2.5 starsReview may contain spoilers To say I was disappointed with this book may not say it all. I am completely dumbfounded. I really loved Halfway to the Grave and One Foot in the Grave. I enjoyed At Grave's End, even though Cat and Bones acted like an old married couple, not newlyweds. But this book truly surprised me. I couldn’t believe how much I disliked Cat and Bones’ relationship in this book. Let’s just start with some of the things that I did like. My favorite character in the series has got to be Vlad Tepesh. Vlad is a very good friend to Cat. He offers her incredible support and a place to crash when her relationship goes bad. I also liked Marie the ghoul. You couldn’t really tell what side she was on, but she seemed to get along well with Cat, despite Cat’s serious lack of brain filter. Mencheres is an interesting character and I would love to see him have a book of his own. The cultural references in this book were fun. One memorable reference to “Smelly Cat” brought back memories of Phoebe singing in the TV show Friends. I was humming that song throughout that chapter. Now, on to the things that bothered me. This whole idea of Cat’s memory being wiped clean smacks of soap opera. I don’t even remember Gregor being mentioned in earlier books, so where did this idea of Cat being married to Gregor even come from? Gregor was truly a vile character, looking to supplement his power and status through Cat. Cat’s impulsivity and total lack of brain filter annoyed me. Coupled with her rather heavy drinking, her lack of control was irritating. Cat always spoke before she thought. Her serious lack of knowledge of vampire rules was also an irritant. Bones’ behavior was shocking. He acted nonchalant about his love of his life and his marriage. It seemed that their marriage lacked communication and respect. Of course, we do see things from Cat’s point of view, so we never get a full picture of what Bones was up to. Two other characters that did little to add to the plot line were Spade and Tate. I had liked Spade in earlier books, but in this book, he did little but act as Bones’ yes man. Tate continued to irritate, and the less said about him, the better (although I was waiting for one of the vampires to rip off his head – no luck this time).One last thing – I did like Justina at the end of the last book. She seemed to mellow out with Rodney. But Justina with immortality? Poor Cat.I will continue to read this series, but I won’t be racing to read the newest book right away.
