The fourth installment in Jeanine Frost’s "Night Huntress" series is finally here! Following the spectacular example of its predecessor, Destined for an Early Grave
has debuted to praise from nearly every corner. Near the conclusion of At Grave’s End, Kat and Bones
faced a new horizon with much in their lives headed for change. Just how much change becomes clear in this latest novel riddled with many unexpected twists, additions, and catastrophes woven throughout the plot.
Kat isn't sleeping well, and her nightmares are continually repeating themselves. Knowing the dangers that could be lurking in her dreams, Kat is concerned, but not nearly enough. It takes the involvement of Mencheres and the news of a powerful, deadly
escaped foe to get the Red Reaper’s scare factor to the appropriate level. What happens when her connection to this escapee becomes frightfully apparent?
In a dangerous game of hide-and-seek between two powerful vampires, the winner’s rights to the prize will reign over all else
- and end in death to the loser. Caught in the middle and brimming with heartbreaking concerns, Kat wants desperately to get at the truth and be free of the fears
weighing her down.
The turmoil and dissention from outside result in a haggard version of Kat being blindfolded and drugged. When the crushing despair and turmoil creates battle lines between Kat and Bones, parting ways seems the only answer.
However, vampires are territorial beasts; though he may not want her, Bones is determined to keep her so that no other will have her.
If their lives ended only there—how sad—but the warring paranormal entities out for Kat’s blood still want it. A great many things are at stake, lives to be lost, powers to be gained—but by whom, and how? Kat no longer has the luxury to sit by and embrace the dual nature of her genetic makeup.
She must choose what she is to become and who will be her sire, or else the decision will be made for her
- permanently.
Destined for an Early Grave tops the series’ culminating storyline in mind-blowing plot complexity that somehow makes one smooth story and a fantastic read. The downside to this latest installment is the unexpected dark quality it displays in both characters and plot. Obviously, any vampire novel is going to be dark, but it is the uncharacteristic depression, anger, and moroseness of the characters—having never
before been written in such ways—that brings an incomparably dark quality to any of the previous novels. Ultimately, the novel would not be a success without the drama attributed to these character oddities, and the results make for another phenomenal addition to the continuing
"Night Huntress" saga.