'Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter' by Seth Grahame-Smith

From the New York Times bestselling author of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies..."smile." I’m sorry. I don’t know if I can do this review justice without giving a good chuckle at that sentence. But that’s where the laughing ends. No doubt, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter will become a bestseller in its own right. It does not contain the whimsy and wink that Zombies did. However, overall, Vampire Hunter is actually "better written." The question is if you can handle the life of one of America’s most respected presidents being turned into a Gothic nightmare.

Were you intrigued or did you bypass Pride and Prejudice and Zombies because it was nearly sacrilegious? Those feelings should only grow with Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. If anything, Seth Grahame-Smith sure knows how to stir up interest for the regular bookstore wanderer. I’m sure many will pick this book up, snarl or smile at the cover, flip a few pages, and decide to read it. If you do decide to read it, here’s your warning:

This book is vicious and viciously well written in its descriptions. As much as many people are right that Grahame-Smith "copies" a style to write his books, he does it well. With this one, I’m assuming he had to be more creative in his own right in composing the sentences. And he does Lincoln justice in the gravity of how seriously he reflects on Lincoln’s trials as well as some of the true history in the United States he helped shape.

But that’s what can make the book all the more revolting. With Zombies, Smith smeared respected literature with a new skew by teasing Pride and Prejudice worshippers with zombie entrails. I could laugh at that. But this is an actual man’s life, one whose nobility and service are deserving of honor. In reading Vampire Hunter, and how Smith twists the tales of Lincoln’s mother's and first love's deaths, as well as how he describes vampires torturing and feeding on slaves, I was left with a rotten feeling in my gut which made me only ponder the undead and their bloody disease all the more. But it did also make me consider how much Lincoln really did suffer and survive, so I’m left at a crossroads.

There were moments when I was fascinated. There were others that nearly made me puke. Seth Grahame-Smith has crafted a unique novel in Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. It is well written and has a few fictional surprises along the way. The great thing about it is it also provides some great historical surprises as well. But is it worth it if you have to visualize the rest? You decide fair bookstore wanderer.