I don’t know what possessed me to read this book.It is true that I am a fan of vampires and other supernatural beings; both from the standpoint of their historical place in mythology and superstition as well as their place in modern fiction and film. It is also true that I am a fan of just about any kind of history, be it documentaries on my favorite nerdy television stations, biographies from the library or historical fiction. Still, I am surprised that I actually paid for and proceeded to read a tome with a title as hokey as: Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter; and by an author of another book with the equally, if not even hokier title of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies!
But I did. I downloaded the kindle edition, and by the end of the first chapter this history-loving fan of mythology and the supernatural was entranced!
The book is skillfully written in the form of a biography, complete with a multitude of first-hand accounts from Lincoln’s personal, albeit fictional, journals; which conveniently happened to fall into the hands of the author. It is never fully explained why the giver of the journals chose the author as the one to receive them, turn them into a biographical account of Lincoln’s life as a vampire hunter and then share the story with the rest of the world. This was the first of a few items of unexplained convenience/coincidence that left me a bit disappointed at the end.
In general I enjoyed this book. The author did a fantastic job of weaving a relatively believable vampire conspiracy into the historical facts of Lincoln’s life story and political career. Yes, I said believable, please allow me to clarify. That would be “believable” in the context of what one might consider to be realistic behavior by an unrealistic being. I do believe that if vampires existed the behaviors they exhibited in this book would most certainly be a viable behavior pattern for them to adopt, or attempt to adopt in order to survive alongside the non-vampire majority.
For those of you less thrilled with the whole vampire genre of fiction and film that has again become so popular in recent times, don’t discount this book because of its hokey title or its vampire content. You will not be bored with drawn out descriptions of vampire attacks, blood sucking vampire lust, or the turning of humans into vampires. In writing this book as a faux-history it is almost as though the author did not want to glorify the vampires or give them any chance at some sort of romantic empathy on the part of the reader. There are an amazingly small number of descriptions of vampires attacking humans and those that did find their way into print are written in a very matter of fact manner as if they were only included in the tale because of their great importance in the life Lincoln.
On the flip side of the story and as an amateur history nut I was quite impressed with the amount of research the author did to ensure that the non-vampire related aspects of the “biography” were accurate and historically founded. There were times when history was bent a bit to allow the vampires to fit a bit better, but overall the history in the story was enticingly accurate.
The writing style made an easy read, the research made it a believable read, and the content made it a fun read. There were however a few ends which I felt were tied up a bit too loosely or too conveniently; and the ending, which I will not reveal here, left me wanting for just a few more details. However, overall I enjoyed the read, and if I can get past the titles, I may even read another book by this author!
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