One Grave at a Time
Night Huntress, Book #6
By Jeaniene Frost
ISBN# 9780061783197
Author’s Website: http://jeanienefrost.com/
Brought to you by OBS reviewer Heidi
After the standoff between the ghouls and the vampires, in the last installment of the Night Huntress series, This Side of the Grave, Cat and Bones discovered that Cat’s Uncle Don is still on Earth, as a ghost. Bones shows Don that the threat from the ghouls has died along with Apollyon and that Cat is safe so he can move on. But, despite Don’s attempt he can’t pass to the other side. Bones and Cat try to help him, but nothing works.
Cat still has her powers from Marie, much to her dismay, as strange ghosts are still reaching out to her and Bones and she are never alone. One of those ghosts is Elisabeth. She is reaching out for help as she is trying to kill a fellow ghost and known witch hunter, Heinrich Kramer. Elisabeth was one of his victims. She was raped tortured and burned to death at his hands.
Now Kramer walks the Earth in the flesh one day a year; Halloween. On that day he burns three women to death every year. He targets women he has picked out weeks before Samhain and torments them with help from an accomplice. The accomplice then kidnaps them on Halloween to let Kramer finish them off. Cat and Bones don’t hesitate to help Elisabeth end Kramer’s reign of terror once and for all. But what happens when Cat becomes one of Kramer’s targets? And when her borrowed powers start to fade she will truly understand the old adage, be careful what you wish for.
It’s the Halloween season and there’s nothing like a good ghost story to get you in the mood for the things that go bump in the night. And, throw in the witch trials and you have the making of a great Halloween tale that you won’t want to quit reading.
I thought bringing a bit of history into this book was a lot of fun and bringing in a true life villain from the past in the form of Heinrich Kramer was interesting and a smart move by Frost. It gave you a glimpse of the torture these women suffered during the witch trials and how ignorant people truly were during that time. I do have to admit the repetition of Kramer showing up and wrecking havoc to poof away again and again did get a bit old and trying after awhile though.
I was glad that the spark between Bones and Cat was reignited in this book, as I had felt it wane a bit in previous installments of the series. And, the whole sex in the sky thing? It was kind of hot even if it was a bit so far-out there that I couldn’t really picture it completely.
And, I cannot do a review on this book without talking about Ian. Ian has been a total ass since he was introduced in the series, but he has really grown on me and he was the primary source of humor in this novel. I’ve come to love his perverted observations and comments. Maybe that says something about me:)
“Your mum pounced on her and started sucking away. Would’ve been arousing if not for all the screaming.”
“Ian,” Bones drew out warningly.
He grinned. “You’re right. I was aroused anyway.”
He does leave me a bit torn though. Part of me would love to see a book about Ian. But another part of me fears it. Once you have a book on a character, in a series like this, they usually find their life partner. And, if Ian had a girlfriend or wife he wouldn’t be free to make some of the nasty comments I’ve come to expect from him. So for now I’m happy for him to stay single, but I wouldn’t mind him having a nice fling now and again so he wouldn’t seem so lonely.
“Since you and Crispin are now finished and I have a few hours to kill, how about that shag?” he asked with heavy irony.
“Bite me,” I sighed, gathering up the pages.
He winked. “Of course. My second-favorite thing to do in bed.”
In this book, we also learn that there is trouble brewing in the ranks of Cat’s old job in the form of a new consultant, Jason Madigan, who is out for blood when it comes to Cat and he even forced Tate out of his new job. There is no conclusion to this storyline in the book, but I’m sure we will see more on it in future Night Huntress books.
Overall this is a good story that mixes fiction and a tinsey tiny bit of history for a nice blend that any Night Huntress fan is sure to love.
