Thursday, March 8, 2012

Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter


by Seth Grahame-Smith
Barnes & Noble Summary:
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 beside. She's been stricken with something 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:
My husband had to spend a great amount of effort in convincing me to read this book. I kept putting it off, thinking that it was such a cheesy concept. I mean, really-the iconic 16th President of the United States- a vampire hunter? Well, I admit, I was wrong.
After reading many books where vampires are depressed teenagers, this takes an awesome twist towards excitement. Grahame-Smith doesn't just take Lincoln and make him a vampire hunter. He uses everything that we know about Lincoln, especially his heartache from his family and drive to end slavery-and shows how he was motivated by revenge against the vampires he so hated. With great voice and fast-paced action, I would recommend this to anyone (as long as they can stomach the violence).

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