Destined for an Early Grave (Night Huntress, Book 4): A Night Huntress Novel

Stolen memories cause issues. Life altering decisions are made. What you see may not be reality. Some characters are sadly altered

I am a humongous fan of this series. Hu-mon-gous.They're so compelling. The plots of the first three books are great, but it's this dynamic between Cat and Bones that keeps me coming back over and over.This book was a wild ride with a lot of action, drama and more snark than ever before. And the steamy, passionate love that Bones and Cat share that I found lacking in AT GRAVE'S END? That has been pushed up a notch. Bones does love to use his fangs on Cat in so many ways. DESTINED FOR AN EARLY GRAVE digs deeps into the psyche and emotions of Cat and Bones. This time, they are not only tested by both outside sources but also their inner turmoil. There is one such individual who wants Cat because he had her first before Bones. And then there are those doubts Cat still has when it comes to Bones. Cat may know how to kill the bad guys with great skill, but when it comes to Bones she shuts off. And because of these esteem issues she has, she is the one responsible for the possible destruction of her relationship with Bones.DESTINED FOR AN EARLY GRAVE begins with Cat and Bones going on a much-needed vacation. Cat wants to go to Paris for no reason that she can think of. Bones is all for it because he wants to give his lady love and vampire wife the world. Off they go not expecting an adventure that may ruin their whole foundation of devotion and trust. Cat shares her heart and body with Bones but won't allow him access into her mind and deepest thoughts. Bones feels hurt even though he knows the Cat has problems with letting others get too close to her. I really do wish these two would go through some marriage counseling. And they are going to need some major counseling after they finish with Gregor.Gregor wants Cat. A few weeks before Cat and Bones met at the bar she was taken by Gregor to Paris. Gregor tried to gain the trust of the fragile sixteen-year-old Cat, seduce her and marry her because he knew what Cat would be capable of in the years to come. Cat doesn't remember Gregor at all because Bones, grandsire Mencheres was able to erase Cat's memories of her time with Gregor. Mencheres also knows how important Cat is because he can see the future. He made sure Cat and Bones met. Mencheres manipulated their relationship but let nature takes it course. Now Gregor is invading Cat's dreams. Gregor is a Dreamsnatcher and can grab people from their dreams. He is trying to take Cat away from Bones because he believes that Cat is his wife.Cat knows her heart belongs to Bones, but she needs her memories back. Bones is scared and doesn't want Cat anywhere near Gregor. What if Cat regains her memories and wants to be with Gregor instead? Both Cat and Bones are walking around egg shells with one another. Cat wants to confront Gregor and the issue head on. Bones wants to place Cat in a protective bubble and kill Gregor himself. And when Cat goes off and deals with Gregor even after Bones tells her not to, he is fed up. What happens after that will have you clutching the book and gasping because the thought of Bones and Cat not being together is horrible.Not only does DESTINED FOR AN EARLY GRAVE give the reader more insight on the vampire culture Jeaniene has created, but this is where she shows how important friends and family are. Bones and Cat's support system is wonderful. There are many times that Bones and Cat annoyed me to the point I wanted to smack them because they are just too stubborn to listen to one another. But to circumvent this, there are a few other characters that have grown on me. They keep things in perspective and lighthearted. Jeaniene has written a great group of male figures. Bones will always be first in my eyes, but now I'm a total fan-girl of Spade, Ian and even Vlad. At first I felt Vlad was a bad rip off of the whole Dracula myth, but Jeaniene really makes Vlad shine here. Menecheres is the voice of reason even though he is a manipulative bastard half the time. We also get a different side to Cat's mother, Justina. She can be a harpy, but something shocking happens that may change your mind about her.The tension is very thick in DESTINED FOR AN EARLY GRAVE, but there are moments where the laughs come out. Jeaniene is a near genius at dialogue. The snarky one-liners are all over the place. I couldn't stop chuckling and shaking my head at the same time because they are so good and will make you blush. Not only are some pieces of the dialogue shocking in nature, but Jeaniene keeps thing lively with the vampire fighting and death. Some of the characters may not make it in the end and you will have no idea who will be alive at the end. Jeaniene does keep you guessing.DESTINED FOR AN EARLY GRAVE was a very enjoyable and fun read. Those who are fans of this series will be very happy with the results especially that of Cat and how she resolves her issues with her vampire heritage and her feelings for Bones.

I've expressed my love for the Night Huntress series and I will continue to do so. While Anita Blake was the original R-Rated Buffy (before it became porn), Night Huntress nicely fills out that role of a darker edgier vampire-slaying heroine. Dhampir Catherine "Cat" Crawfield and 200-year-old-vampire Crispin "Bones" Russell are two engaging characters who have an excellent relationship which makes their already well-written supernatural adventures even more fun. The previous book ended with Cat quitting her job at the Department of Homeland Security's supernatural division, marrying Bones, and generally deciding to live a life without the weird. Unfortunately, no sooner do they begin their journey to Paris do they encounter Gregor. Gregor is a master vampire older than Bones who claims Catherine is actually "his" wife due to his seducing her when she was sixteen, only to lose her when she was mind-wiped by Bones' grandsire Mencheres. The retconned nature of this plotline is questionable since Catherine was very much of the mind vampires were all evil monsters until she was nineteen. Furthermore, this is the sort of thing which would have come up earlier. Still, I'm willing to give it a go as sometimes continuity has to take a backdoor for fun stories. Even so, it does make things a bit awkward as no one really brings up how grossly inappropriate it is for a 1000 year old man to seduce a sixteen-year-old. There's also a lot of artificial conflict between Bones and Catherine over whether or not she really married him (as she can't remember). Vampire law might claim that Gregor is her husband but one would think Bones would understand that means nothing to Cat. It results in a lot of contrived arguments and anger that I felt detracted from the book's enjoyment factor. There's never any real sense Gregor has a hold on Catherine, justifiably so, so it comes off more like Bones being an ass for the sake of being an ass. There's definitely some good moments in the book, though, including a large role for Louisiana's Marie Laveau. In this universe, Marie is a prominent member of the supernatural community and a vampire with an army of ghouls. Marie loathes Gregor but he is her sire and she does not want to break the vampire laws which protect her every bit as much as they protect Gregor. There's a lot of good scenes spread throughout this book but I feel like the ending was a bit of a cop-out. Cat finally makes the decision over whether or not to become a full-vampire and I think it was the wrong decision given so much of the book's dynamics depend on them working a certain way. Basically, a lot of what makes Cat unique is lost if she becomes a vampire and her leaning that way is a bad idea, in my humble opinion. I also think the final confrontation with Gregor made it too easy for our heroes to get away with their actions. I think they should have had to live with the consequences of their actions as they would have made an exciting game-changing event. Basically, if you set up an impossible situation where the only way out is going to have serious consequences then you should allow those serious consequences to happen. In conclusion, this is probably my least favorite novel in the series but I still enjoyed it. The characters are enjoyable, the situations unique, and there's a lot of interesting stuff happening. It just suffers for the retcons, the forced conflict, and the fact the ending felt like giving our heroes a free pass. I'm still going to buy the next one, though.8/10

This was such an angst-fest it had a lot going on Bones and his kitten face the biggest test of their bond yet with the emergence of a rival for Cat’s affections another master vampire and not only does he claim to be Cat’s true husband he can also invade and snatch Cat from her dreams.This was action-packed throughout Cat and Bones literally implode when a part of her forgotten past threatens all they hold dear. Neither of these two deals well with the problem and it’s not long before they are self-sabotaging a lack of trust and transparency playing its part.My heart actually hurt for them both so great was their combined emotional turmoil but I loved how Vlad really came into his own here stepping up as a true friend to Cat. By the time this concluded, I felt like I’d been put through the wringer. This was such an easy addictive read that easily kept me glued to the unfolding action.

The take on vampire Lore is slightly different in this book. There are gouls and ghosts too. It's a good addition to the series.Cat has a stalker. Gregor persues her in her dreams that feel quite real. Bones and the other featured vampires help her, but those dreams haunt her. Mancheres knows about the perpetrator and is keeping secrets from her. How will she react when he divulges the truth? There is a little uncertainty after her spat with Bones. Cat is heartbroken.This is well portrayed and in some ways, Cat and Bones become very familiar. Like they really are family, better behaved than her mother. It's a good series so far. Great characters. Interesting concept. Humour. Violence. All make for an exciting storyline.

A lot of the time when I'm coming towards the end of a book, I start to think about what I want to say in my goodreads review and with this Night Huntress novel the first word that came to mind was 'rollercoaster'. I then skimmed other reviews and found I was far from the only one.When I first read the plot description before beginning, I was unsure about the story. Books 1 and 2 had been more sex/relationship focused rather than putting emphasis on the story behind it and though this didn't stop me from enjoying them, I loved book 3 when Frost finally decided to develop a good story as well as detailing Cat and Bones' sex life. The plot is about an ancient vampire (shockingly) who claims to have both spent time with Cat and married her when she was sixteen, but her memory was later erased leaving him a stranger in her mind. Furthermore, this vampire (Gregor) has the ability to appear in people's dreams and steal them away if he can catch them, thereby earning him the nickname: Dreamsnatcher.My first thought on this was: odd. But, as I said before, it made for one hell of a rollercoaster and a fantastic storyline. Frost did right bringing Gregor into the picture to see how Bones could cope with someone that Cat had been emotionally involved with before, especially seeing as a) He has exes by the thousands, and b) Danny the wimp doesn't count. Actually he didn't cope very well, but my god is he hot when he's jealous (haha, my issues are surfacing).In my opinion, it was even sadder when he left than when we thought he'd died in the last book; and then when it looked like he was whoring it around the streets of New Orleans, I felt Cat's jealousy right there with her (those issues again). I was worried and upset because Bones is a wonderful character and the thought that the author might taint that had me going: Nooooooooo! Obviously not out loud.And Frost's writing just gets better and better. Like the hilarious part where Mencheres attempts to speak the 21st century language and comes out with words like 'bugging' and 'yo'. I won't quote it again because I've already spazzed over it in my last review. Hehe.Now I'm just getting to the point where I'm hoping the novels never stop. As if book 6 doesn't come out til August, though?! Argh.

Ever since Cat and Bones met six years ago they have been fighting against all manner of opponents. Now they finally have time for a proper vacation, but Cat's dreams are being invaded by a vampire named Gregor who claims that she belongs to him, and she's beginning to realise there are gaps in her memory. Cat wants to know who he is and why he thinks he can claim here, but finding out may cost her Bones...and her life.This is the fourth book in the Night Huntress series (after  Halfway to the Grave , One Foot in the Grave  and  At Grave's End ) and it steps up a notch from the previous books. Cat's past and future are called into question, and decisions are made that will change the direction of the series for good.The plot is clever, managing to pick up the tiniest of plot threads from the previous books and tie them together to create a story that makes perfect sense, and well paced. The book starts off at quite a fast pace and manages to sustain it most of the way through. The world opens up a little more with a visit to New Orleans that introduces ghosts in a larger role as well as fleshing out (no pun intended) what we know of the ghouls.Some of my favourite characters from previous books returned (Spade, Vlad and Annette) and the newly introduced Gregor and his minions are sufficiently unnerving. Cat and Bones's relationship goes through a few changes as well with Cat taking the calmer mature role and Bones acting irrationally and, at times, like a massive jerk. Their whole relationship is called into question and it brings some unexpected twists.All in all, this was a great read and I can't wait to get stuck into  This Side of the Grave .Plot: 9/10Characters: 10/10Ending: 10/10Enjoyment: 9/10Cover: 9/10Overall: 47/50 Halfway to the GraveOne Foot in the GraveAt Grave's EndThis Side of the Grave

Cat and Bones are back, and this time they're heading to Paris for a romantic getaway. Except something is haunting Cat's dreams, and Mencheres is waiting for them when they arrive. According to him Cat has a secret ppast - which she doesn't remember - and now the Dreamsnatcher has returned to remind her of it.Can Cat and Bones see off this new threat without losing each other? And does Mencheres know more than he's letting on?The fourth Night Huntress novel ( Halfway to the Grave , One Foot in the Grave , At Grave's End ) sees the return of all the old favourites - including Vlad and Spade - as the angst and psychological tension is cranked up. Plenty more is revealed about vampire society and the rules that govern them as Cat is drawn yet deeper into their world, while the heat and action from the other novels remains.With twists and troubles galore Cat's journey continues, with many an impediment thrown in her way. Sure, I spotted them all coming, but Frost's style is loaded with so much sarcastic wit and excitement that it's still a thoroughly enjoyable ride. Halfway to the GraveOne Foot in the GraveAt Grave's End