Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter by Seth Grahame-Smith

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter

by Seth Grahame-Smith

Indiana. 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 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.

Reviewed by wcs53 on

5 of 5 stars

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This book was all I thought it would be - and more! It is well-written, funny at times, quite scary and graphic at others, but well worth the read.

The book simply works its way through the life of Abraham Lincoln, from the humble beginnings of his birth, through his political rise to fame to his assassination, and beyond. It differs from any other book about Abe in that it also reveals his life as an accomplished vampire hunter.

I have to admit that, not being American, there is much about Abraham Lincoln's life that I am ignorant on, but it seems that many of the events in this book were real events from his life, some, of course, altered to include the odd vampire killing. If nothing else, the book has inspired me to seek out a biography or two of his life.

I really enjoyed this book and if you enjoy something different with a little twist in historical plot then this is for you. I didn't see the ending coming and it wasn't what I expected. I'm not going to give anything away, so if you want to know how it ended then you'll have to read it for yourself.

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  • Started reading
  • 19 May, 2012: Finished reading
  • 19 May, 2012: Reviewed