Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter (Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, #1) in The Dusty Bookshelf

Jan 28, 2012 Thalia rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: retellings, historical, i-own, vampires

This is another book I finished about a year and a half ago, so my review will be rather short and to the point (as three-star reviews tend to be anyway).

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter was certainly the odd read, and not at all what I expected. I loved Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, which was also written by Grahame-Smith, but Abraham Lincoln proved to be incredibly different. It still had all the quirky gore and fight scenes, but with the uninspiring narration of a biography.

I am not very g This is another book I finished about a year and a half ago, so my review will be rather short and to the point (as three-star reviews tend to be anyway).

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter was certainly the odd read, and not at all what I expected. I loved Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, which was also written by Grahame-Smith, but Abraham Lincoln proved to be incredibly different. It still had all the quirky gore and fight scenes, but with the uninspiring narration of a biography.

I am not very good at suspending my disbelief when the author doesn’t 100% convince me certain things are possible in the world they have created. Anyone who knows me knows I love fantasy and other unrealistic fiction, but you’ve got to get me to believe in your world before I can let myself enjoy something. Grahame-Smith’s world here is very much our ordinary world, except it includes vampires. This is fine, but I get stuck at the biography-but-still-a-narrative concept presented in this particular book. The book’s synopsis tells us that Grahame-Smith supposedly discovered The Secret Journal of Abraham Lincoln, which explains passages of this book that are directly quoted from Lincoln in that diary. It does not, however, explain any of the perfect dialogue exchanged between characters throughout the book. It would have succeeded much more in its believability had it just been written like a narrative, without pretending to be a biography. The dialogue brings me completely out of the story because I am constantly reminded that there is no way the author of any biography could know exact conversations that happened between people hundreds of years ago.

Aside from this, though, the rest of it does sell you on its genre (biography), and I really would have enjoyed it much more without so much dialogue. I still felt emotionally attached to a lot of the characters, especially Lincoln’s family, and it was cool to see a “secret” side of history. I find conspiracy theories fascinating, and this felt very similar to that. I do generally enjoy Grahame-Smith’s writing (since I loved one of his other books), but this one wasn’t all that memorable for me and I would probably by-pass it when recommending books to someone.

There is only one other thing that made this impossible for me to believe, but since it’s a huge spoiler, it is going under a “read more” tab!

Read the rest of this review on my blog!
http://thaliasbooks.tumblr.com/post/1... ...more

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Apr 24, 2012 Rachel rated it it was ok

Shelves: book-club-reads, books-made-into-movies, vampires

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I have to say I was a little disappointed with the book for the following reasons...
1)I feel like the author got sloppy with the ending, not as creative as the beginning of the book and some stuff didn't make sense...if John W Booth was a vampire it would have taken more than a fall from the balcony to break his leg. Don't vampires always land on their feet? lol

2)I wanted to know why Henry gave Lincoln's journals to this writer...and why now? Is there a reason Henry wants the world to know vamp I have to say I was a little disappointed with the book for the following reasons...
1)I feel like the author got sloppy with the ending, not as creative as the beginning of the book and some stuff didn't make sense...if John W Booth was a vampire it would have taken more than a fall from the balcony to break his leg. Don't vampires always land on their feet? lol

2)I wanted to know why Henry gave Lincoln's journals to this writer...and why now? Is there a reason Henry wants the world to know vampires exist? Is Henry worried another vampire rising is on the horizon and feels that people need to be warned? I feel like the author should have gone a little more in depth about that. Maybe bought the story to full circle ending back with the author?

3)I thought there would be a back story as to why John W Booth hated Lincoln other than Booth was a vampire. Booth's actions didn't match his thoughts. First, Booth didn't seem to like killing people. For example, he cried when he sucked the little girl's blood. Secondly, it didn't seem like he wanted to enslave humans instead he wanted to "Be the greatest actor of his generation...grace the theaters of the world; watch empires crumble to dust; commit every word of Shakespeare to memory." Why did he even care if Lincoln was alive or dead? He could go on acting unless he was worried Lincoln had made a list of known vampires with Henry's help and planned on having them killed or drove out of USA thus threatening to end John's life of being rich and famous. But how would Booth know this since it seemed as though he didn't associate with any other vampires as it says he had "no mentor to explain the thousand whispers that now filled his head...no shopkeeper to suggest the right pair of dark glasses." Again, I feel like the author could have expanded on that.

4. I found the writing annoying at times because it was written with such certainty at parts describing what Booth thought after he became a vampire but preceded with uncertainty in the prior paragraphs..."perhaps he believed her; perhaps he was merely humoring his young lover." All the perhaps this or perhaps that writing got frustrating after a while when other parts the reader knows exactly what the person is thinking. Plus if the author only had Lincoln's journals how would he have known what Booth was thinking?

5. Unanswered questions...what did Lincoln think of Henry turning him into a vampire (I would think he would have been upset with Henry, but the book doesn't discuss this) and how did Lincoln quench his thirst for blood?

What I liked (yes, there were things I liked)...
1) The incorporation of fact and fiction. Not as easy as it would seem. I think it may be harder than writing pure fiction because of the extensive research that would need to go into fitting all the pieces together.

2) Henry's explanations of vampires,

"Vampires and man are merely different animals. Two species that have existed side by side since Adam and Eve were expelled from paradise. One race gifted with superior ability and length of life; the other more fragile and fleeting, but gifted with superior number. The only certainty is that we shall never be certain."

3) The attributes of vampires in this book make them seem more realistic than other books I have read on the subject especially how the sun makes them sick and how their bodies adapt.

4) The background stories that are told. They are my favorite parts of the book such as how Henry became a vampire and about why vampires first came to America. I wish the rest of the book could have been more like these parts or just contained more of these stories.
...more

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May 08, 2011 Tonya rated it really liked it

Very entertaining read. Written like a biography with a little 'vampire fun' mixed in. Highly recommend. ...more

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Apr 03, 2012 Autumn rated it really liked it

Shelves: mystery-suspense-thriller, fantasy, paranormal

I thought the book was well written but a bit slow at times. I liked how he used pictures to solidify his claims. History and fantasy smashed together.

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Oct 25, 2010 Jessica rated it it was amazing

I absolutely loved this book, no doubt about it. I found it to be an interesting blend of fact and fiction... well-researched and gritty. If you're a fan of historical novels and vampires, this is the book for you. I've always liked Honest Abe, but this book takes him to a whole new level of badassery! ...more

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