Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter

By: Seth Grahame-Smith

Narrated by: Scott Holst

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.

©2010 Seth Grahame-Smith (P)2010 Hachette Audio

Dry but great story

If you are a history buff like me, this is the book for you. It is very historically acurate with a super interesting story intertwined. It is very dry in the telling because it written as if from a journal. Fun perspective on a historical figure.

Vampires Don't Scare Me

“On March 4th, 1861, Abraham Lincoln- exceptional boy of Sinking Springs Farm, apple of his departed mother’s eye, survivor of the trials of Job and one of the nation’s most accomplished vampire hunters- was sworn in as the 16th President of the United States.”

It does not matter that the life of Abraham Lincoln, the horrors of slavery and the brutality of the Civil War offer more drama than any book could ever need, adding vampires always makes things that much more interesting. History lovers who have may have avoided the vampire craze up until now will find this to be an entertaining introduction to the genre. An added benefit of this not so slight modification of history is that it just may get vampire fans to learn some history.

I love how real events are brought to life right along with the tales of vampire slayings. I found myself doing some fact checking, and most of the footnotes referenced throughout the story prove to be accurate. I do not believe in vampires. I only wish that the real atrocities- the personal losses suffered by Lincoln, the bloody Civil War and the very existence of slavery- were the parts that were made up.

Wonderful!

Really enjoyed this book. The narrator is wonderful. Well constructed story. Nicely melds fact & fiction.

Freaking Awesome

Prove to me this is fiction and not a biography. Prove it!

Great narration, great storyline.

Just suspend your disbelief and enjoy the fun ride

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes. It is a very fun and imaginative book. FOr those people who continue to gripe about historical accuracy, etc., get a grip. It's a fun reimagining that is engrossing, fast-paced and adds to the LIncoln aesthetic. It's not high literature, but it is very fun.

Who was the most memorable character of Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter and why?

Abraham Lincoln.

It Could Happen...

I was very surprised to have enjoyed this book as much as I did. Very entertaining. The writer has a definite style which is engaging. The few days I was listening to this I went around asking others if they believed in vamps (half jokingly). Parts of this novel were VERY real. He got his facts correct and melded them well with the vampire world. The only reservation I had was half way through the book tended to drag with not enough action. S. G-S's Pride and...Zombies had MUCH more action. Reader, very good.

A fantastic mixture of history and fiction

What did you love best about Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter?

The well thought through mixture of real facts and fantasy

Have you listened to any of Scott Holst’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Haven't listened to any of his previous performances, but i liked this one a lot, really brought the story to life.

Who was the most memorable character of Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter and why?

Henry Sturges, the vampire, a dark character, but yet many times showing interesting views on life and world around.

Any additional comments?

To start with, i really liked the premise of a vampire story based around an actual historic person. The story didn't fail to entertain throughout, in many ways far super-seeding the expectations.
Ans the performance of narrator just helped further to suck you in this story and never wanting to stop listening.

On the edge of my seat!

Any additional comments?

No matter how far fetched the story line the book is chock full of historical accuracy mixed with wonderful fantasy. You want so much to believe that Lincoln was this much of a bad @ss.

For those how hated the movie, fear not!

So up front I bought this book before seeing the movie version so I could watch first then have a visual image of all the characters in the book as it progressed (I mean I could picture most people but definitely needed some help imaging the titular character). Sadly, I hated the movie; not so much that the movie was bad but that I would describe the movie as "A guy named Lincoln who is also a vampire hunter" but I decided that the book had to at least have some historical intertwined into the narrative so I still gave it a shot and glad I did because the book is clearly "A vampire hunter who happens to be President Lincoln". (if you don't get my two title analogies, read/watch them with the title in mind and it'll make sense).

Some reviews say that the themes of the slavery and vampirism intertwined is a bit overdone and stretched out but I find that even more enjoyable. It's easy to connect two points and show some sort of straw man argument but the more points you can connect, the more dynamic and easy to visualize picture can be created.

A few flaws do tend to appear within the audio recording and the more irritating of which is the randomness of numbers just being spilled out. If they're different chapters, why is it not broken up as such instead of weird orchestral transitions between the chapters? Another, the guy you meet at the beginning of the book who you spend the first hour or so getting to know? Waste of time, I thought maybe they'd come back to him later in the story - alas, no. As soon as you start into the Lincoln plot line, forget the beginning part. Lastly, without spoilers, I find the "epilogue" portion to be a bit contrived and honestly would have been better spent staying historically accurate.

Very good

Didnt think I would like it but I did! Can't wait to read 2nd book