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Summary
Summary
Indiana. 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 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.
Reviews (4)
Publisher's Weekly Review
Given the zany conceit of Grahame-Smith's latest novel-that a young Abraham Lincoln vowed to become a vampire slayer upon learning that his mother died after being tainted with vampire blood, and then made good on that promise-performing the story as if it were completely unremarkable is essential to the listener's suspension of disbelief. And in this audio edition, narrator Scott Holst does just that, reading with measured delivery and a calm demeanor. This decision-and his fine performance-accomplishes more than over-the-top histrionics would in delving the listener into this remarkable alternate history, in which the blood-sucking undead play a part in the Civil War (on the side of the South, supernaturally) and the fatal events in Ford's Theater. Holst aligns his pace with the mood of the text, slowing down at vital moments, e.g., when good vampire Henry Sturges informs a young Lincoln that he was born to "free men from the tyranny of vampires." This audiobook will serve as a nice contrast to the big-screen adaptation of the book, which, inevitably, substitutes explicit gore for the listener's imagination. A Grand Central paperback. (Apr.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Kirkus Review
The latest literary experiment from the author of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (2009). After striking gold with his gimmicky mash-up between Jane Austen and grindhouse horror, Grahame-Smith takes a stab at creating an original plot with this new historical aberration. The author picks a larger-than-life hero: the legendary 16th President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln. In his fictional introduction, the author claims to have received a visit from "Henry," a creepy young roustabout whose curiosity leads him to deliver to the writer Lincoln's lost diaries, detailing his life as a gifted vampire hunter. The fictional Grahame-Smith is instructed to compose a historical biography, resulting in a mimicked, formal study of the late president in the vein of Doris Kearns-Goodwin, infused with a macabre dose of gore. According to the book, when he's only nine, Lincoln's mother dies from a supernatural assault, passed off as milk sickness. From that moment, the future president vows: "I hereby resolve to kill every vampire in America." Subsequently we find him earnestly decapitating America's vampires with his trusty ax. Not to be missed are Lincoln's trusty companions in his crusade against the undead, among them the president's real-life wrestling pal Jack Armstrong, and a New Orleans encounter with a gloomy, little-known writer, Edgar Poe, newly fascinated with stories of the undead. The book's grotesque joviality should be fun for those looking for it. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
Capitalizing on the runaway success of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (2009), Grahame-Smith introduces an irreverent biography of Abraham Lincoln chock-full of that other horror-genre staple: vampires. Everyone knows that Abraham Lincoln freed the slaves and saved the country from disunion, but very few were privy to the fact that Honest Abe was an honest-to-goodness vampire hunter; that is, until Grahame-Smith unearthed Lincoln's secret journal, an intimate document detailing the lifelong battle he waged against the undead. Motivated by the vampire-initiated death of his mother, 11-year-old Abe vowed to kill every vampire in America. True to his pledge, he spent the next 50 years honing his skills and stalking his prey. Recognizing an inextricable link between slavery and vampires, he expanded his mission to include destroying the peculiar institution. And the rest, as they say, is history. Grahame-Smith's breezy narrative style makes this a quick and easy read guaranteed to tickle the funny bone. Vampires are hot, so expect high demand (except from, probably, die-hard history buffs, who may not be amused).--Flanagan, Margaret Copyright 2010 Booklist
Library Journal Review
Two 19th-century world leaders, Abraham Lincoln and Queen Victoria, join the fight against the evil undead. The author of the best-selling literary mashup Pride and Prejudice and Zombies tackles a fantasy biography of Abraham Lincoln as a vampire hunter. Although the title might signify humor, there is none-at least intentional. Seth, a would-be writer, obtains the secret journals of Lincoln's encounters with vampires and turns them into a biography. The story begins promisingly, but as interactions with the undead pile up, the plot becomes less and less believable. Verdict Purchase only where requested. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 12/09.] In the pseudonymous Moorat's fantasy, June 19, 1837, heralds an auspicious night. The young Princess Victoria, only 18, becomes England's new monarch. Demon forces hatch a plan to take down the queen and usurp her empire. The story, told with delightful, understated British humor, is not for the squeamish. The zombie scenes are especially disgusting, as zombies have appalling table manners. Yet within this gory tale lurks a beautiful romance between Victoria and Albert proving that love can conquer all. Verdict Recommended for historical urban fantasy and paranormal romance fans.-Patricia Altner, Biblioinfo.com, Columbia, MD (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
