- Paperback: 400 pages
- Publisher: Hodder Hb (July 8 2010)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0340998148
- ISBN-13: 978-0340998144
- Product Dimensions: 22.8 x 15.2 x 3.2 cm
- Shipping Weight: 540 g
- Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #841,659 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
Review
'If Dan Brown wrote a vampire thriller, this would be it' -- Mitch Horowitz 'Anyone worried that the vampire novel is stuck in a soppy Twilight rut will be relieved by screenwriter Farnsworth's hilariously over-conceived debut. The set-up alone is a joy ... Cade is a wonderful creation -- all the more satisfying for being not the usual fey aristocrat but a brutal and often charmless "apex predator". Slick, fast-moving fun for the beach.' -- Guardian 'Terrific ... Written with enormous gusto and flair, Cade seems destined to become a hero the world will find hard to forget' -- Daily Mail 'BLOOD OATH is exactly how I like my Presidential thrillers. With vampires.' -- Brad Meltzer 'Witty, exciting, and compulsively readable, with a central character who seems destined to become a favourite of both sceptics and true blood believers, this may just be the best debut vampire novel in many years.' -- John Connolly 'A political-thriller concept with bite' -- LA Times 'A super cool read ... Blood Oath is fascinating and entertaining, and adds new blood to the current vampire craze' -- Bookbitch.com 'An irresistible page-turner that makes one realize that, no matter how tough the War on Terror may be, at least it's not the War on Horror ... unnervingly realistic ... dazzlingly clever ... And as an added bonus, readers finally learn the truth behind the failed assassination attempt on Ronald Reagan and that mysterious 18 1/2 -minute gap in the Watergate tapes.' -- Washington Post 'Farnsworth has written a rollicking Washington thriller about this "Drac Bauer" -- Nathaniel Cade' -- New York Post (Required Reading) 'Reminded me of reading a great Robert Ludlum spy thriller, but with supernatural elements thrown in ... fantasy, mystery and thriller fans alike will love this one' -- The Vampire Librarian '24 meets Jonathan Maberry's Joe Ledger novels meets Fringe meets Blade ... addictively fun and entertaining' -- Fantasy Book Critic 'Do you ever get a giddy feeling when you know you have come across something that is truly great? That is how I felt after reading BLOOD OATH by Christopher Farnsworth' -- Fiction Finder 'This book was impossible to put down, and I devoured it in a weekend' -- Blog Critics 'Combines action, suspense, mystery, and horror ... a page turner from the very beginning ... Highly recommended' -- Monster Librarian 'Given the popularity of vampires, it is not surprising that they are appearing more frequently in crime and thriller titles, either as detectives or villains. The latest is Christopher Farnsworth's fast-moving thriller Blood Oath, which features vampire Nathaniel Cade, a Secret Service agent sworn to protect the American president from supernatural threats. Great fun...the characters are sufficiently well developed to ground the storyline. A good dose of humour also helps to move the story along.' -- Canberra Times 'Absolutely first-class entertainment ... edge of the seat stuff, and terrific fun' -- Books Monthly 'Surprising and engrossing ... Pulp fiction at its very best' -- Totalscifionline.com 'An entertaining debut novel ... a refreshing change' -- Lovevampires.com 'A brilliant central idea' -- sfrevu.com 'A darn sight better than any other contemporary thrillers you might find on the airport shelves, or dare I say it, any vampire romance you might care to suggest. Dracula meets West Wing (or even 24) - what is there not to like?' -- sffworld.com 'Tense, fast-moving, with amusing uses of improvised weapons ... a rattling good read' -- Reviewingtheevidence.com 'A fun, thrilling, fast-paced, topsy-turvy ride that kept me hooked from beginning to end ... one of those books that I enjoyed far more than I expected to' -- geekybloggersbookblog.com
Product Description
'There are worse things in this world than al-Qaeda and North Korea, Zach. And they are just waiting for their chance at us.' Sharp and ambitious, Zach Barrows is on his way up. But when he gets a call from the White House, it's not quite the promotion he expected. Zach is to be the new political liaison officer to America's best kept secret: Nathaniel Cade. The President's vampire. And Cade is the world's only hope against a horrifying new terrorist threat advancing from the Middle East. The fight is deadlier than ever, and time is running out ...
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Customer Reviews
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Most helpful customer reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
The president's vampire,
By E. A Solinas "ea_solinas" (MD USA) - See all my reviews (HALL OF FAME) (TOP 10 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)
This review is from: Blood Oath (Hardcover)
Personally, I am getting sick of all the drippy romantic vampire drivel that's currently being churned out because of the "Twilight" craze.
So it's something of a relief to come across a book like "Blood Oath," which instead focuses on a really cool concept -- what if there were a vampire secret agent who had been serving the US president for the last century-and-a-half? "Blood Oath" at times feels like a paint-by-numbers thriller, but the fast pace, solid prose and inclusion of vampire intrigue make it a fun read. Zach Burrows is an ambitious, fast-rising young political figure... until he's caught fooling around with the president's teenage daughter. So he's reassigned to a new post: the presidential liaison to Nathaniel Cade, a vampire who is blood-oathed to the president, and who does all sorts of secret missions to destroy supernatural threats to the United States. Their first mission: jihadist terrorists are shipping dismembered American soldiers into the U.S., intending to create Unmenschsoldat -- undead killing machines, better known as Frankenstein monsters. So Cade and the reluctant Zach are sent to find the one man who can create those monsters, but are unable to prove anything. Even worse, they have attracted hostile attention from several different areas -- the monstrous Dr. Konrad, a beautiful vampire, and a terrifying Shadow Company which knows no mercy. They're determined to bring down the United States, even the world as we know it... and Cade too. It doesn't come as a surprise that Christopher Farnsworth is a screenwriter, because "Blood Oath" reads like the novelization of a fast-paced action thriller. It has some well-placed flashbacks, evil terrorists, flashy political conspiracies, and a sort of James Bond vampire (minus the girls) -- even the action-packed opener feels like the teaser to a movie, right before the opening credits. The biggest flaw in the book is that sometimes it feels a little too by-the-numbers as an action thriller. However, it's also lots of fun -- Farnsworth blasts through a fast-moving plot, and fills the pages with plenty of action, horrific gore and snappy dialogue ("Someone has to protect the meek until they can inherit the Earth"). Compared to all that soppy "Twilight" driven, Farnsworth's prose has a sleek masculine tang that's very refreshing. He also inserts lots of pseudoscientific/pseudohistorical snippets from classified files, deftly fleshing out the whole idea of a presidential vampire. Plus, he inserts some clever nods to H.P. Lovecraft and Chelsea Quinn Yarbro. And Cade is very chilly and introverted, but also very capable and intelligent. Despite believing that he's eternally damned, he's also a creature of strong morals and rock-solid beliefs. Farnsworth does an excellent job depicting a man of the mid-1800s who has grown and changed over the centuries, even if he has the quirky habit of using outdated slang. Zach is an annoying little twerp at first, but becomes more likable over time. "Blood Oath" follows the mold for action thrillers, but adds in plenty of supernatural chills and vampiric problems. Here's hoping for more stories to come.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent vampire/supernatural thriller,
By
This review is from: Blood Oath (Hardcover)
I love the idea that the author took a true historical moment and thought, what if? I enjoy reading about history, and I love the liberties that Farnsworth took with this book.
The book starts off with Zach Barrows being relocated to a new position in the White House. He doesn't enjoy the idea that he is now "stuck" in this position, as he had plans to further his career in the White House. He attributes his career change to his relations with the President's daughter. However, all is not as it seems. This book grabbed me immediately. I devoured this book, and could have read it primarily in one sitting. However, I didn't want to read that fast, as I wanted to savour the book. I loved the characters; Cade, Zach, Griffin, etc. I really enjoyed their personalities and found myself laughing out loud at several junctures in the book. I found the characters were very strong, and their witticisms were appropriately tongue in cheek. This was an excellent paranormal thriller. It was fast-paced, engaging, and extremely toxic to my social life. I couldn't put this book down, and re-read passages several times as I found them so well written. Honestly, I probably read the book twice with all of the back and forth I did because I didn't want to miss a single thing. With that said, I cannot wait for the next book to come out! I definitely would recommend this book to fans of supernatural thrillers, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, or Jim Butcher's The Dresden Files. In fact, I have already been recommending it to others. I found that I enjoyed it immensely, and I know that this is definitely a book that I will be re-reading. I don't want to spoil it for those of you who haven't read it yet, so I won't go into more detail. However, I will say that it was a real treat to sit back and read this book, so I highly suggest checking it out. You won't be disappointed. Disclaimer: I received this book free of charge in exchange for an honest review.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
4.2 out of 5 stars (119 customer reviews) 34 of 35 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
A clever take on vampires,
By bookreader2002 - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Blood Oath (Hardcover)
Pre-release customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program
Let's see....
Strong silent hero- check Grizzled older agent- check Young hotshot new agent- check Muslim bad guy- check mad Nazi doctor- check hint of romance- check sex scene- check foul language- check car chase- check explosion- check.... Blood Oath is an enjoyable book about the vampire Nathaniel Cade, who is sworn by a voodoo curse to serve the president of the US and his appointed agents. It is a mystery with no complex plot twists to confuse us and has plenty of action. Cade has pretty much lost all his humanity, which unfortunately gives us a rather cold protagonist. Thankfully, there are a few moments when Cade comes alive, so to speak, and we see glimpses of his complexity. Hopefully, the author will bring more to light in the sequels. The new liaison between Cade and the president is Zach, a political whiz-kid who got caught between the sheets with the First Daughter. He is taking over from ailing Griff, who's seen just about everything. Despite being stereotypical characters, they work well in the story and each are well-developed. The author does a great job of showing Zach's development and how he changes. Tania, Cade's sort-of romance interest, has great promise for upcoming sequels. She is a minor character, but one of the best. There's bad guys too, of course. But, if you are tired of Muslims as antagonists, as well as crazy Nazis, you'll find no relief here in Blood Oath- disappointingly, both are present. Farnworth's style is rather spare. By that I mean he doesn't go in for much description of the scenery or the surrounding situation, but focuses mainly on the action. For me, this style gave it somewhat of a late draft flavor- the story is there but not yet completely fleshed out. Perhaps this is because Farnsworth is a scriptwriter- and this would make a great action movie. At any rate, and other readers might not mind his style at all, the premise is a novel one and easily held my attention. I look forward to a sequel, but hope the author comes up with something more original next time. The book is nearly 400 pages long, has 69 chapters plus epilogue, and plenty of white space so it is a fast read. As noted, for those who prefer to avoid such, there's foul language and sex. Not worth $25, in my opinion, but with a big discount it would be a fun book to take to the beach. 36 of 40 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Wanna Sink Your Teeth Into A Good Book?,
By Danno - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Blood Oath (Hardcover)
Pre-release customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program
"Blood Oath" is a nearly perfect suspense novel that neatly combines two different genres. The first (as is probably obvious by the title) is the vampire-as-superhero genre that you've probably seen in movies like "Underworld" or "Blade." The second is the historical political thriller, the likes of which we've seen quite often from John Clancy among others. The combination of the two is quite clever, and author Christopher Farnsworth writes well enough to make this a literal page-turner. "Blood Oath" is billed as the first in a potential series and if this is so, I'm looking forward to future adventures in the world that Farnsworth has created.
At the center of the novel is the vampire Nathaniel Cale, pardoned for vampirism by President Andrew Johnson, and subsequently required to loyally serve each subsequent president of the United States. Cale is an interesting character. Most vampires in recent fiction seem to me to be either decadent aristocrats (thanks to Anne Rice), or misunderstood romantics ala Barnabas Collins of "Dark Shadows." Cale seems closer to James Bond than any vampire prototype I'm familiar with. He's a character whose found an acceptable outlet for his ruthless tendencies and takes pride in his unique set of skills and professionalism. Cale makes the novel work, although virtually every lead character is well-fleshed out. We have Konrad, a sinister German scientist who is described as the model for Dr. Frankenstein, Tania, a female vampire enthralled with Cale, and Zach Barrows, an arrogant young Washington insider assigned to work with Cale. (Zach, among all the characters, is allowed a tremendous degree of character growth for a suspense novel.) But make no mistake, these characters exist primarily in relation to Cale. The plot concerns an attempt to assassinate the President of the United States (written here as a thinly disguised Obama) through occult means. I would write more about this, but I'm afraid I would spoil the plot and I don't want to do that. Suffice to say, despite what seems at first to be an exceptionally derivative idea ends up being a truly thrilling suspense novel. Farnsworth also ends up making such supernatural creatures such as zombies, werewolves, vampires, and Frankenstein monsters seem original again. This is no mean feat as we've been innundated with these monsters for the better part of a century! (However, as this is a suspense novel, chills come in second. This isn't as scary as a Stephen King novel, and isn't supposed to be). I strongly recommend this novel for anyone who loves both horror and thriller genres. 15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
More secrets from the Oval Office,
By Jeanne Tassotto - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Blood Oath (Hardcover)
Pre-release customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program
All most people remember about President Andrew Johnson was that he became President only because Abraham Lincoln had been assassinated and he missed being impeached by one vote. Apparently he also gave a secret Presidential pardon to a young vampire and got a Voodoo priestess to bind the vampire to whoever was currently President. It seems that there is a whole legion of other worldly threats to humanity, other vampires, zombies and of course mad scientists that the public is kept blissfully unaware of.
As the novel (the first of a proposed series) begins an ambitious young aide has been sent to begin his newest assignment. one that he is certain will not be a promotion since he had been caught in bed with the First Daughter. Little did Zach realize that he had been selected to replace Special Agent Griffin to work with the President's Vampire. The good news is that it is a lifetime assignment, the bad news is that it just might not be as long term as it sounds. The action is quite fast paced, the outrageous plot elements are presented in such a way as to sound plausible and the characters are written well enough to come to life. As with most first novels of a series lots of time is spent establishing the premise and back stories which does slow down the first half to a certain extent. Once the groundwork is laid the action takes off leading to an exciting, if foreseeable ending. What distinguishes BLOOD OATH from large pack of thrillers-with-supernatural-aspects is the author's dry sense of humor. There are numerous little jokes sprinkled throughout, particularly in the excerpts of briefing book that open many chapters. This is a fun read. It is unusual and complex enough to keep the reader's interest but not so demanding that it requires prolonged focus, which makes this a great book to take along while traveling or waiting for the kid's soccer practice to end. This reader is looking forward to more adventures of Cade and Zach. |
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