about Halfway to the Grave?

The author provided a different spin on the usual sensual vampire characters that are popular today. The author mixed humor with the sensuality but the latter was less important so the story moved along nicely.

Who was your favorite character and why?

I liked Bones. He reminded me a bit of Spike from the Buffy series.

Which character – as performed by Tavia Gilbert – was your favorite?

The narrator did a phenomenal job bringing all of the characters to life with the active reading of the book.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

This was indeed a book I wanted to listen to in one sitting but I had to break up the sittings into two.

Any additional comments?

An audiobook is often only as good as the narrator's ability to bring the author's words to life. Tavia Gilbert has shown a true talent for bringing this book to life by conveying all of the emotions of the characters in distinct fashion.

If you like Anita Blake you'll probably like Kat

Where does Halfway to the Grave rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

After reading the Sookie Stackhouse and Anita Blake series, I find this story to be a little derivative.

The relationship in this story is far from the sometimes bodice ripping tangles the above mentioned heroines get into, but I'm not convinced the author will not get racier as the character develops.

This character keeps me entertained, but I am not a 'fan' just yet.

What about Tavia Gilbert’s performance did you like?

Good actress, great job with the selected accents and affects of each character. I really liked her cockney voice for Bones. I have a feeling I would have been frustrated with the writing of Bones if I had read the book instead of listening the audiobook. Some of the writers choices for Brit-ing him up were a little silly. But Tavia made it work.

Any additional comments?

In the same vein of another Vampire Slayer storyline, Kat happens to live in a paranormal hotbed... one might call it a Hellmouth.

Meh

I had a tough time getting through this one. Kat was whiney, and the voice the narrator used for bones grated on my nerves. This is the second series from Jeaniene Frost that I started and couldn’t finish.