Seth Grahame-Smith
Alternate Historical Paranormal
PG-13 (Gore, some of which made me cringe. Well done.)
4.5 Coffee Beans
Any man who has seen the face of death knows better than to seek him out a second time. (pg 59, ebook) I have no more fear of hell, for I have this day seen it with my own eyes. (pg 268, ebook) Let us pray now for the future dead. Though we do not yet know their names, we know that there shall be far too many of them. (pg 269, ebook)
Publisher's 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 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:
I'll admit, I read this book because the movie was coming out and I was eager to start the Book Addicts first Book-2-Movie Night. So, I started reading it. Though I have a confession: Had I recognized that it was written the same author who wrote Pride, Prejudice & Zombies, I probably wouldn't have picked it up.
But this book stands apart from the other's he's written. This one, in my opinion, is so much better than the others. Abe Lincoln: Vamp Hunter is a LOOOONG book. It's a heavy 400 pages. The reason why is because it's basically a biography. Now, I haven't done any in-depth research on how ____ wrote this book, and all I know of Lincoln's history is the limited amount kids are taught in school, so I'm relying on my friend Tiff's word when she said she did research on the book and found that the biographical part of this (which is probably 85%) is all true.
Given that piece of gospel truth, I really enjoyed reading this book. Abe has always been one of my favorite presidents and I think he's one of the smartest, bravest men that ever led America. That being said, I loved every minute of this book. Learning about Lincoln's life, how he grew up, how he got started in politics and law, presidency, etc—it was all very interesting. I loved the way the author wrote parts himself and inserted already existing, historical texts to add to the believability of the novel.
As for the vampires…I thought the author did a brilliant job of subtly placing them in the plot and in Abe's life. Yes, at times it was comical, but as far as the story goes, it was all very believable. I won't say much because I don't want to spoil it for you if you're planning on reading the book (which I recommend you do), but the motives for Abe becoming president as well as fighting the Civil War were very different than what we've been taught in school.
Pick it up and read it, but don't expect to get through it quickly and without much thought.
Happy Reading, my friends!
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