Book Review - Blood Oath by Christopher Farnsworth

Synopsis:  Zach Barrows is an ambitious young White House staffer whose career takes an unexpected turn when he's partnered with Nathaniel Cade, a secret agent sworn to protect the President. But Cade is no ordinary civil servant. Bound 140 years ago by a special blood oath, Nathaniel Cade is a vampire. He battles nightmares before they can break into the daylight world of the American dream, enemies far stranger - and far more dangeorus - than civilians have ever imagined.

Blood Oath is the first in a series of novels featuring Nathaniel Cade, the President's vampire.

First Line:  "After two extended tours in Iraq, Army Specialist Wayne Denton thought he'd never be cold again."

Random Quote:  "Tania wanted to hit Cade in the back of the head as he walked away.  She didn't know why she bothered.  It was like spraying graffiti on a wall and expecting the wall to learn English.  She'd even had herself shipped FedEx for him.  In a crate.  She hated to do that.

Review:  I love a good vampire book (and loathe the recent trend towards defanging them).  This is a great vampire book!

Presidential Seal - Image via Wikipedia

The premise is pretty simple - the President has a vampire tied to him by a blood oath that passes from President to President - a ramped up Secret (really secret) Service guy in service to the nation.  Think Jason Bourne meets Dracula via Hell Boy and you'll get the picture.

This could have been completely cheesy, but Farnsworth avoids that by writing well, plotting well, and executing a real page turner.  It's obvious he has experience with screenwriting because much of the book flows like an action movie, but he is careful to avoid cliches and writes characters that are believable and worth caring about.

I enjoyed every minute of this fun fun book and am really glad to see that it's the start of a series because I can't wait for the next one!

Thanks to the publisher for the advance copy of this awesome book!

Reading Challenges:  ARC Reading Challenge 2010, Speculative Fiction Challenge 2010, Thriller and Suspense Challenge 2010, 2010 100+ Reading Challenge