Sunday, August 14, 2011

Review: Destined for an Early Grave by Jeaniene Frost

Title: Destined for an Early Grave
Author: Jeaniene Frost
Series: Night Huntress #4
Publisher: Avon
Pages: 355
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Source: Library

Summary from Cover:
Since half-vampire Cat Crawfield and her undead lover Bones met six years ago, they've fought against the rogue undead, battled a vengeful Master vampire, and pledged their devotion with a blood bond. Now it's time for a vacation. But their hopes for a perfect Paris holiday are dashed when Cat awakes one night in terror. She's having visions of a vampire named Gregor who's more powerful than Bones and has ties to her past that even Cat herself didn't know about. Gregor believes Cat is his and he won't stop until he has her. As the battle begins between the vamp who haunts her nightmares and the one who holds her heart, only Cat can break Gregor's hold over her. She'll need all the power she can summon in order to bring down the baddest bloodsucker she's ever faced… even if getting that power will result in an early grave.

My Review:
What a crazy ride Cat and Bones have been through! There were so many ups and downs in this book that I could barely keep it together! There were scattered fights and one absolutely huge one. And man, do you feel for both Cat and Bones when the big fight is going down. All the emotions come out on the table and Bones in particular is so raw and believable you just want to beg his forgiveness. I was practically flipping ahead to make sure they got back together every time they were fighting. Yet the fights they get into are extremely realistic. I am totally in love with Bones, but his possessiveness drives me crazy. I really don't blame Cat for getting pissed off and starting fights. And they aren't angsty vampire-type fights. Cat and Bones fight about the things that normal human couples fight about, only amped up to the extreme due to the vampire conflicts. I really enjoyed every nail-bitingly stressful second. Obviously, the romantic and emotional tension played a big role in this book, but the hit after hit of action that I've come to expect from this series was interwoven in there too. LOVED IT!

Once again, Cat's banter and snark had me laughing out loud. I am still shocked that an Urban Fantasy book can get that kind of reaction from me without losing it's dark edge entirely. I love the mixture of funny and deadly. Cat still just kind of lets whatever enters her brain leak out of her mouth and both her comments and the reactions of her crew are pretty freaking great. Here's one of my favorite quotes from the book. It involves Mencheres....an ancient, classy, and dignified vampire from Egypt...just check it.
"Then you remember the dream,” Mencheres stated, dark eyes boring holes in mine. “That bodes ill.”
 The fear of that made my reply snappy. 

“Hey, Walks Like An Egyptian, how about for once you drop the formal stuff and talk like you live in the twenty-first century?”
"The shit’s gonna splatter, start buggin’, yo,” Mencheres responded instantly.
Bahah....so awesome! I seriously had to read that passage several times. I loved seeing the random and potentially funny/nice side of someone who is pretty much a terrifying stuffed shirt most of the time.

 Another great addition was Gregor. He was a fantastic new villain. He was so infuriating in a male dominance kind of way. And not the sexy kind ladies. This was full on, Mad-Men style, obedience and submission from women type dominance. I seriously wanted to stab Gregor myself. His unique abilities were a great tool for the story and I really liked the originality involved with both his character and the situation that results from his existence. The thought of dream manipulation is one that I really enjoy. From the drug-laced dreams of Rose when she was Strigoi Dimitri's captive in Richelle Mead's Vampire Academy, to the dream walkers of Sherrilyn Kenyon's Dark Hunters, dreams are something that really stick with me. So the way that Gregor can manipulate dreams, and actually physically reach Cat if they touch in the dream is super awesome. The eerie feeling you get in the dream scape is pretty cool, and I love how Cat's memories help transform each scene. Sorry if it sounds like I'm being deliberately vague! I don't want to ruin the book for anyone who hasn't read it, and a lot of the plot revolves around Gregor so...if you want to blather on about the awesomeness of the plot and Gregor...you can tweet me :)
1/2
I give Destined for an Early Grave 4 1/2 Keys! It was a great book and a wonderful addition to the Night Huntress series! There was so much going on! I loved the new full-vampire Cat, and the ghoul-takeover subplot, and pretty much everything that happens....except that one death at the end...that was super sad and pretty much hurt my heart...but I really REALLY love this series now! So glad I started it! I can't get enough! I'm going to have to actually buy them all because I had to give my library copies back and all I want to do right now is re-read!!




5 comments:

  1. Great review! I really love this series :)

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  2. Really good review and I totally cried like a baby at that part of the book where you know who died...ugh. I can't wait for the next book.

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  3. Thanks for posting this detailed, thoughtful review! Cat really does sound like a kick-ass heroine!

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  4. Great review. I read The first three books and then for some reason never picked up the next one. Need to dig it out of my TBR pile.


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    alterlisa AT yahoo DOT com
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  5. I love Jeaniene Frost's books. I have this one on my TBR list, not ordered yet!!

    Judy
    magnolias_1[at]msn[dot]com

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