Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter by Seth Grahame-Smith

Plot

Indiana, 1818. Moonlight falls through the dense woods that surround a one-room cabin, where a nine-year-old Abraham Lincoln kneels at his suffering mother's bedside. She's been stricken with something the old-timers call "Milk Sickness."

"My baby boy..." she whispers before dying.

Only later will the grieving Abe learn that his mother's fatal affliction was actually the work of a vampire.

When the truth becomes known to young Lincoln, he writes in his journal, "henceforth my life shall be one of rigorous study and devotion. I shall become a master of mind and body. And this mastery shall have but one purpose..." Gifted with his legendary height, strength, and skill with an ax, Abe sets out on a path of vengeance that will lead him all the way to the White House.

While Abraham Lincoln is widely lauded for saving a Union and freeing millions of slaves, his valiant fight against the forces of the undead has remained in the shadows for hundreds of years. That is, until Seth Grahame-Smith stumbled upon The Secret Journal of Abraham Lincoln, and became the first living person to lay eyes on it in more than 140 years.

Using the journal as his guide and writing in the grand biographical style of Doris Kearns Goodwin and David McCullough, Seth has reconstructed the true life story of our greatest president for the first time-all while revealing the hidden history behind the Civil War and uncovering the role vampires played in the birth, growth, and near-death of our nation.

---

This was a really good book.  I enjoyed it so much.  I'll admit that I went into it with a completely false idea of what it was going to be like and, while it didn't live up to those expectations, it more than made-up for it in being what it actually was.  I was expecting a comical book.  Abraham Lincoln fighting vampires?  How could it not be funny.  What it actually turned out to be was a "true" re-telling of his life as a vampire hunter.  True, it was humorous in a tongue-in-cheek, deadpan sort of way, but it wasn't laugh-out-loud funny like I was expecting.

In recent years, there has been a sudden surge in the "Found Material" genre of movies, i.e. The Blair Witch Project, Paranormal Activity, etc.  I'm a huge fan of those types of movies and it was very interesting to read a book that falls into the same genre.  The book is presented as both a novel and a work of fiction, in a way.  You're presented with facts about Lincoln's life with fictional accounts of his time hunting vampires woven in.  I loved that.  Having concrete facts (AND PICTURES!!) within this work of fiction almost made me read this as something one might find in the Biography section of any book store.  Amazing.

Another thing I enjoyed about the book was it's tendency to put a vampiric spin on actual facts.  Real moments in history are attributed to the work of vampires and the explanations we've read in our history books are merely cover-ups to protect us from the truth.  Like I previously stated, this style of storytelling made it so I felt as if I was reading an actual biography more than a fantasy story.  I actually learned things, while reading it.  I spent just as much time Googling fact about Lincoln's life as I did actually reading the book.  Incredible.

Favorite part of the book?  Hands down, the final chapter.  I don't want to give anything away, but I absolutely loved it.  Had I not accidentally dropped the book on my way to bed one night and caught a glimpse of the final page, I would have been even more blown away and not had a sense of what was coming, when I began to read the first page of the chapter.  Even then, I was still surprised.  Well played, Mr. Grahame-Smith.

Bottom line, as if you don't see this coming, a definite read.  Saves the Vampire genre from the massacre it's had to endure thanks to Twilight.  I think everyone would enjoy it.  I honestly can't think of a single reason someone would come away with a negative review...unless they're crazy into Lincoln and view it as an affront to his good name.  In that case, do you really care that much about their opinion?  Didn't think so.

~Missy

Living Dead In Dallas by Charlaine Harris

Plot

When a vampire asks cocktail waitress Sookie Stackhouse for a favor, she complies.  And soon she's in Dallas, using her telepathic skills to search for a missing vampire.  She agrees to interview the humans involved as long as the bloodsuckers promise to let them go unharmed.  Easier said than done.  All it takes is one delicious blonde and one small mistake for things to turn deadly.

---

Another great Sookie Stackhouse book.  Another example of why the books and True Blood are separate entities.

I really enjoyed this book, for pretty much the same reasons as Dead Until Dark.  There really isn't much else to add.  I like Charlaine Harris' writing style.  I like her characters.  There's honestly nothing I'd really change.  Like I said last time though, having seen the show and already being familiar with the characters and the story, there is a good deal of bias.  I can't say for certain that my opinion would be the same, had I gone into this series completely unfamiliar, but to the best of my abilities, I tried to find faults and there were none.

I am starting to see why some fans of the book don't like the show too much, though.  For what was changed in Season 1, they really veered off from the book for Season 2.  Like...really veered off.  To the point that I wonder if they could even continue to follow, the books on the show.  But, I'm getting off point.  This is about Living Dead in Dallas...not True Blood.

This is definitely a book to read, assuming you enjoyed Dead Until Dark (which you should have), but do not go into it expecting it to be the book version of True Blood.

~Missy

Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris

Plot

Sookie Stackhouse is just a small-time cocktail waitress in small-town Louisiana--except for her "disability."  She can read minds.  But when Bill Compton walks into her life, she can't hear a word he's thinking--and then then one of her co-workers is killed.


Maybe having a vampire for a boyfriend isn't such a bright idea...

---

Right upfront, let me explain to you that this review will be ever so slightly biased.  For those of you that (somehow) don't know, the Sookie Stackhouse novels are the basis for HBO's show True Blood.  That being said, I started reading this book having already seen the first season of True Blood (which is an adaptation of this book).  Actually I'd seen it twice, so...I pretty much knew the major plot points and twists.

On top of going into this already knowing the end, I also went in having read some of the disapproval Sookie Stackhouse fans had toward the way the first book had been adapted.  That being said, I'll get started on my review.

To begin with, the book's a really good read.  Usually, when I've seen the movie/TV show before reading the book, the book tends to drag for me, because I go in expecting a certain pace.  That was not the case here.  In fact, if it was dragging because of me seeing True Blood, then I can only imagine how much faster I could have read this book.  I flew through this book like it was nothing (my copy clocks in at 312 pages).  It was a phenomenal read.  Better than some other vampire books that I've read recently (*cough*Twilight*cough*).

As for a book/True Blood comparison, I definitely view the book as being a whole other entity.  The show strayed from the book enough that I'm curious to see how things pan out in the books.  A certain character, who shall remain nameless, survives the book.  They do not survive the show.  I'm very curious to see whether or not he/she reappear in subsequent books (don't say anything, for those that have read the books and know which character I'm talking about).

At this point, I would usually start listing off what didn't work for me in the book.  I'm surprised to say that I've got nothing.  I seriously liked everything about this book.  The entire time I was reading, there wasn't a single instance where I wished something had been written differently.  It was perfect.  I loved the writing.  I loved the characters.  I wouldn't change a single thing.  I loved it.

I think you can figure out my botton line, but I'll say it anyway.  I definitely...DEFINITELY...recommend this book.

~Missy