[The Strain] continues the metamorphosis that has kept vampire lore fresh and frightening for centuries. In today’s world, the very nature and purpose of legends of the undead are turned on their head. Scientific perspectives offer a new way to process what were once fables and cautionary tales designed to help explain unusual happenings. But Del Toro and Hogan seem to arm themselves with the old fashioned tales for the very purpose of assaulting scientific thought in favor of fantasy and myth.

The book begins with a Boeing 777, the new behemoth, luxury liner of the skies, arriving in New York with all passengers and crew inexplicably dead. The CDC’s Canary Team, led by Ephraim Goodweather, analyzes every detail of the plane and the bodies but finds no known scientific explanation for what they see. An eight foot coffin, from the cargo hold of the plane, disappears from a secure area without trace. Then, all of the passenger’s bodies disappear from the morgue. Ephraim is then approached by a pawnshop broker from Spanish Harlem, a man who is much more than he seems, and who seems to understand far more about what is happening than any doctor and scientist. Ephraim’s eyes are opened to a whole new world of possibilities that can only be partially explained by science, and he must act as more of a destroyer than a healer to save New York City.

This first novel, in what is meant to be a trilogy, was sometimes predictable and often felt more like a screenplay, waiting for a blockbuster budget. But the characters were interesting and more fully formed than the typical Hollywood offering. Hogan, a tested and successful novelist, held up his end of the bargain, flavoring the story with solid, exciting prose. Del Toro, known for his fantastical visions, created a gritty, unusual myth structure for his take on vampires. So, outside of the sometimes formulaic feeling, this is a great addition to the lore, much more satisfying than the currently poplar, more romantic and sparkly vampires from [Twilight].

If you enjoyed this, even a little, try David Morell’s [The Totem].

Bottom Line: Sometimes formulaic, but always enjoyable and exciting reading. A great marriage of creative minds.

4 ½ bones!!!! ( )

I actually started reading this book at night while traveling on an airplane and had to put it down after the first few chapters because it gave me a case of the willies. The story begins with the discovery of a plane which had landed at JFK with all aboard dead, not something that I wanted to be reading up in the air. After I got home and picked it up again, the willies disappeared and disappointment set in.

The Strain has its moments, but if you've read any vampire novels at all, you've read this book. Not only are there replays of several vampire books (especially Matheson's I Am Legend, but also They Thirst by McCammon, Salem's Lot by Stephen King, Brian Lumley's fabulous Necroscope and more) but if you've read any of the Repairman Jack series or the Adversary cycle of F. Paul Wilson (especially elements of The Keep), you will recognize basic character and plot elements in the story. In short, this has all been done before, which is very sad, because basically reading a rerun tended to make the book much less suspenseful, and I have to say that I accurately predicted the end which most likely leads to the action in book two. I haven't really had a good horror novel in my hands lately, and had been hoping to allow myself a good scare, but alas, it was not to be with this book. I really wanted to like it, but I did not.

However, the overall rating everywhere seems to be a 4/5, so maybe I'm just more demanding in what I'm searching for in a horror novel. I'd recommend it to readers of vampire horror fiction, with the caveat that if you've read some of the best books in the genre, be prepared for a rehash mishmash. ( )

A plane lands in NYC from Germany, then promptly shuts down. All the people on board are dead but 4. The CDC is brought in, thinkiing they were killed by some sort of a virus. Then they all turn into vampires and try to eat NYC.

Overly violent, with plot elements (such as the Eclipse) that never come to conclusion. I read this because it was "highly recommended," but only my inistence on getting through every book I start caused me to read it to conclusion. I'll not be looking for Book Two. ( )

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. ( )