Publishers Weekly
11/03/2014
Grahame-Smith follows 2010’s Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter with another often fun, occasionally frustrating secret history. Lincoln’s companion Henry Sturges once lived in Roanoke, and was turned into a vampire after most of the colonists (including his pregnant wife) were slaughtered. Shortly after Lincoln’s assassination, Sturges is drawn into political intrigue when a mysterious European vampire named Grander seems to declare war on the U.S. vampires. As Sturges investigates Grander over the years, he encounters celebrities on both sides of the Atlantic, including Arthur Conan Doyle, Teddy Roosevelt, and John D. Rockefeller. Grahame-Smith clearly has fun mixing vampire mythology and politics into some well-researched history, and readers will forgive the occasional overused trope or bit of excessive cinematic theatricality, as when Sturges blows smoke through the nostrils of a decapitated head. There are some nice twists—one spoiled by the previous book, unfortunately—and fans of supernatural fights and gory killings will find plenty to enjoy. (Jan.)
praise for the author Time
Grahame-Smith [is] a lively, fluent writer with a sharp sense of tone and pace.”
praise for the author Vanity Fair
Grahame-Smith could be poised to become the Howard Zinn of vampire-related alterna-history.”
Library Journal - Audio
06/15/2015
After the defeat of the Confederacy and Lincoln's subsequent assassination, Henry Sturges, who recruited Lincoln into the internal conflict among vampires, tries to recover and move forward with his life. Still devoted to the Union and serving his country, Sturges tracks the involvement of A. Grander VIII, the mysterious villain who has declared, "No more Americans." Grander's determination to destroy the United States draws Sturges into some notable historical events, including the Jack the Ripper murders, World War I and II, the fall of the Hindenberg, the attacks on the Twin Towers, and many others. Macleod Andrews performs excellently as narrator. VERDICT Well written, witty, and at times downright hilarious, this is a fun and heady listen, particularly for history buffs. ["Grahame-Smith's fans, as well as anyone willing to try alternate history, will enjoy this sweeping adventure": LJ Xpress Reviews 12/19/14 review of the Grand Central hc.]—Jeremy Bright, Georgia State Univ. Lib., Atlanta
Kirkus Reviews
2014-11-05
Grahame-Smith (Unholy Night, 2012, etc.) continues his lunatic reimagining of American history after the death of Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter.Keeping in mind that Grahame-Smith was responsible for the screenplay of his first Lincoln book's awful film adaptation, this sequel is still better than his more gimmicky offerings (see: Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, 2009). That said, it pretty much offers much, much more of the same. As before, Grahame-Smith is supposedly writing about the secret adventures of Henry Sturges, a vampire who is finally revealing his tale. Henry's story picks up the night of Lincoln's assassination, as Henry turns Lincoln into a vampire in order to save him but loses him in the end. Later, Henry is told by Adam Plantagenet, a founder of the Union of Vampires, to seek out a mysterious "A. Grander VIII," the monsters' greatest threat and a figure from Henry's past. Mostly, Grahame-Smith creates excuses over and over to mash up cool characters from history. In London, Henry stalks Jack the Ripper in the company of Bram Stoker and Arthur Conan Doyle. Remember when Nikola Tesla killed Rasputin with his secret death ray? (OK, that part was pretty cool.) These tales of twisted history are even accompanied by historical photographs, either altered or repurposed to serve the tale. When Lincoln resurfaces later, the old friends team up with Eliot Ness and his Untouchables, not to mention that fight to the death with the book's villain on the decks of the Hindenburg. There's an overarching plot about a long-term conspiracy—imagine one of James Ellroy's novels shot through with a healthy dose of George Romero and you're just about there—but readers who are jazzed by American vampire history probably don't need the literary denouement anyway. A rather thrilling adventure spun off from a throwaway joke.
