Halfway to the Grave by Jeaniene Frost
Dec. 9th, 2007 06:29 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
quippeThe Blurb On The Back:
Half-vampire Catherine Crawlfield 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 convined 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.
This is the first paranormal romance that I've ever read and on the whole, I quite enjoyed it. Jeaniene Frost draws on elements of existing vampire lore (fangs, drinking blood, superhuman strength and the ability to fly) and introduced elements that were new to me (vampires can only be killed by silver to the heart and a vampire's eyes turn vivid green when they're emotional). Given that this is the first book in a series, there is a large amount of exposition to help set up the world and whilst this does sometimes slow down the pace, there's more than enough plot for readers to sink their teeth into.
Characterisation wise, Cat is a strong first person narrator and Frost gives her a good voice with some flashes of humour. I thought that there were times when she was a little too conveniently naive given that we're told she's 22 and has been hunting vampires through bars and nightclubs since she was 16. This was particularly evident in the scene in the Bite nightclub when two college boys slip a roofie in her drink. The first time it happened I thought it was slick and could see why she had fallen for it, but the second and third times I was wondering why she wasn't catching on to what was happening, particularly given that she comments about how the alcohol is affecting her more than normal. This leads onto another complaint - for a strong female character, I was concerned that she lets Bones fight her battles for her. In the case of the would-be date rapists, I wasn't comfortable that they were dealt with by Bones at all and think it would have been far more interesting if she'd been able to take them on. Likewise, I'd have liked to see Cat stand up to her old boyfriend rather than let Bones break his hand as it would have allowed her to signal (a) how much more sophisticated and emotionally strong she now is and (b) how little she cared about him. The fact that Frost doesn't let Cat do this demeaned her slightly in my eyes.
Bones is British and Frost handles the Brittishisms pretty well, although there were rather too many "bloodies" for my liking and there were a couple of times when Bones used words that a Brit wouldn't necessarily use (e.g. he described Cat as "trolling" nightclubs, whereas a Brit would say "trawl" nightclubs - although this is being picky). As a historical point, I'd question one thing about Bones's background - we're told that he was transported to Australia and was transformed into a vampire in 1790 and for me, the timeline was pretty tight given that transportation of criminals in England didn't begin until around 1785/1786 and given the time it actually took to get to Australia back then, I thought this was making it a little too tight. However, he's a strong character and an interesting love interest for Cat and if there were points when he reminded me of Spike from Buffy, I didn't necessarily mind.
The weakest character for me was Cat's mother. She seems very one-note in her hatred of vampires and whilst I liked the emotional power she displays over Cat, manipulating her sense of guilt into killing vampires on her behalf, I needed to see some kind of concern from her for Cat's wellbeing (even if it's only a grudging concern). I also didn't get enough sense of reaction from her to the death of her parents (Cat's grandparents) - given the way in which this happens, I'd have expected something more from her than just using it as a stick to beat her daughter with. I was also concerned about a potential issue with the way in which vampires work in Frost's world in that we discover that the vampire who raped Cat's mother must have been newly created given that sperm usually dies within a few days of a vampire being turned and yet we also discover that vampires are most likely to kill people during the first few days of being turned because it takes a while to learn to control the beserker lust created by the taste of blood. I was therefore left with the question as to why the vampire who raped Cat's mother didn't also kill her and am hoping that this is something that's answered in the future books.
Storywise, the plot really revolves around a criminal vampire gang led by Hennessy, the vampire who sired Bones and who is kidnapping young women and turning them into sex slaves and eventually food for vampires. Frost introduces a mystery element in the sense that we discover that Hennessy is being protected by a highly-placed human and I was disappointed that more wasn't made of who this was and why they were doing it. Frost instead dispenses with this in the space of one scene, which robbed it of any tension it might have and certainly made it difficult to care about what was happening. As another nitpick, the way in which the plot is revealed is pretty episodic and doesn't really get started until around 100 pages in, once Cat has finished her training with Bones and is ready to start helping him in his search for Hennessy and again, I think this is down to the fact that as a first novel, Frost's attention is more focused on building up her world.
The sex scenes are pretty steamy and whilst I'd have preferred a little more build-up towards the romance between Bones and Cat, I can see why Frost has to handle it the way that she does. I do like the way Frost breaks the couple up by the end and it sets up an intriguing situation for the future books, particularly given Cat's new job. It seems inevitable that they will cross paths in the future and I'm intrigued to know what will happen.
The Verdict:
It's a pretty enjoyable read with some steamy nookie and enough new-to-me elements of vampire lore for me to want to read more in the series. I have some nitpicks about the Britishisms used by the characters and one of the elements of vampire lore that Jeaniene Frost introduces but on the whole it's a solid and entertaining read and I would definitely want to read more in the series.
Half-vampire Catherine Crawlfield 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 convined 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.
This is the first paranormal romance that I've ever read and on the whole, I quite enjoyed it. Jeaniene Frost draws on elements of existing vampire lore (fangs, drinking blood, superhuman strength and the ability to fly) and introduced elements that were new to me (vampires can only be killed by silver to the heart and a vampire's eyes turn vivid green when they're emotional). Given that this is the first book in a series, there is a large amount of exposition to help set up the world and whilst this does sometimes slow down the pace, there's more than enough plot for readers to sink their teeth into.
Characterisation wise, Cat is a strong first person narrator and Frost gives her a good voice with some flashes of humour. I thought that there were times when she was a little too conveniently naive given that we're told she's 22 and has been hunting vampires through bars and nightclubs since she was 16. This was particularly evident in the scene in the Bite nightclub when two college boys slip a roofie in her drink. The first time it happened I thought it was slick and could see why she had fallen for it, but the second and third times I was wondering why she wasn't catching on to what was happening, particularly given that she comments about how the alcohol is affecting her more than normal. This leads onto another complaint - for a strong female character, I was concerned that she lets Bones fight her battles for her. In the case of the would-be date rapists, I wasn't comfortable that they were dealt with by Bones at all and think it would have been far more interesting if she'd been able to take them on. Likewise, I'd have liked to see Cat stand up to her old boyfriend rather than let Bones break his hand as it would have allowed her to signal (a) how much more sophisticated and emotionally strong she now is and (b) how little she cared about him. The fact that Frost doesn't let Cat do this demeaned her slightly in my eyes.
Bones is British and Frost handles the Brittishisms pretty well, although there were rather too many "bloodies" for my liking and there were a couple of times when Bones used words that a Brit wouldn't necessarily use (e.g. he described Cat as "trolling" nightclubs, whereas a Brit would say "trawl" nightclubs - although this is being picky). As a historical point, I'd question one thing about Bones's background - we're told that he was transported to Australia and was transformed into a vampire in 1790 and for me, the timeline was pretty tight given that transportation of criminals in England didn't begin until around 1785/1786 and given the time it actually took to get to Australia back then, I thought this was making it a little too tight. However, he's a strong character and an interesting love interest for Cat and if there were points when he reminded me of Spike from Buffy, I didn't necessarily mind.
The weakest character for me was Cat's mother. She seems very one-note in her hatred of vampires and whilst I liked the emotional power she displays over Cat, manipulating her sense of guilt into killing vampires on her behalf, I needed to see some kind of concern from her for Cat's wellbeing (even if it's only a grudging concern). I also didn't get enough sense of reaction from her to the death of her parents (Cat's grandparents) - given the way in which this happens, I'd have expected something more from her than just using it as a stick to beat her daughter with. I was also concerned about a potential issue with the way in which vampires work in Frost's world in that we discover that the vampire who raped Cat's mother must have been newly created given that sperm usually dies within a few days of a vampire being turned and yet we also discover that vampires are most likely to kill people during the first few days of being turned because it takes a while to learn to control the beserker lust created by the taste of blood. I was therefore left with the question as to why the vampire who raped Cat's mother didn't also kill her and am hoping that this is something that's answered in the future books.
Storywise, the plot really revolves around a criminal vampire gang led by Hennessy, the vampire who sired Bones and who is kidnapping young women and turning them into sex slaves and eventually food for vampires. Frost introduces a mystery element in the sense that we discover that Hennessy is being protected by a highly-placed human and I was disappointed that more wasn't made of who this was and why they were doing it. Frost instead dispenses with this in the space of one scene, which robbed it of any tension it might have and certainly made it difficult to care about what was happening. As another nitpick, the way in which the plot is revealed is pretty episodic and doesn't really get started until around 100 pages in, once Cat has finished her training with Bones and is ready to start helping him in his search for Hennessy and again, I think this is down to the fact that as a first novel, Frost's attention is more focused on building up her world.
The sex scenes are pretty steamy and whilst I'd have preferred a little more build-up towards the romance between Bones and Cat, I can see why Frost has to handle it the way that she does. I do like the way Frost breaks the couple up by the end and it sets up an intriguing situation for the future books, particularly given Cat's new job. It seems inevitable that they will cross paths in the future and I'm intrigued to know what will happen.
The Verdict:
It's a pretty enjoyable read with some steamy nookie and enough new-to-me elements of vampire lore for me to want to read more in the series. I have some nitpicks about the Britishisms used by the characters and one of the elements of vampire lore that Jeaniene Frost introduces but on the whole it's a solid and entertaining read and I would definitely want to read more in the series.
