Blood Oath is a 2010 horror thriller novel by Christopher Farnsworth, the first in his Nathaniel Cade series. It centers on three main characters: Nathaniel Cade, a vampire more than 160 years old, currently bound by a blood oath to serve and protect the President of the United States; former Federal Bureau of Investigation Agent William Griffin, or "Griff," Cade's handler for more than 30 years, and Zach Barrows, a former White House staffer that is Griff's replacement. The novel focuses on a deadly new threat to the United States from a horrible biological attack.
Contents
Development
Farnsworth has stated that the idea behind this book came from the strange story of President Andrew Johnson's pardon of a man accused of being a vampire, as related by Robert Damon Schneck and Charles Fort. He reasoned that if this story was true, how powerful of an agent for the United States could that vampire become, and how much good would he be able to do?
Plot summary
An Army Ranger unit is reassigned from hunting an Al-Qaeda terrorist cell in Iraq, to suddenly a clandestine mission in the unstable Republic of Kosovo, with details classified by the army's superiors. The unit conducts surveillance and maintains a security perimeter on a pack of Serbian thugs as night falls. A mysterious operative is then brought before the Serbian pack's leader and attempts to bargain with them for a metal box marked with US Army stencils that was stolen in rioting at the country's embassy. The operative attempts to trade a large bag of money for the case. However, the leader refuses to honour the agreement and, despite clear warnings by the operative, has his men attack the figure. One of the soldiers, veteran sniper Specialist Wayne Denton, witnesses the unusual operative suddenly react inhumanly fast and strong and proceeds to systematically kill them all, expertly and withstanding no injuries. Denton tries to kill the leader when he believes he will escape, only to find the leader is similarly fast and avoids his shot. Enraged, the leader races up to Denton's position to kill him. The operative, finished with the pack, intervenes at the last moment and kills the leader - witnessing the fight between them up close, Denton realizes what he is seeing: the Serbians were werewolves, and the operative, as he leaves, reveals he is a vampire. The unit is sworn to secrecy and returns to its mission the next day.
Twenty hours later, political operative Zachary Taylor "Zach" Barrows is escorted by Special Agent William Hawley "Griff" Griffin to the Smithsonian Institution directly from a meeting with Samuel Curtis, the President of the United States, at the White House. Zach, a savvy and capable rising star in the world of US politics, and previously the White House deputy director of political affairs, attempts to understand his situation. Griff rebuffs his attempts under the premise of "information containment" (Zach will know what he needs to know, when he needs to know it). Griff then silences Zach completely by revealing his own opinion that Zach is in his situation as, while drunk, Zach was caught by the Secret Service having sex with the president's daughter, Candace.
Upon arrival and entrance to the Smithsonian's oldest area, Griff brings Zach into the "Reliquary"; a hidden base containing relics (e.g. skeletal remains, robot pieces, crystal skulls, stone tablets, carved idols etc.) never before seen by the general public. As Griff explains, they are trophies kept by its occupant: Nathaniel Cade, the President's Vampire (and the mysterious operative from Kosovo). Griff reveals to Zach that vampires and creatures like them are very real, all part of the "Other Side" (a world of darkness and evil that surrounds the human world) and on a regular basis, they make attempts to infiltrate, overrun and wipe out the human race. Griff, a veteran former FBI agent, has acted as Cade's latest liaison for the office of the president. Nearing retirement, Zach has been chosen to succeed Griff, as President Curtis considers him loyal and a member of his inner circle who can be trusted to be "in the knowledge" about Cade. It is later revealed in a discussion with Zach out of the room that Griff is terminally ill with cancer.
Themes
Self-control/sacrifice: Cade is unique in vampires in that he refuses, in spite of agonizing pain and wild desire, to drink human blood. This stems from his traumatic conversion from human to vampire. He subsists on animal blood, and in a unique twist, he helps fight his thirst for blood by attending Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, drawing strength from alcoholics who fight their thirst every day of their lives.
Religion: Cade's constant self-damnation contrasts with his fanatical fight to serve and protect, rather than feed on, humans. This constant struggle has been described by Farnsworth as stemming from Cade being raised Calvinist, with a strong belief in predestination and the damnation of most of humanity., He also objects when those around him blaspheme by using the Lord's name in vain, and wears a worn cross around his neck, despite its physical discomfort.
Fear of unknown: Besides the obvious "cool" factor to vampires, Farnsworth describes much of the story reflecting society's current fears. He states that "Whenever we have trouble facing our fears head-on, we call out the monsters. In the 50s, it was the alien invasion movie. In the 80s, it was the relentless, unstoppable serial killer. And now, we're dealing with the war on terror with vampires and zombies."
Literary reviews
In The Washington Post, Elizabeth Hand praised Blood Oath as an "irresistible page-turner", and noted that it used the same themes as The Manchurian Candidate and Invasion of the Body Snatchers. The New York Times has Blood Oath topping their summer reading list. The New York Post described it as a "rollicking Washington thriller", and "required reading". The Wall Street Journal called it "silly but better than Twilight."
References and inspirations
Farnsworth admits to being a fan of many other vampire novels, though he claims to stay away from them while writing. He has described Zach as the type of person that he might have become had he stayed the political path instead of reporting.
Film adaptation
According to Fangoria.com, Blood Oath has been optioned by producer Lucas Foster, the man behind Man on Fire, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, Equilibrium and Law Abiding Citizen, among many others. Farnsworth, who will have an executive producer credit for the film, has not had much to say about the production other than his great desire to have Christian Bale in the title role of Cade and Justin Long filling in for Zach.
"For Cade, I would love to see Christian Bale. He's a chameleonic actor who can portray the best and worst in people. For Zach, I always saw Justin Long (The "Mac" in the "Mac and PC" commercials from Apple.)"
Future works
Farnsworth has recently released book three, titled Red, White and Blood, and states that he would like to continue Cade's adventures for quite some time. "I've got ideas and outlines for 10 books in the series. I'm not sure how much further I'll go after that, but as long as people keep buying them, we'll get at least to number 10."
Tour
Farnsworth went on a cross country book reading and signing tour. He visited various cities in California, Colorado, Arizona, Idaho, Oregon and Texas, and finished in Bakersfield, California at the end of June, with a Halloween Night event in Irvine, CA.
