Welcome to the final review from February’s reading list, The Strain by Guillermo Del Toro and Chuck Hogan.
The Strain by Guillermo Del Toro and Chuck Hogan: Book Review
Blurb from The Back Cover
In one week, Manhattan could be gone.
An airplane arrives at New York’s JFK airport, taxis along a runway and suddenly stops dead. All the blinds are shut. All communication channels have mysteriously gone silent. Dr. Ephraim Goodweather – head of a rapid response team investigating biological threats – boards the darkened plane…and what he finds makes his blood run cold.
In four weeks, the country.
In a pawn shop in Spanish Harlem, aged Holocaust survivor Abraham Setrakian knows that the war he has been dreading his entire life has finally begun.
In eight weeks…the world.
Before the next sundown, Eph and Setrakain must undertake the ultimate fight for survival. A terrifying contagion has come to the unsuspecting city – hungry, merciless, lethal…vampiric?
My Thoughts on The Book
The Strain is a cleverly written book that puts a new spin on something as old as time. The vampires in this book are not the classic charming Dracula type (and they certainly don’t sparkle in the sun). They are perhaps more realistic as the vampire thing is played as a virus as much as anything.
The writers are very good at building suspense. In the first few pages where the aeroplane arrives, I found myself on the edge of my seat to find out what happened next, even though I already knew from reading the back cover. The writers have a knack of making a shiver go down your spine.
I also like the way they don’t hold back – they describe the carnage in great detail and aren’t afraid to portray these things realistically – they have no redeeming qualities and I find that much more realistic than some of the vampire stuff out there where they have a little remorse.
Conclusion and Rating
I really enjoyed reading The Strain and I am very much looking forward to the next 2 books in the trilogy. 4/5
I liked this trilogy.Fast paced, quick reads that put a different spin on the vampire legends. I watched the first season of the TV show and it was terrible. I’m not sure if its still on
I’ve just started the 2nd one. I love the unique take on the vampires. I have been meaning to look up the TV series, but I’m a little worried it won’t live up to the books (do they ever!) I might not bother now lol