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At Grave’s End

Jeaniene Frost

Published 2008         342 pages

Summary (from the book jacket)

It should be the best time of half-vampire Cat Crawfield's life. With her undead lover Bones at her side, she's successfully protected mortals from the rogue undead. But though Cat's worn disguise after disguise to keep her true identity a secret from the brazen bloodsuckers, her cover's finally been blown, placing her in terrible danger.

As if that wasn't enough, a woman from Bones's past is determined to bury him once and for all. Caught in the crosshairs of a vengeful vamp, yet determined to help Bones stop a lethal magic from being unleashed, Cat's about to learn the true meaning of bad blood. And the tricks she's learned as a special agent won't help her. She will need to fully embrace her vampire instincts in order to save herself—and Bones—from a fate worse than the grave.

The Review

At Grave’s End is the third novel in Jeaniene Frost’s Night Huntress urban fantasy romance series which follows the initially unlikely, yet ever deepening, relationship between Cat Crawfield (a damphir vampire slayer) and the powerful master vampire Bones (who is also an undead assassin.)

Cat’s vampire slayer occupation may have initially been an impediment to a lasting relationship between the pair but Bones has proved his love for Cat by joining her and her government funded team on their vampire hunting missions.  These events are covered in the first two novels in this series, Halfway To The Grave and One Foot In The Grave, and new readers would do best to read those books first before starting this one.

At Grave’s End is set over the Christmas period but don’t let that fool you – there is precious little peace and goodwill to all men here.  In no way is this a cutesy Christmas story! Cat and Bones both face death and have a Christmas full of bloody violence, pain and grief.

With a storyline that never lets up on the action At Grave’s End sees Cat and Bones face their most powerful and dangerous foe yet – Patra an ancient vampire, who wields terrible magic powers and also believes herself to be a god. She’s also evil, vindictive, cruel and tenacious (always a bad combination in an enemy) as she attacks and chases Cat and Bones across various locations in North America.

In addition to the characters that readers have come to know and love from the previous novels there is a new vampire on the scene in the form of Vlad Tepesh (aka Dracula.) While Vlad could in no way be called Bones’s friend he is on his side as they battle against Patra.  Dracula is always a difficult character to add as a hero to a modern fantasy novel since he was such a horribly cruel homicidal maniac in real life but his antagonistic character works well here and his special vampire powers (he’s Dracula, of course he has special powers!) come in handy too as Cat and Bones fight for their survival.

With its fast paced fantasy plot line and non-stop action At Grave’s End is virtually impossible to put down once you start reading it. The relationship development between Bones and Cat, and the resulting emotional drama, ensures that romance fans are not left wanting. In addition to all that, vampire fans have no cause for complaint either since this vamp-centric story is full of blood-drinking undead goodness.

At Grave’s End is definitely the best book in the series so far and is a must-read for vampire fantasy and romance fans.  This is seriously good reading - don’t miss reading this!

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