Customer Reviews

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter

5 star:		(165)
4 star:		(88)
3 star:		(47)
2 star:		(17)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

When Pride and Prejudice and Zombies came out I was skeptical, but I read and thoroughly enjoyed the book, I particularly liked the retelling and the concept in general appealed to me. I purchased Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter for my kindle and liked it so much that I also got a hardcover edition. As with other reviewers, I agree that this book is a good read. It is an interesting concept that is flawlessly executed (pun intended).
The author clearly went the distance to create a plausible melding of vampire mayhem and history. It was well researched and the history was on target. I was pleasantly surprised at just how good this book was. In this case the title is accurate, this isn't a textbook account of President Lincoln's life, so take it for what it is: a fun read. As a an avid history and horror reader, I really enjoyed this work and I look forward to see what the next project that Seth Grahame-Smith is going to come up with.

After defiling Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice" with flesh eating zombies, what was Seth Grahame-Smith to do next? Why, of course, he tackles an unexposed and super secret chapter in American history. Yes--"Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter" exposes the little known truth about our sixteenth President. From his humble beginnings through to the bitter end, it seems that Lincoln's clandestine and very personal mission was to preserve the American way from the most unrelenting of enemies--the bloodsucker. Charted from Lincoln's own diaries, "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter" is a surprising and revelatory memoir that just might change how the history books chronicle the Civil War.

All right, none of that is true. Grahame-Smith does tackle the noble Lincoln in this horror mash-up--and while the result is undeniably readable, it lacks the cleverness of his previous hit "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies." Part of "Zombies" allure was the strict adherence to Jane Austen's text in revamping (no pun intended--oh, who am I kidding?) an unlikely classic for horror aficionados. The problem with "Zombies," however, is that many modern horror readers lacked the patience for Austen's prose. What I thought made the novel inspired is the same aspect that alienated much of its intended audience. No such problems with the straightforward text of "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter" which is a fast and engaging read. And bonus points for the photographic evidence that document the inconvenient truth.

But as the conceit is that the story is derived form Lincoln's own journals, the tone may strike as too matter of fact for those looking for a quick thrill. I, personally, enjoyed that this subject matter was presented in a serious manner. It was a tad unexpected given the silliness of the plot--but it was unconventional. Grahame-Smith's greatest achievement is making a surprisingly strong link between vampirism and slavery. I don't know that he wasn't on to something there! Ultimately, though, I question whether "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter" strikes the right balance for its audience. Neither comical nor particularly horrifying, its quiet pleasures may be a bit too subtle to make it a smash hit of "Zombies" stature.

I must hand it to Seth Grahame-Smith. He's not only managed to trick most of the current generation into reading classics by adding the word "zombies" to the title, but he's also managed to illuminate the actual upbringing of our 16th president by simply throwing in a few macroed scenes involving vampires, against a backdrop that actually works startlingly well.

The best part of this novel is the simple fact that it's completely based on fact. His scattershot upbringing, his law practice and political involvement, even the murder of his grandfather by an Indian raid, all flow seamlessly together while being gripping and entertaining. Only certain aspects are even distorted, such as he only disliked his father as opposed to loathed him.

Interspersed with what is for all intents and purposes is a presidential biography is the "true" history of Lincoln's upbringing. That his mother and grandfather were murdered by vampires, and that, after being tutored in the finer points of hunting them by Henry, a vampire and Lincoln's close friend, uses the various events of his life as a cover for trailing and killing monsters, all the while aware of a growing plot to expand slavery to the northern states, pushed by vampires, in order to give them a near limitless, and uncared for, food supply.

Overall, a fantastic story that's also a great read for a very light biography of his life. If only every other president could so easily be novelized, there would be far more presidential historians about.

I read an early ARC of this and was very surprised by how good it is. Even if your eyes roll at the title, give it a shot...it will win you over. It's unexpectedly deep and dark, and never acknoweldges at all that it is a joke. And, I just heard Doris Kearns Goodwin (!) on the radio giving this book her stamp of approval. Very highly recommended!

Seth Grahame-Smith does a fantastic job of combining fact and fiction while telling the "TRUE" story of Abraham Lincoln.

Through Abe's journal entries we are able to follow his life as he discovers and fights vampires and how these events shaped his life and history as we know it. The story begins with Abe's childhood through his assassination at the Ford Theatre. I know readers will be shocked to learn just how much influence vampires had over the development of the United States, and even over Abe himself.

I truly enjoyed how Mr. Grahame-Smith gave us a new version to historical events... making it almost believable that, yes, vampires were somehow behind them. The Civil War, The Union... none of these things will mean the same thing once you are done reading this book.

Although I was a bit speculative about this book at first, I really think it was done very cleverly and in the end I enjoyed it much more than I thought I would. My only complaint would be that the book ended rather abruptly. I'm not sure if maybe there is the hope of a sequel... I can also envision it becoming a movie. Oh yes, I can see it's appeal. Also, I do want to mention that it was gory - blood, guts and decapitations all over the place - but it was expected. This book is certainly NOT for the light of heart or those who become faint at the mention of blood.

This was an audiobook (my first) and I enjoyed it. Considering the nature of the story, I found Scott Holst's voice soothing. I think he also did a great job in changing his voice to emphasize tones and accents in the different characters. They also played this great bluegrass music at the beginning and end of each CD. I'll definitely be checking out more audiobooks in the future.

This audiobook was provided for review by Hachette Book Group.

What used to be considered a monster has become the soulful hero, tortured by his nature. The family tree leads from Anne Rice's bad boy, Lestat, all the way to Edward, the "vegetarian vampire" of the Twilight series. Somewhere along the way the vamps apparently have lost their bite.

So saturated have we become with depictions of vampires (and zombies and werewolves and mummies) that the parodies such as Seth Grahame-Smith's Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter were sure to follow. It seems that literature in 2010 is at the same point where Hollywood was in the '40s when the popularity of the original Universal Studios' monsters was waning. Back then Hollywood tried to inject a little life into the celluloid corpses of Dracula, Frankenstein, the Wolfman and the rest by turning them into sidekicks for Abbott and Costello in a series of comedies.

The same kind of shift seems to be happening now in the literary realm as all sorts of monsters invade Jane Austen books and the biographies of famous folks like Honest Abe and even Queen Victoria.

I have mixed feelings about Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Slayer. I was initially looking forward to reading it, but once I dove into the book I experienced some disappointment. Perhaps I've read too many biographies of Lincoln, but I found myself wishing the author had made different choices about what episodes to include in his parody. For instance, by the time Abe becomes president and presides over the Civil War - arguably the most interesting part of his life - he's all but ceased his vampire hunting. It almost seems as though after a leisurely first two-thirds of the book Grahame-Smith must have realized he had a deadline looming and rushed through the war years with almost a "this happened, then this happened, then Lincoln went to a play and got shot."

Likewise, I felt Grahame-Smith didn't give a lot of thought to the motivations of the Civil War vampires. I was hoping for something more thought out than "once they kill off the slaves they're gonna start keeping white folks in cages." If anything, that would seem to give the slave owners reasons to oppose the vampires instead of going to war for them.

While I did enjoy reading the book, it frustrated me because it didn't seem to live up to its potential. I suspect this was one of those books that sounded like a good idea before it ever got to paper. There's the seed of a good parody here; I just wish it had been given more time to germinate.

Seth Grahame-Smith's second innovative alternative history horror novel is simply going to bowl you over and knock your socks off!! Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter is an adventure into the faux biographical journals of our 16th United States President, Abe Lincoln. Seth's unswaying and unnerving talent to create a totally believable world of blood thirsty vampires in the mid 19th century, will have the reader's head spinning with wonder and fright as Abe swings his axe to slay the devils of the South reaping revenge for the death of his dear mother.

Presented in such an awe inspiring literary land of macabre, in addition to the cool photo edited sepia toned photographs that enhance the story's credibility, this book is a dynamite work of art. Not to be taken seriously in any shape or form other than Seth's talent to capture horror lovers and hold them spellbound from page one to the finish line, Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter is a winner.

Told through Abe's journals that began as a child the night he saw his mother die from the heinous acts of monsters he only dreamed of, he vowed that evening to devote his life to the killing of every vampire on American soil. Becoming a trained and skillful hunter, taught surprisingly from an ancient vampire that becomes Abe's lifelong friend, mentor and champion, Abraham will now rid the United States of vampires who deserve to be put to death for their unnecessary taking of the lives of innocent children. Lincoln becomes obsessed with keeping his chopping axe sharp and spends many years on his own private murderous manhunt.

Cleverly disguised Southern gentlemen in dark glasses and top hats, are harvesting Negro slaves to be corralled and bred for the pure purpose of quenching their thirst. Mentor vampire Henry Sturges, uses Abe's vindictive ambition to inform Abe that it is his job alone to avenge the needless deaths and to do so by fighting the battle against slavery. Thus leaves us readers with a new truth behind Lincoln's crusade of abolition and the falsehoods we were told about the true cause of the Civil War.

This book is told to us in a meticulously detailed biography format that encompasses Abraham Lincoln's tumultuous and melancholy life as he narrates his life story. His notebook writings start as a young boy who lost his mother to monsters, on to his teenage years chopping trees, building cabins, and on to his early career as a lawyer. Together Abe and Seth build Lincoln's story slowly of his advancement in societies inner social circles, leading right up to his brilliant approach to campaigning for state legislator, congress, and presidential candidacy. Detailed scenes on the battlefields of the Civil War with fanged foes and Abe's axe rolling heads, ending with a finale at Ford's Theater, the author recreates this alternative life of our Honest Abe with such amazing attention to detail you will almost find it authentic.

This book is certainly NOT for the light of heart or weak-kneed reader. Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter is horror fiction at it's very best. Gruesome, gory, bloody, and violent. However even with that alert, I will tell you that this novel is also full of wit and will have your lips from time to time turning up in a smile for this is nothing but fun! And the ending..well... I won't tell you for I hate to spoil your pleasure but I just loved how it all turned out. It's only March but I must say I foretell my own future in saying this might just be my favorite book of the year! I can also hope too that someone puts this book into Tim Burton's mailbox. STANDING OVATION FOR SETH GRAHAME-SMITH PLEASE!

I am a fan of the horror genre, and I thought this was a very interesting idea when I first heard of it. I never really connected with this book though; I found the author's style of switching off between the disconnected voice of a biographer to the excerpts from Lincoln's journal very awkward. I was never able to become fully involved in the story. It is almost as if the author is holding the reader at arms length - "don't get too close to this". This book reads like matter of fact reporting, not good fiction. The dispassionate voice reporting the scenes of blood and gore made for some surreal moments that were interesting, but all in all were not enough to carry this book. The author is obviously a fine writer and this might just be a matter of my personal taste, but this did not deliver on what I usually look for in a good work of fiction; prose that flows, characters that engage, and tension that builds to a reasonable (not necessarily happy) ending.

The author's treatment of slavery being a vampire issue and the civil war essentially being a fight between vampires and humans did not sit especially well with me, I could never quite buy into it. By the time I got to the final pages, I was simply glad it was over and didn't really care so much that the ending was too much to accept. A perfect capper on a book that was simply too odd for me.

I used Amazon to flip through the first few pages of the book and decided to buy it. At first the book was compelling and griping but with each turning page the story felt repetitve and boring. I wasn't able to finish the book and put it down about 3/4 of the way through. I understand that some books reach a natural plateau that you have to read through but after three chapters of not being able to pay attention to the page when I was alone in my house with no tv or radio, I knew it was time to put it down. Abe's childhood stories and his rise to power are very interesting and for the first half could not put the book down but by the time he is elected into office I gladly put the book down to vacuum the floors instead. I plan to finish it all the way one day this week and update my review but I doubt even the best ending could save this dud. If you were a fan of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies you will NOT, I repeat NOT like this book. Not enough action. Not enough humor. They are apples and oranges.

from Murphy's Library --[...]

We can't deny Abraham Lincoln's history is thrilling; but, I must say, you haven't know a thing. Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, written by the author of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, is a bunched of historic facts mixed with actual fiction that doesn't let you put it down. It's a first class mashup.

With an ironic humor and a lot of intelligence, Seth Grahame-Smith used all the darkness of hitorical figures, mustered up the political thriller and created a plot extremely well put together. We start it reading about the boy Abraham, or just Abe, and, later, we read about his Vampire Hunter time--and we're talking about vampires, those ruthless blood suckers, not the silly kind from paranormal books released on the past few years--and we finish it when he's the President.

What's the most incredible about this book is the fact that we get to see Abe's improvement, he still has--and we see it through his journal, edited by Seth to become vampirish--all his history with him. The Abe who's President, the one who fought so hard for his country, still has traces of the Vampire Hunter Abe, and they're all still the little boy. It's all consequences.

Usually books that are divided by different times of its characters end up showing different people instead of the same (hi, Zoey). It doesn't happen on this book, we see a pattern, and the pattern is a funny and neurotic Abe. It's a heavy and tough narrative. The descriptions are vivid, especially the death's (and machetes and hunting). But I think it fits all together, I loved it. The hole book fits, from the humor with the vampirish theme, to Abe as the perfect historic character to this story.

It was a fast reading and through the pages there are a lot of pictures--"photos" of the related scenes--that fit well on the narrative. Overwall, it's a book that I recommend. It's good to break the pink vampire "vibe", where they're the good guys, and it relates the theme as we haven't seen before. It's a great book to take a break from whatever you've been reading.