I believe the greatest praise an author can give to another's book is to state, "I really wish I had written that." Well, let's just say I'm currently filled with a seething jealousy. Everything I love about entertaining fiction and about the genres of horror, mystery, historical & urban fantasy can be found in this novel.

Once again, Goodreads has proved they know my tastes well and I won a copy of Christopher Farnsworth's 2nd novel in their giveaway program. Amusingly, I almost didn't click on this title - it sounded cheesy. And the opening chapter made me hesitant, given what occurred between the main protagonist and an infamous villain. But, in a very short time, I was utterly captivated. So much so, that I read this entire book in one sitting last night after I received it.

Yes, it's about a Vampire who has sworn a blood oath to serve the Oval Office and has remained a heavily classified state secret since the US Civil War. However, there is so much more to this story in the details and flashbacks than a monster running around in the 21st century with a Presidential kill-order. Although that is pretty cool.

The little moments of memory with past presidents, Bobby Kennedy and John Wilkes Booth are excellent. Referencing both global mythology and the whispered fate of CIA precursor Black Chamber? Awesome! Finally, with the inclusion of events and characters from locations like Dunwich, Red Hook, and (most importantly) Innsmouth, I was absolutely hooked. I have not read a novel so genre-spanningly "perfect" since Charles Stross's The Atrocity Archives. And while those two tales may be similar in themes, their executions are drastically different.

C'mon... Black Magic Ops, Vampire Assassins, Conspirathist History, and Lovecraft. I totally wish I would've written this.