Vampire Hunter

 

Title: Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter.

Author: Seth Grahame-Smith, 2010.

Genre: Fantasy/ Horror.

Rate: 4.5 / 5

By Cesar Aurelio Morales Perez, October 28^th 2013.

The boundaries which divide Life from Death are at best shadowy and vague. Who shall say the one ends, and the other begins? -Edgar Allan Poe.

Synopsis

After graduating, Seth Graham-Smith has a debt to Jan and Al, the owners of a five-and-dime store located in the town of Rhinebeck, New york. They  have supported Seth with money since he was 15 years old, and now for paying of he decided to stay working at the store during some time, which simultaneously he will use for working on his masterpieces as a writer. After that he plans to go out the town and become famous, but… “Life is what happens  while you're busy making other plans…” the  years had passed and  he  founds himself stuck in the routine of a daily life. The promise of become a famous artist of the pen has been frustrated, until a strange gives him the opportunity to fulfill it; the task is very simple: unveil the untold American history of the 19^th century.

This is the Journal of Abraham Lincoln

Throughout the pages of this book we find the life of the 16th United States president. Born in 1809, Abe (Abraham Lincoln) was raised in a family whose members are contrasting: a tender  loving mother , and a father who only makes the necessary for them not to starve.

 At the age of nine our young character knows a truth about the world, there are two races “that have existed side by side since Adam and Eve were expelled from paradise, one gifted with superior ability and length of life; the other more fragile and fleeting, but gifted with superior number (Vampires and humans); this fact,  and the confession about the responsible of his grandparent murder, and later the perpetrator of his mothers death, makes him swear that every vampire in America will perish in his arms. From this moment, Abraham starts his quest to exorcise America’s devils, only with his axe in hand  his and physical capabilities.

Later, he will meet Henry, an ally and master who will guide him through the shadowy pathways where the non-living dwell.

As the quest continues and Abe travels along the Mississippi river seeking for revenge, he will find  moral support in his friend Edgar Allan Poe, and fond companion on Jack Amstrong and Joshua Speed, two humans who learned about vampire hunting and devoted to the true cause of war, America’s freedom.

Abe’s life as a politician will raise, his life and their relatives one will be in danger, every decision will have consequences, but the spirit of a man will burn from ashes and a liberty pathway will be forged.

Discussion

I have chosen this book because I really like the horror genre and also motivated by the fact that I couldn’t watch the movie based on this story last year, and for me it represented an opportunity to approach the original work in the original language.

In spite of the fact that the title might evoke a strange association between a myth of the pop culture such as  vampires, and a notable of the American history, on the end is  a delicious mixture for those who love fiction. This combination is delivered in the form of a crossover between reality and fantasy. Well documented on Abraham Lincoln’s life, this alternative story  suited to the 19^th century make the reader to think on it as something feasible.

The character depicted her, carry throughout the pages his essence. Vampires, entities blessed with eternal life but condemned to suffering are similar to the ones shown through Ann Rice`s literature, while humans  are just a reflections of the virtues and defects, product of a society in which they are immerse; the love, happiness, grieve, pain, excitement, will and fear are depicted so close to reality

Also a book full of action,  bloody battles bringing men to excel himself or to be subdued in the struggle for freedom,  for life, for survive.

On turning the last page, a patriotic feeling will be beating inside the reader’s chest.

Finally, the idea vampires and presidents altogether will be formerly senseless, for now the only  logic lacking thought would be to go outside unarmed in the middle of the night, considering the fact that the nonliving  had been vanished from America to creep in the shadows of virtually any country, and probably they would have been thriving in force and numbers.

Grab your axe and join Seth Gaham-Smith as the untold history is brought to the spotlight, or wait until the sharp fangs of the worst human enemies feast upon your neck.