Description: 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 thetrue 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.
Taken from Amazon
Rating: *****
Review: I would give Seth Grahame-Smith’s Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter 5 stars just for freshness alone. I mean, Abe Lincoln killing vampires? Yeah, that could have gotten real corny, real quick. It didn’t.
There has always been something creepy about Abe Lincoln. His life was marred by tragedy, his wife was obsessed with the occult, and he was freakishly tall and gangly. This book centers his creepiness in a way that any history buff can appreciate; Grahame-Smith “vamps” up the real life events of Lincoln’s life in a big way. Not only does he “revamp” Lincoln’s personal history, he rethinks America’s! After reading this, you’ll forever perceive slavery in a different light. A darker light.
In some places, this book is scarily convincing. Seriously, that gut feeling that Honest Abe was up to no good in his downtime will only intensify once you finish reading. It may not have been vampires, but *something* just might have been going down in the White House. Seth Grahame-Smith just gives your suspicions a visual.
Final word: Google our 16th president and then read the book. The history refresher will make the story even better.
Thoughts on the movie: By all means, this was a “good” movie. BUT – and this is a HUGE but – it is completely different from the book. There are a ton of new characters, a lot of the backstory is missing, and the ending is the exact opposite of what it was in the book (I hated the book’s ending though, so I was fine with this last point!). You’ll be shocked by the changes. I certainly was!
Is that the same person who wrote the Queen Victoria Demon Hunter book because I Read that…. Well, I started reading that…. Trash. In a word.
Nope, that was a different author. Thanks for saving me from a “bad book.”
I’ve been curious about this book and will probably read it this summer some time. The movie? I hate the way Hollywood changes books, so I rarely see a movie if I’ve already read the book.
If you find Lincoln “creepy” you are really missing a lot. I believe that your time would be better spent reading about the real man whose life was marred by tragedy and yet exuded compassion and humor. Did you know that he visited the troops on the front lines to help build their morale? That he exposed himself to danger, more concerned about them than himself? Did you know that he inspired great love and that people accomplished great feats of heroism just to please him? Can you begin to imagine why? Did you know that he alone held the vision of keeping America united? That his cabinet was unanimously supportive of letting the South secede? That but for him we would have been a nation divided and would never have attained anything? That we might not have been the arsenal of the world against fascism and communism? There is so much to this great man and you find him “creepy?”
You do realize that she’s talking about a FICTION story that uses historical figures and events, right? Maybe the Lincoln in this FICTION book is creepy. Have you read this FICTION book? She’s not talking about a historically accurate account of the man. She can read and review whatever she wants.
I haven’t seen the movie but I’d like to give the book a try.
I tried reading Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, but couldn’t make it past the first few chapters (and I hardly ever quit a book), so I’m hesitant to give this one a try. I’ll probably see the move though!
I saw the movie this weekend and enjoyed it, though I had a few complaints. I’m eager to read the book, even more now that you mentioned it has a lot more to it than the movie.
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I am not a history buff, so when I saw three glaring mistakes in this book, I was shocked. The first 2 didn’t bother me much – but writing that Lee surrenderd to Grant is intorerable. Lee surrendered to Sherman. I think Seth Graham-Smith needs to do one of three things, go back to school, do more research, or get a proof reader.
Other than that I injoyed the book.
I read the book and loved it. That being said, I had low expectations for the movie. Even with the novel’s author writing the screenplay, I wasn’t expecting more than a quick cash grab. While the film definitely leaves out a lot of the story from the book in favor of flashy action sequences, I feel it upheld the spirit of the story. Great book, fun movie.