Book Review of Blood Oath by Christopher Farnsworth

Blood Oath is NOT just another vampire story.  It's more a story of a loyal secret agent (and the corresponding government agency created to "assist"), the supernatural around us (and in our imagination), power plays in Washington D.C.and the foggy (dark?) corridors of the alphabet soup that covers national security in all its permutations.




The blurb:
The Ultimate Secret.  The Ultimate Agent.  The President's Vampire. 

Incredibly clever and compulsively readable, Blood Oath is a debut political thriller packed with enough action to out-Bourne Jason Bourne and out-Bauer Jack Bauer.

Zach Burrows is an ambitious 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.  Bound 140 years ago by a special blood oath, Nathaniel Cade is a vampire.  He battles nightmares before they can break into the daylight world of the American dream, enemies far stranger -- and far more dangerous -- than civilians have ever imagined.

Blood Oath is the first in a series of novels featuring Nathaniel Cade, the president's vampire.

Review:
Even if you think that you're thoroughly sick of stories of vampires and the supernatural BUT you enjoy detective thrillers, action (novels and/or movies), I would still recommend Blood Oath by Christopher Farnsworth.

Blood Oath is nothing like the usual vampire novels -- the vampire has taken a blood oath to protect the President of the United States and his agents.   is less about vampires and more about loyalty, about unbreakable oaths and unworthy masters.  It's about nationalism -- in a superhero sort of way -- and about friendship and, again, loyalty. 

The story is made more interesting by the way that Farnworth creates a secret and independent government agency created and dedicated to battling supernatural and extraordinary threats to national security.  The infrastructure and beaucracy adds a layer of humor and takes the story to another level of the absurd.  Blood Oath is a fun read -- an escapist novel for those who love thrillers, political intrigue, tales of loyalty and betrayal, and the occasional vampire. 
ISBN-10: 0399156356 - Hardcover $24.99
Publisher: Putnam Adult; 1 edition (May 18, 2010), 400 pages.
Review copy provided by the publisher.

About the Author:
Christopher Farnsworth is a scriptwriter and a former journalist. He lives in Los Angeles.  Learn more about him and Blood Oath on his website www.christopherfarnsworth.com