It has been claimed that in 1867, Andrew Johnson, a president whose term was rife with controversy, pardoned an accused bloodsucker. This tiny, obscure fact sparked a story in Christopher Farnsworth's mind, which developed into Blood Oath. As vampire novels go, this book was impossible to put down, and I devoured it in a weekend.
Consider this tiny, obscure fact as a "What If"... What if there was a vampire working for the President of the United States behind the scenes, handling supernatural threats that the regular police, military, and intelligence forces of the United States could not handle themselves? Now consider 140 years of such threats against the United States and the many wars and enemies we have faced in that time... Look back through the years... We currently have the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Before that was the First Gulf War, the Cold War, Vietnam, Korea, World War II, World War I, the Spanish-American War... And the countless insurgencies, enemies, and tyrants here and there around the world doing evil in the name of whatever ideology they follow.
If a vampire exists, then what other mad scientists, monsters, or creations may be roaming the world as well? Imagine if the Nazis had developed super soldiers or harnessed the artifacts collected for Hitler's fascination with the supernatural? Consider a world filled with nasty creatures in the dark corners we don't shine light on because we don't want to see what's there...
Now give our vampire hero the strength, brains, and determination of Jack Bauer along with the technology and intelligence-gathering abilities of the United States government. He'd be one heck of a force to be reckoned with. Do you think he'd develop an ego over that century and a half?
But our intrepid author doesn't stop there. To spice things up, he adds a new liaison to the Oval Office into the mix — Zach Barrows, a young, politically-savvy, hot-headed and impetuous individual. After a poor choice in lovers (dating the President's daughter doesn't help your career much), Zach finds himself in a world he didn't know existed and doesn't want to be in — especially since he's paired up with Nathaniel Cade, the vampire sworn to protect the President of the United States for the last 140 years.
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