"Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter" Book Review

Many novels of this generation deal with trials and tribulations of family and crises. However, no other novel has been interesting as "Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter" by Seth Grahame-Smith. Placed on New York Times Bestsellers list at #4, this book is guaranteed to take readers imaginations on a horrific ride.

The book was based off of the secret diaries of Abraham Lincoln that were supposedly given to the author Grahame-Smith, by a vampire. First off, vampires are a figment of people's imaginations or the idea that one exists derives from someone's mind who is fascinated with horror and probably worships Satain. However, the story is so intriguing that it would make any reader immersing themselves in the text believe that these creatures actually exist.

The main theme of the story is that Abraham Lincoln kills vampires ever since his father told him at a young age that his grandfather and mother were killed by them. From then on, Lincoln takes it upon himself to kill as many as possible. At the age of 16, Lincoln travels along the Ohio River to investigate about a possible vampire attack. He finds out the attacks are true and almost gets killed when attempting to kill a vampire.

That's when Abraham meets a friendly vampire- Henry Sturges. Henry Sturges becomes Lincoln's partner in crime, except he's one of the creatures that Abraham should be after and destroying. That's what was a little odd. if Abraham was so head strong on getting rid of as many vampires as possible and then became friends with one that was in his midst, why wouldn't have Lincoln killed Sturges also.

During that same time the two men become friends, Lincoln witnesses a slave auction. Come to realize, the slave's aren't being sold as laborers to work on a plantation, they're being sold as food. That alone is utterly disgusting, far from realistic and no human would desire to kill another human to devour the body. That part alone when reading this book made me wonder how this book was even worthy of holding the number four spot on the New York Times Bestsellers list mainly because the idea of having that action performed is ridiculous and quite frankly, immature.

Eventually, Abraham Lincoln finds love with Ann Rutledge. However, this love ends tragically after her previous lover, John McNamar, who is also a vampire living amongst the innocent in New York City, murders her. This angers Lincoln so much that he hunts down McNamar and kills him. Howeverm Abraham rebounds quickly and goes off to marry Mary Todd and begins a family with her.

The author included Abraham Lincoln meeting Edgar Allan Poe, who in the book is mentioned as Lincoln's "old friend". I thought it was interesting that Grahame-Smith would include that because Poe is known for his mysterious poems especially, "The Raven". Perhaps Grahame-Smith's goal was to get the same vibe across to readers who tend to prefer this genre. Either way, it did remind me of the works of Edgar Allan Poe because this book reminded me of mystery and suspense. I was not surprised once I read that the poet was mentioned in the story because it seemed somewhat obvious and predictable.

Some books nowadays are complex in many ways challenging the reader's minds. However, this was not one of them. This story seemed easy to become immersed in. Just the mere mention of the word "diary" people gravitate towards it because people are generally nosy.

Although people knew that this book was not really based off of true diary entries from the 16th president, why would people bother to read it? Maybe because people envision a well known president like Abraham Lincoln whose reputation is not bad, to carry a bloody axe in his hand in search of blood sucking demons.

Overall, this story was a page turner. However, the concept of the story was dumb and seemed like anyone off the street could develop a synopsis such as this and make as much money as Grahame-Smith probably did from it since it's in production right now of becoming a film. So I did not enjoy this genre of books but apparently a lot of people did.

One thing is for sure though, people do enjoy suspense, drama, and horror. And anything non-realistic that is well written will sell. It's no surprise that Grahame-Smith would deliver an enticing book that fans could really indulge in.

The Wharf Tavern: Restaurant Review

"The Wharf fails to make a Splash"

The Wharf Tavern, located in Warren, Rhode Island is minutes away from the high class town of Barrington. Although this restaurant has a gorgeous location on the bay including dock side access for boaters, the entrees lack taste and quality.

The restaurant has a calm and warm ambiance with its frothy caramel and grayish blue wall colors. Surrounding the restaurant are large portrait windows overlooking the water. The Wharf Tavern provides dim lighting from wall sconces. Also, the piano and live band that provides the music for the guests makes it feel like you're at a millionaire's restaurant.

Although The Wharf Tavern was at its full capacity the night I dined, the waitress I had was very attentive. She wasted no time asking for drink orders and gave the table a plate of crackers with a cream cheese spread along with a basket of bread which was lightly seasoned with cracked pepper and an assortment of cheeses melted on top. She continuously refilled out water glasses and asked how everything was.

The menu had some variety to it, but nothing that stood out. Seafood, chicken, and pasta were the choices. The label "market price"- which was listed on approximately 50% of the menu items implied the food was quite expensive.

The chicken parmigiana-fresh boneless breast of chicken lightly breaded, fried and served with marinara sauce and melted cheese is what I chose to order. The meal also came with a salad which had spinach leaves and other greens that looked like it belonged on a tree branch rather than on my dinner plate. The dark purple spinach leaf was lightly coated with French dressing that left a toxic taste in my mouth.

The chicken parmigiana presentation was disappointing. The marinara sauce that coated the chicken looked as if it had been sitting on the shelf for an hour waiting to be picked up by the server. Although the waitress claimed the plate to be "very hot," the food was lukewarm.

Cutting into the chicken was effortless. The interior of the chicken was juicy and tender but completely lacked the "fried" description that was provided on the menu. The exterior of the chicken was soggy and tasted like it had just come out of a microwave from a "Hungry Man" TV dinner container. The bed of pasta that the chicken was lying on tasted like it had just gone through the strainer and had no flavor whatsoever.

Other meals that I tasted were: calamari, chicken cordon bleu, and chicken marsala. The calamari was nicely fried and sat on a bed of linguini with a mixture of banana peppers, red peppers, and black olives. The chicken cordon bleu was over cooked and the chicken was very dry and the outside layer that is supposed to be crispy was soggy. The chicken marsala was a large chicken breast soaked in wine sauce and cream that also came with linguini. From all of those choices, the calamari was the best.

Overall, the atmosphere was elegant and charming and the service was decent. However, the food was mediocre at best. The Wharf Tavern is located on 215 Water Street in Warren, Rhode Island.