Who says you can’t judge a book by its cover? Blood Oath is a great new novel by Christopher Farnsworth. It caught my attention because of the great cover. It has big white text with a dark red wax/blood seal for the president of the United States but with a bat instead of an eagle. The sub-title “The President’s Vampire” is just something that says “pick me up; you know you want to look.”
Ok, so it is loosely based on a “true” story. Huh? Well there was supposedly a sailor who washed ashore in New England with the bodies of several shipmates and he had drained them of their blood. The sailor is sentenced to die in an insane asylum. But secretly President Andrew Johnson pardons him and binds him to serve the office of the president forever.
The story focuses on the exploits of the vampire Nathaniel Cade and his liaison to the president Zach Barrows; who is sure this assignment is punishment for sleeping with the president’s daughter. Cade is a vampire super agent that out-Bauers Jack Bauer and out-Bournes Jason Bourne and out-Fishers Sam Fisher. He is not a cuddly, sparkly, kind of guy, he is just out to do his job by any means he deems necessary, and that job is protecting the president and the welfare of the United States. He is ruthless and has been given an opportunity to use his given skill set in a profession where that is acceptable. He fights terrorism on both human and supernatural levels.
I don’t want to delve into the plot for fear of giving too much away, suffice it to say it revolves around an assassination threat to the president by supernatural means and the undead uber-soldiers created by Dr. Johann Konrad who is immortal and the model for Dr. Frankenstein, as well as a shadow agency from within our own government.
Farnsworth is a writer who has honed his craft as a journalist and because of that his writing is tight and concisely told. I know it is a cliché but this book is a page turner. I tried to go slow to savor and enjoy this book but once I started I just had to keep reading. This book is a little “X-Files”, with a bit of “24” it is a little Dan Brown meets Vince Flynn with some Charlaine Harris meets Dean Koontz and Tom Clancy. It is a political, Black Ops thriller with vampires, werewolves, and the undead.
Chris has a three book contract with the second novel in the publishers hands right now and he has at least eight more plotted out. This book is fun and I am really looking forward to the next installment, but don’t just take my word for it; Read it. Read it now.
