Author:  Christopher Farnsworth
Title:  Blood Oath: The President's Vampire
Publisher:  Putnum Adult

In 1867 a young sailor was tried and convicted of killing two crewmates [dramatic pause] and drinking their blood. President Andrew Johnson pardoned him, for reasons unknown. He spent the rest of his life in an asylum for the criminally insane [another dramatic pause] at least that's the cover story. The truth is a little more [you know the drill] complicated.

Such is the premise behind Christopher Farnsworth's debut thriller, Blood Oath.  The presidents, from Johnson on, have kept their ultimate secret agent from the American public. They have at their disposal a vampire, Nathanial Cade, who has sworn to protect and serve the interests of the supreme leader of the United States—at least when the sun isn't out.

How would the presidents use a vampire? The opening chapter gives an example—a team of Army Rangers is sent to Serbia on a covert, rescue mission. The leading operative is Cade. The forces are surprised to find they are fighting a group of werewolves—so they are very thankful to find that Cade is fierce with the canines, yet is a friendly vampire with them.

Back on the homeland Special Agent William Griffin is training a reluctant protégé to be the vampire's new handler, a personal go-between between the real world of politics and presidents to the underground world of mythical adversaries and creatures who live in the shadows. Zach Barrows isn't sure he wants the job, and actually thinks the president has put him in this new role since he was caught necking with the president's 19-year-old daughter in the Lincoln bedroom. There isn't much time to worry about it. A shipping container of body parts is found at a nearby port. Apparently an old nemesis of Cade's, who has a Dr. Frankenstein complex, has been hired by Muslim extremists to put together a small army of [wait for it] zombies. This sets the stage for the first of many blood-curdling adventures for Cade and Zach, and I'm sure the first of many books for Farnsworth.

The most entertaining part of the book is how Farnsworth explains his take on vampire mythology. Many chapters begin with entries from journals and medical records that the presidents have passed down the line to educate each other on their "Nightmare Pet."

While it feels like Farnsworth is just cutting his teeth with this first novel (he is an experienced screenwriter), he does bite on some themes that could be interesting for his developing characters. Cade is humanly ‘dead' and as a vampire is supposed to be eternally damned. Yet his character shows the most conviction and moral fortitude (save a weird sexual encounter with his ‘vamp-girlfriend' Tania). Is there some sort of redemption in Cade's future? His character is fiercely religious—he wears a cross around his neck to help him focus, and won't even allow Zach to take the God's name in vain around him.

Another of the book's themes is eternal life—it was interesting to consider the moral failures of the humans who were fixated on not aging or dying. Instead of making the most of life in the moment, they were too preoccupied on eternal security. Farnsworth's heroes in this tale are the ones who aren't afraid to face life and death, not those who try to find ways to dodge it.

Blood Oath: The President's Vampire isn't as romantic as the Twilight books, isn't as raunchy as the True Blood novels, nor is as deep as Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles. It has the potential to be an entertaining Tom Clancy-like political/adventure series, but will include a little extra bloodletting.


**This review first published on June 11, 2010.