Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter
Seth Grahame-Smith
Grand Central Publishing
352 pages




I'll be honest...



When I first heard about Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, Seth Grahame-Smith's first novel, I snorted loudly, boastfully claiming that it will be a dud, ridiculed endlessly until it slowly vanishes into the doldrums of other has-beens. When I then heard of his next book, Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter, my snort was so audible that I was kindly asked to leave the bookstore that I was inhabiting at the time. I then checked the sales figures for Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and found, to my astonishment, that not only did it sell well but that it also garnered positive reviews. And here he had a new book! Well, not to be so easily put in my place I confidently strutted into the library the next day, grabbed Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter (P&P&Z was checked out), and began my journey on how I was going to prove the world once again that my opinion is indeed fact.

Or so I thought.

I'll be honest with you, kids (for after all, that is the title of this blog). Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter is a fantastic, entertaining read. Seth Grahame-Smith puts himself in the story as the narrator. After being handed Abraham Lincoln's secret diaries and reading them in a frenzied dash, he writes his own story about the untold true history of one of our greatest Presidents.

After a tragedy during his youth, Abraham Lincoln vows to rid the country of the greatest blight that it has ever seen...vampires. He trains physically and mentally to make himself into the ultimate human being. Think Batman in the 1800s. Upon the way he meets certain individuals, some friends and some villains, and others even famous (hint: quoth the raven, 'Nevermore'). The story follows the trail of Abraham Lincoln's life, and how he had to sacrifice much of his personal needs, friends, and families in order to achieve his ultimate goal. It also "educates" the reader that he did not initially want to be President, but was coaxed into the role as a part of the much larger chess game that was the Vampire War.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. While the story is obviously inventive and imaginative, it is also arguably its weakest point. The author is more or less chained to the actual historical journey of Abraham Lincoln, so he must adhere to specific plot points. This is not a big issue, and when I say it's the weakest point please don't interpret that as saying that the story is bad. It's not.

The writing style of Seth Grahame-Smith is very, very good. He is able to have his own voice, but also captures Abraham Lincoln's voice in the journal entries so well. You can tell that he must have researched extensively for the book, and I imagine that he analyzed many correspondences and speeches by Lincoln. He also manages to keep the gruesome factor low for the most part, so those of you that do not enjoy all of that gore that usually is associated with this genre can still enjoy this book.

So to be honest, I thought that this was a great book and very entertaining. I can not wait to get my hands on Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, and I can't wait to see what other situations he will meld together (Robots and the suffrage movement? Gordon Gekko as a kindergarten teacher??). So yes, I was wrong and the world was right. Again. Please take my word for it, if you want a good book to read that happens to involve vampires, read Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter. And if you want a bad one, read the Twilight series.