Okay...don't judge a book by it's cover (or title). I just finished reading Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, by Seth Grahame-Smith. I know from it's title you are probably thinking, "this book...read by her"? I had heard many, many good things about it, so I bought it and dove in. Let me tell you...I really enjoyed it.
The book opens on a modern day gentleman who runs a store in a small town. There is an eccentric neighbor who comes in and lends him 10 old notebooks and a pile of old letters. We find out that the man is supposed to read the notebooks and letters and write a narrative of what happened during that time. He opens the first notebook and quickly learns that these were written by none other than the 16th U.S. President - Abraham Lincoln. We then go back into a recounting of Mr. Lincoln's life.
Abe's family is met with many hardships as he is growing up. When he is 9 years old, he stumbles out to the outhouse one night and accidentally hears his dad discussing some debts with a strange man. Shortly after this incident, Abe's mother passes away from a strange fever. Eventually, Abe learns that his mother was killed by a vampire loan "shark" because his father could not pay his debts. Abe decides that his life from that moment forward would be devoted to avenging the death of his mother by killing all the vampires in America.
Abe goes through life and is at times consumed and daunted with his vengeance and at other times depressed and doing all he can to NOT think about vampires. He finds some strange allies in a group of vampires known as the Union. The Union vampires only feed on the blood of the extremely old or sick. The vampires that they oppose, who mainly exist and feed in the South, take no heed in who they use as food. This is, of course, tied into slavery as the slaves are purchased either by the vampires themselves or by their mortal allies for their feasting. They do not care if the person is young, fit, old, sick, healthy, etc. They only want their fest. The Union works behind the scenes to help Abe become president and declare war on the South and on slavery and thus, rid America of the vampires forever.
At some point about halfway through the book I started thinking, "does this author think this is real? There is no way right....but it is SO believable." To set the record straight - no I do not think there are vampires and I do not think that Abraham Lincoln was a vampire hunter. But if you are looking for a fun read this mixes (pretty accurate) history with some supernatural elements, then Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter is for you.
