I love history,I love the Civil War ( get to know me fact #1-I have been to all the major Civil War battlefields in the US) I love vampires, so I felt this book was going to be perfect for me, and for the most part it was. After reading Seth Grahame-Smith's book I could almost believe that Abe Lincoln was a vampire hunter. He brilliantly combines fiction and fact together blurring the edges where it was at times hard to know where one ended and the other began.
Maybe it was Abe himself, that kept this from being "the book" for me. I have never given the man much thought (My family is from the South ya'll). The start was very slow fro me, I held little interest in his childhood, but it had to be written to understand his passionate hate for vampires. The third part of the book, did however keep me reading. Mr Grahame-Smith's idea of vampires and slavery was very believable and, once again brilliant.
As for the ending, it has a twist, which I will leave for the reader to discover. I however, felt I should have seen it coming, as Henry left clues throughout the book. I being a music lover, instantly thought of the old Dion song, Abraham Martin and John, I'd like to think that Mr Grahame-Smith was listening to it also as he wrote the final chapter.
MARY'S REVIEWS
It is true that I am a big history buff and of course have a thing for vampires. So when I heard this book was being made into a movie my thought was "Cool idea!". Now for the book itself, upon finishing it, I thought it was ok, but I do think that it will make a good movie.
I will give Grahame-Smith one thing, he did keep the historic part of the book correct.
The things I did like was Edgar Allen Pow being in the book (I LOVE HIM) and the twist at the end. Like Teri, I will not tell you it. I do like the way Grahame-Smith is very descriptive in the book.
I did not like the way it seemed rushed during the Presidential years. I felt like he just wanted to finish the book. Plus, there were times in the beginning where I felt it lagged a little bit.
I will see the movie though!
Jacque's Review:
Like Teri, I have visited the vast majority of Civil War battle fields and monuments. I have enjoyed watching reenactments and discovering our history first hand. I was hoping this book would provide a humorous twist to a dark time in American history, however, it was nothing more than a warped presentation of facts.
The beginning of the book actually caught my attention. Within the first fifteen pages we meet a young writer commissioned to write a book based upon the information contained in ten journals. The journals were presented to him by a mysterious patron of his store. He quickly learns that the journals were written by Abraham Lincoln and we later can presume that the "man" that gave them to him was a friend of Lincoln's.
The book then relates events from Lincoln's childhood through the time of his death with the existence of vampires. It was presented in a very dry, matter of fact manor that lacked any excitement. I honestly felt like I was reading an elementary school history book. There was nothing that held my attention and enticed me to continue. If it weren't for the fact that I needed to write this review, I probably wouldn't have finished the book.
The connections that Mr. Grahame-Smith made between the events in Lincoln's life and vampires were very imaginative and made sense in a fictional world in which vampires truly exist. I just wish he would have presented them in a way that was more enjoyable to read.
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