Written by OBS Staff Member Angie

I can honestly say that this was one of the best books I’ve read this year. I’m a big fan of  historical fiction and this story definitely hits the mark.

In Seth Grahame-Smith’s “biography” of Abraham Lincoln, we learn of a different side of our beloved 16th president. We learn that things were not always as they appeared.

Mr Lincoln chronicled his life, including his vampire slaying activities, in journals through out his life. These journals have been carefully preserved and given to the author by a man named Henry Sturges. Mr. Sturges wishes for the truth to be told finally. The author meticulously checks events in the journal with facts from other biographies about Mr Lincoln, from journals written by other men of the same era, and from documents in housed in museums. He finds that what is written in the journals must be assumed true.

This book has a flavor of biography as it frequently uses photographs, letters, and quotes from the journal. But in between there is a story to be told; a story of a man tormented by what he believes is right for a nation and what he knows is right for his family. We find that the Civil War wasn’t just about the right of the slaves to be free, but for humans to not become slaves to the Vampires.

This book is not a typical mash-up, adding scenes into an established novel. Instead, it’s an original story using actual events from a time in history that most of us know because we’ve studied it at length in school.

This story is scheduled to be released as a full length movie in the summer of 2012. It will be directed by Wanted’s Timur Bekmambetov. At the moment, Eric Bana is the most likely candidate for president.

I’ll be in line on opening day to see it. I hope to see many more stories of this type in the future.

Read more about Seth Grahame-Smith HERE