My Review
Story: Ok. The story was fun. I’ll give it that. The beginning of the book was even pretty intense when the author is convinced that the journal chronicling Lincoln’s exploits as a Vampire Hunter are legit. After that point I was a little let down. The entire concept just lost it’s novelty for me.
I think that I was expecting more of a tongue in cheek approach to the topic instead of the hardcore realistic alternate history that Grahame-Smith worked so hard to fabricate. Most of the novel was spent trying to convince the reader that this secret life of Abraham Lincoln might have been possible. Of course, the entire premise is a bit ridiculous. You could probably write just as convincing a novel titled “Abraham Lincoln – Gunslinging Astrophysicist” but what is the point?
Personally I think this would have been a better book if it didn’t have to revolve around Lincoln’s life. This could have been a pretty respectable civil war era vampire novel if more time was spent developing the vampire characters. Possibly creating a few central vampires that plague Lincoln his entire life and maybe create a new character to portray the actual vampire hunter. Of course this approach might have been a little harder to market.
My biggest complaint about the book is that we never return to the present to find out what happens to the author. Was the vampire trying to recruit the author to become a vampire hunter or was he simply commissioning him to compile Lincoln’s biography? Why give the author the journal now? The expectation of receiving answers to these questions is what carried me through the last third of the book.
Audio Production: Occasionally I run across an audiobook that I realize I never would have been able to finish if it was a hard copy. In those cases it is usually only the performance of the narrator that keeps me hanging in there until the end. This is one of those books. I would gladly listen to another book narrated by Scott Holst.
Overall: I wasn’t impressed but I can understand why some people might enjoy this type of book. At times it can be fun and believe it or not you might actually learn something while reading this book. If you are a big fan of Abraham Lincoln you will probably be upset with the way vampires are portrayed as the main motivating factor for basically everything Lincoln did to end slavery. It’s campy and cheesy.. but if that’s your thing then go for it.
Extra Cheesy trailer for Abraham Lincoln – Vampire Hunter
It’s posts like this that keep me coming back and checking this site regularly, thanks for the info!
Good review except for one thing. I really disliked the reader. There are times that a bad book can be made tolerable by a great reader, but for this one I thought he was so monotone throughout. Even when speaking in his “Lincoln” voice it all seemed the same to me. Great book but I was really let down by Mr. Holst on this one.