BLOOD OATH

Blood Oath (The President's Vampire, #1)

Written by: Christopher Farnsworth

Publication date: May 18, 2010

Released in Hardcover

5 stars

Synopsis: Zach Barrows is an ambitions 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. A vampire bound by a special blood oath. Cade has spent more than 140 years in service to the president, battling nightmares before they can break into the daylight world of the American dream.

Immediately Zach and Cade receive their first joint assignment; one that uncovers a shadowy government conspiracy and a plot to attack the United States with a gruesome new biological weapon. Zach soon learns that the world is far stranger, and far more dangerous, than he ever imagined...and that his partner is the least of his problems.

How I Came to Read This: I came across this book on Goodreads.com and saw the originality of it and knew I had to have it!

My Review: Sometimes when I switch books too quickly, it's hard to adjust to the different type of narration. That's what happened when I started reading Blood Oath - I went from first person to third - but it only took a few chapters and I was in it.

I read this book and saw the whole thing in my head like a movie. After the first night I started reading, I went to bed and woke up the next day with the feeling that I'd watched a really good movie the night before. I kept trying to remember the name of it. It was kind of like watching one of those movies where you meet several different people, seemingly unconnected, right in the beginning. You know eventually they cross paths with each other, but you're never given enough information to figure out how.

This was no young adult vampire love story...it was historical and modern, witty, and fun. I couldn't put it down. The central character, Cade, is more in tune with the nature of his kind, than he is to humanity. However, he's not a monster and he has his "human moments". He's a great character to follow and different than all the rest in a non-indulgent kind of way. Let me explain what I mean. He's a vampire, he's got all this amazing strength and ability but yet, he doesn't abuse it - oath or no oath. He doesn't try to break or bend the rules. He has duty and he respects it. One hundred and forty years serving Americas presidents and he didn't seem the least bit bitter. I think it gives him a purpose he doesn't exactly revel in, but he doesn't despise either.

The other main character, Zach, was the one of the best things about this book. The humor he brought to the story really made it fun, kept it grounded. Zach's found himself in a very unique, very strange situation and the way he handled it, the way he coped was really believable.

Blood Oath had action, excitement, humor and that stuff books are made of when you can't put them down. Yeah, that. I just realized  a few minutes ago that Blood Oath is a series! I don't know how I missed that. Well, I won't be missing the sequel, because when the whispers start - I'll be waiting!

Who Should Read This: Definitely mature teen to adult. A great distraction from faeries and pixies falling in love. This was fast-action, fast-paced hardcore good stuff!