Book Review: Halfway to the Grave

Synopsis:

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.

WHY DID I NOT READ THIS BOOK SOONER?

Someone should have looked at me and said, Jessica, why are you wasting your time reading other books when you could be reading The Night Huntress series?

Cat is a half-human, half-vampire with a serious vendetta against the undead. Her father, a vampire she’s never met, raped her mother, and as a result, Cat was born. So you can see why she would have some personal issues with the vampire community. With only self-taught skills and the extra strength due to her half-breed status, Cat’s not exactly what one would call a master vampire hunter. Sure she takes down the dumb ones, but when she comes up against a vampire bounty hunter (who also happens to be a very sexy, British vampire), she gets caught. But surprisingly, he makes a deal with her: he will train her if she will join him in hunting vampires. She grudgingly takes the deal, having no idea what a mess she’s getting herself into.

Before you say “wow that sounds like a horrible cliché romance novel”, you should know a few things. There’s a lot of story driving this plot. If it were just a romance novel it would be one sex scene after another. Halfway to the Grave is steamy, I won’t lie. There were a few sex scenes. But they weren’t the driving force of the book; the plot is well executed, the other characters are actually people rather than just cardboard cutouts to fill the space in between romantic rendezvous. There’s this huge mysterious mess about why girls are disappearing; vampires are involved, but Cat and Bones struggle to find the answers. Plus people are trying to kill them right and left.

There’s so much action in this book; Cat is AWESOME and beats the crap out of everyone (especially after Bones trains her). She can definitely take care of herself, and she’s definitely not afraid to get messy (sometimes she’s practically stupid about it). When she first wakes up chained in a dungeon near the beginning of the book, she snarls at her vampire captor and challenges him to a fight to the death.

She’s a freakin’ BEAST.

BONES. Good old Bones. Such a conceited prick, but man does he love Cat. Their relationship is only going to get better as the series goes along, I can tell. There was a lot of sexual tension, and then some…er…releasing of said tension…

ANYWAY. If you’re a fan of Paranormal Romance/Urban Fantasy and HAVEN’T read Halfway to the Grave, WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?