Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter by Seth Grahame-Smith

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.

Originally posted on www.CreativeMadnessMama.com

Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter by Seth Grahame-Smith
Genre: Historical Fantasy
Pages: 448 Mass Market, Trade Paperback, Hardcover and eBook & FILM!
Date Published: June 26th, 2012 (orig. 2010)
Publishers: Grand Central Publishing

While reading this book, it felt historically accurate but was by no means a history book. Of course Lincoln didn't carry an arsenal to his speeches and slip out of his room late at night to chase down vampires. At least as far as we know anyway. I never bothered to look into the historical accuracy of the non-vampire points. Oddly though, even the vampire parts of the book were told in a way that made sense if we suppose for a minute that vampires really existed in the mid-late 1800s. The story flowed so well that I even enjoyed the political parts of it. The parts with axes splitting skulls were good too though. I thought this was an awesome idea for a book. It was mostly written as if it was Lincoln's own words coming straight from his diary. A diary presented by some mysterious figure. After reading the book, you might know who.

The version read was the Hardcovers 2010, thanks to Hatchette Book Group.

Seth Grahame-Smith is the New York Times bestselling author of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. In addition to adapting the screenplay for Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, Seth also wrote Tim Burton's latest film, Dark Shadows. He lives in Los Angeles.

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And now... the MOVIE based on the BOOK in theaters June 22, 2012!

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter explores the secret life of our greatest president, and the untold story that shaped our nation. Visionary filmmakers Tim Burton and Timur Bekmambetov (director of Wanted) bring a fresh and visceral voice to the bloodthirsty lore of the vampire, imagining Lincoln as history's greatest hunter of the undead.

Coming from a historians perspective, this was a very interesting book. Grahame-Smith takes Abraham Lincoln on a very different journey from the one we read about in history books, and puts a different perspective on his life, one that was not of his own making. He twists the fabrics of history to paint a different story and add a element that makes history more interesting to those that do not normally enjoy it.

While I enjoyed parts of the book, there were a few things that I found quite dark, as some of the descriptions were rather vivid, and not something that is easily erased from memory, but Grahame-Smith did his homework well, and was able to correctly weave the parts of Lincolns life that were true in with the fiction that he wove around it.

I would recommend this book to higher ages, as some of those that are younger might have a more difficult time with some of the scenarios painted throughout but an interesting read none the less.