Sci-Fi, Fantasy & Horror Reviews

Book Review: This Side of the Grave

By Sandy Amazeen Jan 2, 2011, 15:26 GMT

The highly anticipated continuation of Jeaniene Frost\'s New York Times and USA Today bestselling Night Huntress series, in which Cat and Bones face an enemy unlike any they\'ve met before.Danger waits on both sides of the grave. Half-vampire Cat Crawfield and her vampire husband Bones have fought for their lives, as well as for their relationship. But just when they\'ve triumphed over the latest battle, Cat\'s new and unexpected abilities threaten ...more

New vampire Cat Crawfield and her handsome husband Bones are called upon to look into the recent disappearances of vampires who lack the protection of a master. They soon discover ghouls are behind those deaths and worse, Cat’s nemesis Apollyon is behind the growing tensions between the vampires and ghouls. Cat’s unusual parentage parallels Joan of Arc and unless Bones and the rest of the vampire community can find a way to defuse Apollyon’s hate campaign, she will likely suffer the same fate. However, if Cat’s unusual abilities and feeding habits become widely known, the vampires will be all too happy to hand her over to Apollyon and damned the consequences. Should that happen, Bones and his people will fight to the death resulting in a bloodbath.

Book seven of the Night Huntress series focuses on Apollyon setting up a major conflagration between ghouls and vampires with Cat at the apex of his hatred. Paralleling that main plotline is Cat’s inability to feed normally coupled with her bizarre ability to manifest the traits of whatever vampire she feeds from. While interesting and filled with plenty of passion between Cat and Bones, there isn’t as much meat to this as could be hoped.