Perhaps the history books haven’t been as honest as was Abe. Doing his part to set the American people straight on a significant oversight, though, author Seth Grahame-Smith has delivered a new truth about our country’s 16th president: he also was one of the most accomplished vampire slayers of his time.

Released this month (and less than one year after his “Pride and Prejudice and Zombies”), Grahame-Smith’s “Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter” works to trace Lincoln’s remarkable life, placing it in the context of a young America faced with the treacherous agenda of vampires.

Though we all know of Lincoln’s presidency, his oft-quoted Gettysburg Address and his role in the Civil War, it is doubtful many know much else of his time on Earth.

Born in 1809 on a small Kentucky farm to Thomas and Nancy Lincoln, Abraham’s life truly was a story of upheavals, as he was forced to move from state to state as a young man. More than that, though, he knew fierce loves throughout his life that were only rivaled by the frequent and tragic losses that riddled Lincoln’s youth and adult years. Filled with heartache and political turmoil, it seems that his was never a particularly happy tale.

That said, Grahame-Smith’s approach in motivating Lincoln’s life of hardships seems natural. By exposing (mostly) sinister vampires at every turn in Lincoln’s life, his many pains and struggles are granted a common enemy—one upon which he can seek revenge, allowing the audience a healthy dose of catharsis along the way.

The novel can only be called a success, as it manages to achieve any and every goal its author could have possibly intended. The novelty of the book’s premise is dripping with enough promise to attract a wide range of readers, and it makes good on its promise throughout.

Although the author’s introduction may at first read as painful and unnecessary, the following chapters effectively erase any doubts one may hold about the book as a whole. Divided into chapters and three broader sections —“Boy,” “Vampire Hunter,” and “President”— the novel aims to capture Abe’s incredible life in its entirety, and does so in an effective manner.

“Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter” reworks the usual vampire lore — allowing its monsters to be active during daylight hours, most notably — to the effect of creating supernatural villains that will feel more relevant and real, if you will, than any romanticized “Count Dracula” type of character.

The book’s greatest success, though, is the level of justice it does Lincoln — never disrespectful (surprisingly enough) or silly, the book aptly conveys the life of a man who was of a higher calling and who faced the world with a quiet dignity. Vampires or no, Grahame-Smith’s novel will invariably teach readers more historical and personal information about this legendary figure than they might ever expect.

Despite whatever expectations or reservations readers may bring to it, “Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter” will win them over as it seamlessly transitions from somewhat of an action story to a more poignant tale that proves to be nothing if not engaging and often moving. By the novel’s end, the role of vampires in the story will be of secondary importance as readers become transfixed on Lincoln’s extraordinary life. In his acknowledgments, Grahame-Smith writes in apt and perfect brevity of his subject: “And finally, to Abe — for living a life that hardly needed vampires to make it incredible … ”