{read: vampires and history} Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter by Seth Grahame-Smith

Although I'd heard many good things about Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, it bogged down in the middle for me and only the promise of a great ending kept me reading. For me, the most interesting part was the introduction. A failed novelist (author Seth himself) is the proprietor of a small town general variety store, and he's put his dreams of writing a novel aside for dreams of family and running the store. In short, life has gotten in the way of who he wanted to be when he graduated from college. Then one of his regular customers, Henry, leaves him with several very old books, which turn out to be Abraham Lincoln's secret diaries. Henry takes Seth on a tour to convince him that vampires are indeed real and leaves him to write about Abraham and his secret life as a vampire hunter. This intro hooked me and pulled me into the book, and I found the beginning part of Abraham's life interesting, although the plot soon became predictable. The insertion of vampires into history and the recasting of Abraham Lincoln as a vampire hunter was clever and done well, the plot bogged down in the second section of the book for me and I lost interest. I kept reading to see what twist the ending might have, although I could anticipate it as it got closer. I did like the final chapter and thought the ending was quiet but well done. 

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter by Seth Grahame-Smith (Grand Central Publishing, 2010)
My rating: 3 stars