Review - Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter by Seth Grahame-Smith (4/5 stars)

I have previously read Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Grahame-Smith and enjoyed it.  So when I saw this book released I was interested in reading it.  I listened to this on audio book which I wouldn't recommend.  The narrator and Abraham Lincoln have similar voices so it is hard to tell when they switch, also I didn't get to benefit from any of the pictures that the book has.  Overall it was a well done book, although it was more of a biography than a story.

I am not a huge Abraham Lincoln fan but I have read a couple books about him so I knew some of his background.  Grahame-Smith has done a very good job of adding vampires to Abe Lincoln's story without hugely altering Lincoln's past.  The audio book had a short interview at the end and I agree with what Grahame-Smith said when he mentioned that Abe Lincoln's history hardly needs vampires added to be incredibly interesting.  The book itself switches between a narrator and actual entries from Lincoln's journals.

Saying that vampires came to the USA because of the slave trade is an interesting idea and was a good way to tie in vampirism with slavery.  Grahame-Smith did a good job of making Lincoln's story very personable and he really featured what happened with Lincoln's family more than I had read in previous books.  The inclusion of Lincoln's family made this book much more engaging than it would have been otherwise.

The only thing that bothered me is that I was expected more of a story about Lincoln and vampires and what I got was more of a biography.  At times it got a bit boring, I didn't really want to listen to a biography.  I also thought that the part added on after Lincoln's assassination was odd; but after thinking about it for a while I think it was appropriate to the rest of the story.

Overall this book is well done and interesting.  Not something I would read again, but interesting all the same.  You can really tell Grahame-Smith did his research and he did a good job integrating vampires with Lincoln's life story.  Just be warned that this is a biography and reads more like that than a fiction novel.

This book goes towards the following reading challenges:
- The 100+ Book Reading Challenge