Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter by Seth Grahame-SmithMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
Time taken to read - 4 days on and off
Pages - 336
Publisher - Corsair
Blurb from Goodreads
Indiana, 1818. Moonlight falls through the dense woods that surround a one-room cabin, where a nine-year-old Abraham Lincoln kneels at his suffering mother's bedside. She's been stricken with something the old-timers call "Milk Sickness."
"My baby boy..." she whispers before dying.
Only later will the grieving Abe learn that his mother's fatal affliction was actually the work of a vampire.
When the truth becomes known to young Lincoln, he writes in his journal, "henceforth my life shall be one of rigorous study and devotion. I shall become a master of mind and body. And this mastery shall have but one purpose..." Gifted with his legendary height, strength, and skill with an ax, Abe sets out on a path of vengeance that will lead him all the way to the White House.
While Abraham Lincoln is widely lauded for saving a Union and freeing millions of slaves, his valiant fight against the forces of the undead has remained in the shadows for hundreds of years. That is, until Seth Grahame-Smith stumbled upon The Secret Journal of Abraham Lincoln, and became the first living person to lay eyes on it in more than 140 years.
Using the journal as his guide and writing in the grand biographical style of Doris Kearns Goodwin and David McCullough, Seth has reconstructed the true life story of our greatest president for the first time-all while revealing the hidden history behind the Civil War and uncovering the role vampires played in the birth, growth, and near-death of our nation.
My Review
We all know who Abraham Lincoln is but what we didn't know was he was also a vampire hunter! When Abraham's mother dies and he finds out the real reason, he sets on a path of murder and retribution, Abraham Lincoln will kill all the vampires!
If you don't mind books like Pride, Prejudice and Zombies then you should get on just fine with this. Abraham has a diary where he catalogs his interactions with people and his hunts for vampires, the book also follows regular transcript of telling of the story in third person narration. I think some people may have issue with some of Lincolns achievements and reasoning for abolishing slavery in the book as well as the drive for his political career.
Otherwise, if you just read it as is, a cheesy, silly, not to be taken seriously story with an important historical figure mixed in with some vampires you will find it ok. The writing is a bit boxy and in parts I was a little bored however it has made me want to go read more about the real Abraham Lincoln and his life. The author acknowledges Wikipedia as one of his sources for research which in itself says something! It is certainly different and counted as one of my Halloween reads, would I read this author again? Sure however I wouldn't be rushing out to buy their work, 3/5 for me.
I actually was surprised that I liked the movie. :) I do like cheesy at times and I think the movie was the same way. :)
ReplyDeleteThe title alone made me chuckle! This sounds like a fun book, especially for this time of the year. Terrific review!
ReplyDeleteI must admit this seems a little too silly for my tastes.
ReplyDeleteI think that the incongruity of the concept is more odd then interesting.