My husband picked this out for me because I liked the Twilight series and Sookie Stackhouse, and although it deals with vampires this is a very disturbing look at vampires. It features vampires whose heads flip back and reveal a blood sucking tongue (for lack of a better word) and some worm like things. Definitely in the "horror" genre and only for those with strong stomachs and not prone to nightmares. ( )

What a scary book! I had no clue it was a zombie/vampire thriller. I kept on wanting to close my eyes during the gory/scary parts...like in a movie. But that obviously doesn't work with a book.

I'll admit that it wasn't what I thought it was going to be. I guess I was expecting a little more, hmmm, originality from the maker of Pan's Labyrinth. That said...it's still a fun book to scare the living daylights out of you.

And I do credit them for making a great merge between zombies and vampires and coming up with an ultra-scary character/monster.

P.S. This is the first book in a trilogy. I had no clue about that. (Apparently I need to pay more attention to these things.) Had I known, I probably wouldn't have picked it up just because I hate hate waiting for the next book in series. But yeah, I'll probably read the next two books when they come out. Because I NEED to know how it ends. Darn you book.

P.P.S. Am I the only one who wasn't too thrilled that the main character's name is Ephraim a.k.a. Eph. Kind of annoyed me in a mild weird way.

P.P.P.S. I LOVE that it takes place in New York City because the whole rat thing was so insanely creepy. If you don't know what I'm talking about...read the book. I seriously get creeped out when I see rats in the park and the dogs try and chase them. Although we have bigger problems with raccoons and skunks (yes...I live in Manhattan). And I also found out, while reading this, about a cool piece of NYC history. I had no clue about the abandoned City Hall subway stop. I had to stop reading and look it up. ( )

With all the hype lately for the Stephanie Meyer books and those movie adaptations, it's heartening to see someone return to the good old fashioned blood-curdling, mind-numbing vampires of old.

When I picked up 'The Strain', I was initially concerned, finding myself asking: "Why... are they doing this?" Based on the back cover blurbs, The Strain was geared up to be a mash-up/homage of Salem's Lot and I Am Legend. And I immediately thought - Why? Why do we need this, since those two are basic classics in the genre to begin with? And secondly - do we need this to be a three-part series (concluding in 2011)?

But I read it anyway, intrigued by the press, the reviews and the concept, and - if for nothing else I'd get a good Halloween read in, and have a chance to clear my mind of all the young-adult vampires flying around out there.

I'm glad to say it was mostly worth it: the setup is Salem's Lot, except instead of King's typical small town horror, del Toro and Hogan have elevated the stakes, centering on New York City (where we'll end up having the implications of I Am Legend in terms of a more massive scale infestation of vampires).

All this is great, well-written and suspenseful. And very disturbing. There are a few new twists on the vampires, the virus at their core, and their powers and limitations that make this all fun. And I am looking forward to the next two novels. But I do have some problems.

1) Why name the protagonist 'Abraham'? Come on. We get it already. He's Van Helsing, exactly, down to his East European background, his accent, his beliefs, everything. It was enough to have him as the wise man who has had run-ins with the vampires and will counsel the other heroes on how to kill these things. There's going to be enough comparisons and criticisms of this work based on its borrowing from other classic that you don't need to encourage it.

2) I know Dan Simmons even gave a nice blurb on the back cover, but with all due respect, his CARRION COMFORT was a much more original, epic vampire novel, one that I'd argue is the best vampire novel ever written - about a group of psychic vampires who use humans as cattle - and pawns in their own power struggles. This is a concept The Strain also 'borrows'/introduces late in the novel as we realize The Master has broken the vampire rules, and that the other vamp lords are pissed. So again, it's not original, and Simmons' work is a tremendous classic, and one that actually ends in one novel, albeit a long one that could have been likewise broken up into three if he were greedy.

3) I agree with some of the other reviewers in that the biological/supernatural 'rules' these vampires follow (reflections in mirrors, sleeping in dirt, crossing running water) need to be fleshed out better - and I hope that gets addressed in the next novels. But right now it seems the authors are trying to have it both ways.

4) Maybe I missed something, but if the point was to get the Master into the new world so he could begin the plague to spread the virus and control everything, and if crossing water is a real problem - why choose New York, which is an island? Again, maybe I missed it, but it seems, as Abraham hopes - we've got a way to contain this virus already. Thank God the Master didn't land in Phoenix or LA or something where there would be no stopping the spread...

So again, The Strain was a fun read, and I'm glad to see the monstrous vampires and their viral implications returning to the spotlight, but it just doesn't feel that original to me, serving more as a current diversion, and a reminder that I should go back and reread the other classics from which it borrows its material: Carrion Comfort, Salem's Lot and I am Legend (and of course, Dracula). ( )

So i didnt actually read this, i got he audiobook (first time ever) because i heard Ron Pearlman was the narrator. Fantastic! I was sold! The story was good and with the great imagination of Del Toro behind it, how could it not be? I even brought it to work and refused to talk to anyone, i just had to find out what happened next. Then i went to the web site out of curiosity; officially the creepiest book website ever. This book was a great experience, one that i'm happy i experienced.

On September 24, 2010, a plane lands at JFK airport in New York City. Immediately on landing, the plane goes dark, all of the window blinds pulled down, and the doors completely locked. Ephraim Goodweather has been spending time with his son, Zack, in the lead-up to a custody battle, but he is called away from his weekend off work to investigate the plane. On arrival, he and his partner Nora realize that it is full of dead people, bar four very ill exceptions. The dead people are unusual, though, in that they appear to be full of a strange white liquid, not blood, and their bodies haven’t deteriorated at all. Eph is mystified until an old man, Abraham Setrakian, approaches him with an extraordinary tale and an urgent mission.

At times, The Strain reads like a movie on paper. Everything is very visual, from the descriptions of the scenes to the alteration between chapters to the way it cuts across the perspectives of the characters. It’s easy to imagine this on a big screen, a difficult feat for someone like me. I rarely envision what I’m reading as I go along, but I couldn’t avoid imagine these pictures. While that’s not necessarily a fault, the book had a startling amount of gory descriptions and action scenes, so I don’t think this book is for the squeamish. It had my stomach rolling at times because I could for once picture all the nastiness associated with the vampires.

What does work without a doubt is the intense, ceaseless suspense and quick pace of the novel. It only takes place over a few days, but so much happens in those days as the mystery is established, solved, and the characters set out to save the world. The timescale never feels unrealistic, especially because we don’t stay with the few main characters all the time. We’re also given viewpoint perspective for a few of the victims and their families, which really drives the emotional impact of the entire situation. The authors are very good at establishing sympathetic characters in a very small number of words, which definitely impressed me. Of course, the main characters, especially Eph, are easy to care about as well. Eph in particular virtually lives for his son, but his chances of winning custody are slimmed even further when he has to save the human race. His priorities break his heart, and they break ours too.

While The Strain is not for the faint hearted, it is certainly an exciting ride, and is meant to be the first in the trilogy. I know I will be looking forward to seeing what happens next! ( )