Review: Abraham Lincoln : Vampire Hunter

Title: Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter
Author: Seth Grahame-Smith
Genre: Fantasy/Horror/Historical Fiction



Abraham Lincoln was just a boy when he learned that his mother's untimely death was actually the work of a vampire. From then on, he vowed to devote his intelligence, strength--and skill with an ax--to the elimination of the soulless creatures. It was a path of vengeance that would lead him all the way to the White House.

No one ever knew about Lincoln's valiant struggle against the undead... until author Seth Grahame-Smith laid eyes on Abe's secret journal--the first living person to do so in over 140 years. Putting a supernatural spin on revisionist history, Seth has reconstructed Lincoln's true life story--while revealing the role vampires played in the birth, growth and near-death of our nation. --Goodreads




Abe Lincoln was one tough guy.

Often times, while I was reading this, I had to stop and remind myself that I was reading fiction. The style that the novel was written in just felt so incredibly realistic and historical, it was honestly creepy in some ways. This, of course, is a great compliment to any writer.

My first adventure into reading Seth Grahame-Smith, like many others, had been Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. Admittedly, I didn't like it much. It could have been because I was never initially a fan of the original Pride and Prejudice much. Yeah, you read that right. While I love many classics, that's one I just could never quite get into. Even if another author later threw in some zombies.

So, when I saw Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter sitting on a bookshelf in a store sometime later, I hesitated. It took me some time before I decided to buy it. The cover just kept grabbing me, though. I'd pass it, and just stand there and stare at it for a long while before I'd finally tell myself "eh, I don't know yet" and move on. But when so many people continued raving about how amazing it was, the curiosity grew. I finally bought it the day it was released on paperback, and it sat on my shelf for another week or so before I warily picked it up and started reading.

I wasn't even through the first fifty pages before I started kicking my own rear for having waited all year to get it. Ha!

I could tell as I read that it seemed like the author put so much more into this work than the previous Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. Here before me was an amazing historical fiction that jumped out of the pages before my eyes in such great detail that I held my breath in places and had to remind myself a few times I was reading fiction, not a Lincoln memoir. It was written elegantly, and I couldn't put it down.

Fantastic read. I would recommend this to history buffs. I would recommend this to people who enjoy vampire tales. And if you love both, then it's definitely the book for you. :)

4.5 stars!