An in-depth review of the paranormal romance novel Halfway to the Grave by Jeaniene Frost.
There are no plot spoilers in this review.
Halfway to the Grave is a paranormal romance novel written from the perspective of Catherine Crawfield, a half-vampire who is trying to make the world a safer place for girls like herself, one dead vampire at a time. She has been hunting vampires ever since she was 16, after her mother told her about the vampire daemon who had raped her- her father. She has dedicated the last few years of her life to getting revenge for her mother, killing any vampire she comes across. Being both vampire and human gives her the advantage of looking like the prey while still being strong enough to kill the predator. Having quite a few vampires under her belt, or rather six feet under in many unrecognizable little pieces, things are starting to look almost too easy. Until she meets Bones.
Thinking that bones was just another bone-headed vampire looking for a snack and a quickie, she tries to take him through her now perfected vampire-killing routine. To her surprise, she fails miserably. Bones is unlike any vampire she has met, he is a master vampire, and he should have killed her on the spot. Instead, he realizes Catherine's abilities make her invaluable as a way to get close to his enemies. So he cuts her a deal, she helps him kill his enemy vampires, and he will teach her to be a more efficient vampire hunter. Not to mention, she is much more likely to find her father with Bones, since he knows the vampire community. Can vampire-hating Catherine Crawfield learn to work with and even trust the very daemons she's hated her whole life? You'll have to read this hot paranormal romance to find out!
Catherine is an impassioned, impulsive if slightly whiny, but somehow still likable character. She is determined to do what is right, but can she overcome her harsh judgment that has her believing that every vampire is evil, including herself? With calm Bones by her side, she will be faced with the hard question of whether or not there can be good in a vampire. She is especially torn as Bones becomes more seductive than she is to her vampire victims. The two make a diverse and interesting team that keep this paranormal romance fast paced from start to finish.
Though I liked this paranormal romance novel, it is far from being perfect. One thing that annoyed me endlessly was Bones's accent. I don't know if English men say "blimey", "luv", "bugger", or other typical English slang words other than in the movies, but I seriously doubt they say them half as often as Bones does. Another annoyance is Cathrine's tendency to have very little clothes on. It is explained in the novel to be a result of having to lure male vampires but it still seems exaggerated. The character development in this novel was, to say the least, unsatisfactory. The same can be said for the writing, some action sequences and dialogs were confusing or repetitive. The romance part of the plot was predictable, but I think that its safe to say no more than any other romance novels is. The action part of the plot was more original though it has a few holes. It is still a good enough plot to keep you reading. I do think more time should have been spent developing the plot and the interesting characters and less should have been spent on describing Catherine's lack of clothes.
Even after all of the negatives, I would still recommend this book. There is something about this paranormal romance that makes you not want to put it down. It treads the line between trashy and good and effectively lets you escape into a world of evil vampire ass kicking and hot romance. This novel never has a dull moment, its all action. Though there are a couple of sex scenes, they don't take over and are not thrown into the story with disregard to the plot. There is also a healthy amount of comedy in the novel that breaks the tension every once in a while. Lastly, the ending is the definition of a cliffhanger. It has you running to the store or library for the next installment. All in all, I would recommend reading this novel, but I would file it under a guilty pleasure.
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