What’s it all about?:
There are whispers even now that Abraham Lincoln never really died, that a voodoo spell cursed him with a terrible eternal life. It has even been claimed that he robbed banks in the 1930s with John Dillinger, only to mysteriously disappear once again into the pages of history. But the truth is even stranger than the rumors…
Watched over by a vengeful J. Edgar Hoover and held in a secret location near his old Springfield home, Lincoln re-awakens in the 1960s, and finds himself thrust into an era even more turbulent than the Depression.
Escaping Hoover’s clutches, he navigates an even more treacherous and unfamiliar terrain, finding an ally in John Voci, a young San Francisco folk-singer. Together they journey across a counter-cultural landscape, meeting those who believe a great man has returned, and striving to remain free from those who want to bury him once and for all.
What did I think?:
I know some of you may be looking at the book cover and the title right now and thinking what the….? but stay with me for the duration while I talk to you about a very unique book that I was invited to read and give an honest review on by Sage Adderley for this blog tour. (Thank you to everyone concerned!) I’m always on the look out for books that expand my horizons slightly, are a bit different and are not of the usual genre that I read and Abe Lincoln On Acid fulfilled all these briefs. I only realised when I first started to read it that it’s actually the second book that the authors have done on Abe Lincoln – the first being Abe Lincoln: Public Enemy No 1 and I’m normally quite a stickler for reading things in the exact sequence that they were released. However, believe me when I say this really didn’t matter in this case and Abe Lincoln On Acid can easily be read as a stand-alone.
So, there’s an old urban legend that Abraham Lincoln, 16th President of the United States of America is actually alive and well after his assassination in 1865. Well…when I say alive and well, I mean in a semi-comatose state, able to swallow food and take drink but essentially unconscious, until something happens in his beloved country to wake him up again and beg his assistance. When the current President, Barack Obama hears that Lincoln has now awoken from his deep sleep, he obviously believes it to be a big joke that his staff are playing on him – that is, until he meets Abe in the flesh and Abe begins to tell him a story about when he last “woke up” in the sixties in a bid to prevent the assassination of a certain Dr Martin Luther King.
J. Edgar Hoover, the first Director of the FBI in the sixties, is hell-bent on Abraham being kept in the house where he slept for all those years and on no circumstances allowed to walk the streets, meet with the public or get to Luther King. However, crafty Lincoln manages to find a way out of his “prison,” past the agents and out into the world where he hopes his purpose for waking up will finally become clear. The world of the 1960’s is already very different to when Lincoln last woke up (the 1930’s) and he meets a range of different people, sees a variety of amazing things and tries some mind-expanding substances that has him looking at America and its people in a whole new light.
I have to admit, I really wasn’t sure what to expect when I first opened this book although the synopsis immediately intrigued me. I loved the idea of Abraham Lincoln wandering around in a modern world and anticipating how he would react to certain things was really fun. My favorite character (apart from the endearing and very charming Lincoln himself of course) had to be the young man that Abe ends up be-friending, John Voci, a musician whose talent lies in singing very funny songs about vegetables and snappy one-liners. It’s an entertaining read that doesn’t take itself too seriously and was the light-hearted relief that I needed after reading one too many intense type novels. I would be interested to know what Abe gets up to now that he’s awakened in the age of Barack Obama…
Would I recommend it?:
Probably!
Star rating (out of 5):
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
BILL WALKER
A graduate of Emerson College’s prestigious film school, Bill wrote and directed his first feature film, Pawn, while still a student. After graduation, he co-founded Newbury Filmworks, Inc., an award-winning production company renowned for making high-quality corporate films and commercials.
In 1990, Bill relocated to Los Angeles, and began a freelance story analysis career for various studios and independent production companies, while devoting his spare time to the writing of novels, short stories, and screenplays. He is also a highly-respected graphic designer, specializing in book and dust jacket design. He has worked on books by such luminaries as: Ray Bradbury, Richard Matheson, Dean Koontz, and Stephen King. In addition, Bill is a member of the Authors Guild.
He has won awards for his screenwriting, his two short story collections for Mid-Graders, Five-Minute Frights and Five-Minute Chillers, are perennial Halloween favorites, and his first novel, Titanic 2012 was enthusiastically received by readers. His second novel, Camp Stalag was released in 2001. Bill lives in Los Angeles with his wife, Debbie, and their sons, Jeffrey and Brian.
BRIAN ANTHONY
I’m in my late fifties and began to write seriously after I was made redundant from my post as an Oracle Database Administrator in 2011. I spent my whole working life with computers, starting out in 1978 as technical support in the development of PABXs (private telephone systems) before becoming an IBM Systems Programmer in 1984. Towards the advent of the new Millennium I began to train as an Oracle DBA on Unix systems and finally let go of the reigns to the mainframe after seeing the year 2000 successfully through.
I live in Wales in a small cottage with my wife and our dog, a lively Collie cross (Welsh Collie/Border Collie) called Moli.
My ultimate aim is to bring enough money in as a writer to supplement my various pensions when I officially retire in however many years time that will be (depends whether the government keeps moving the goal posts or not).
No allusions of fame or fortune, just want to be comfortable in retirement and if I can sell the odd story or two it’ll go a long way to keeping the wolf from the door.
Abe Lincoln On Acid was published on 1st July 2015 by Walker and Anthony Publications and is available in paperback and as an e-book now!