Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter by Seth Grahame-Smith

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter
Author: Seth Grahame-Smith

Hardcover 336 pages


Publisher: Grand Central Publishing; 1st edition (March 2, 2010)

Book Summary: Stumbling across the secret journals of Abraham Lincoln, Seth Grahame-Smith begins to piece together an account of the life and times of Mr. Lincoln. But unbeknownst to him, it is one that is far greater and more dangerous that Grahame-Smith could ever have imagined. It is world... with vampires. 

My Review: Unfortunately, I let this book sit far too long on my shelf. The thought of reading a dry, boring account laced with inserts of implausible supernatural misfortune seemed... Not fun! 

But then the trailer for the movie adaptation came out and I found myself intrigued by Tim Burton's interpretaton. Though the film has not come out -- I must admit I really, really, really want to see the film. And this is why I went back to my shelf and pulled the book with the quite obvious cover. Yes, it is about Abraham Licoln and... Vampires!

But, something changed within me. The minute I picked up the book, I found myself smiling. What a clever, clever way to create a fantasy world, embedded in our rich history. Think Forest Gump. 

From the beginning to the end, I enjoyed this book immensely. It is very well written, and so much so, that I wondered if I was reading any literature that was truly historic in nature minus the creatures. And also wittily placed, are photos of the vamps themselves, that hilariously look authentic. 

In summary, the story is set up in modern time with a small town writer given a stack of journals to sort through for his own research and interpretation. But as the writer begins to delve deep into the journals, he becomes astonished at the fact that the journals belong to none other than Abraham Lincoln. From there the story is through his point of view with excerpts of Lincoln's writing; accounts that date back from his early childhood, through the Civil War and up to his impeding death. Grahame-Smith does an amazing job of keeping you entertained by giving you his misadventures in pieces, with the writer explaining his story in the background. I found the entire book sort of mesmerizing! 

I think the most amazing thing about this whole story though is that I actually believed it. I found myself really picturing Abraham Lincoln as this kick ass warrior that had made a personal vendetta to kill all vampires because of his mother's death. And I appreciated the little twist in the end. So without further adieu... You know the man... But do you really? Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter was awesome! LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this book.