The Strain (The Strain Trilogy Book 1) Kindle Edition

I read the Kindle version of this book on my iPad and it’s the first time I’ve noticed gripping the thing tightly as I was reading. So I’ve now created another bookshelf titled “white knuckle reading” just for this one. I’m not one to scare easily but this book had me holding my breath while turning the pages. It’s the beginning of an epic vampire trilogy that if you’re a fan of horror, you won’t be able to put down. I can highly recommend and I’m looking forward to the second one.

If there's one literary figure that has exploded into popularity in the world of literature, it would undoubtedly be the vampire. From tragic anti-heroes, unassuming victims, and mysterious paramours for those young adult novels we all love to hate, it's easy to realize how vampires have evolved from their yester-years of dreaded creatures of shadows to the subject of every teenage girl's idol fantasy. This metamorphosis has effectively drawn a line in the sand between those who would embrace this new identity for vampires, and those who reject it as a bastardization of the original iconic figure. I stand firmly in the middle of these two parties with an understanding of the original source material. The first example of vampire mythology found in Bram Stoker's classic Dracula depicted him as a tragic lover, who was rejected due to his nightmarish appearance and tendencies derived from his supernatural state of being. So in hindsight, vampires originally incorporated elements of romance while still maintaining their status as harrowing creatures. Today's interpretation prefers to largely forsake their monstrous traits in favor of a darker and more tragic romantic character, essentially every character trait teenagers gush over. With the market seemingly on overload with Twilight buzz and its various knockoffs, here comes a trilogy that chooses to forgo this new trend of vampires in favor of a much darker and downright frightening depiction. The Strain trilogy is exactly what vampires needed, a set of books that successfully restores the fear and darkness to one of fiction's most iconic creatures of the night.The Strain and its two follow-ups are actually the combined effort of author Chuck Hogan and the award-winning director Guillermo Del Toro, the creator of such acclaimed films like the surreal Pan's Labyrinth. The notion of two authors writing one book is a foreign one to me, thus I can't say who thought of what or influenced the other. Thus I don't want to disregard Hogan's work in the novel, after all this is a combined effort, yet Del Toro's influence in the book is undeniable from the moment you start reading. From the opening's chilling bedtime story, the eeriness from the coming storm, and the inevitable onslaught of blood that follows, the prose found in this book practically radiates darkness. The many horror scenes that follow are so superbly orchestrated that I could easily see them adapted to the big screen without a single word changed in the script. I've always been a skeptic regarding a novel's ability to scare or frighten the reader, yet The Strain books may be the first novels to make me question my stance. This book also isn't afraid of emotionally fatiguing the reader. While not every victim in the novel shares the same sense of emotional investment, many of their fates truly tug on one's heart-strings and further immerse the reader into the cataclysmic scale of the crisis. Yet the most impressive feat the two authors were able to accomplish was instilling a sense of dread and hopelessness in the story. Traditionally, most books often feel disconnected to the reader in the sense that you know the heroes will inevitably triumph and good will prevail, that isn't the case here. With the vampire virus's rapid infection rate and the heroes' seemingly fruitless attempts at stemming the tide, you begin to question if they can truly succeed. With the advent of two sequels, you know that a happy ending is seemingly out of the question.This book also has quite a slow start which admittedly led to a bit of skepticism, though as I delved further into the book's increasingly dark story, I began to see that this slow beginning may have been by design. Just like any great horror film the book takes its time in building its atmosphere and characters, methodically injecting them with just enough suspense and intrigue to the point that when the vampires finally make their grand entrance, the book has already built up enough suspense that it's ready to explode.It's clear that Hogan and Del Toro wanted to return vampires to their horror roots while reimagining them with a new visionary approach that they can claim as their very own. It starts by seemingly stripping the supernatural aspects from vampires almost entirely, paving the way for a biological approach that's grounded in realism and thus more believable, complemented even further by factual, albeit a little dense medical terminology from Hogan's own expertise. If this new perspective on vampires sounds akin to zombie mythos than you'd be right, for The Strain shares various aspects of the ever popular zombie sub-genre in both its style and themes. The clumsy lumbering bags of flesh with the sole intent of killing to stem their hunger, made even more frightening by the sheer desperation of being hopelessly outgunned by the hordes of the walking dead. It's these kinds of elements combined with several alterations to the vampire mythos that once again injects the vampire character with a much needed dosage of fear and a sense of the unknown that has long since been buried with today's reimagining in popular literature.A good thriller also needs great characters to become too attached to. Thanks to Hogan's experience on characterizing multi-faceted characters in his previous novels The Strain is able to succeed in this area. The first major character, Dr. Ephraim Goodweather's role in the novel is twofold. His expertise in the area of biological terror helps serve as a window of understanding for the reader, all through the eyes of a medical expert who provides such believable detail that you'd almost believe was factual evidence. He also provides a real sense of humanity that's easy for the reader to attach to. His devotion to his only child Zack is a very endearing element of the book that becomes nearly unbearable when his profession and ruined marriage prevents him from possessing his desired happiness with his son. The second of the two major protagonists and my personal favorite is Setrakian, an old holocaust survivor and the world's top aficionado on vampire lore. Like Ephraim, Setrakian exudes a strong sense of humanity that shines ever brighter in the ensuing tide of darkness. His selfless devotion of his entire life to fighting the undead makes for a character that's easy to root for... and the fact that he's a sword-wielding old man doesn't hurt either.However the one area where I garnered mixed feelings from the book came from the overload of minor characters that mostly devolve into red-shirts. These alternate characters provide different perspectives into the virus's alarming infection rate, and how it can tragically effect and ultimately end the lives of innocent bystanders which again pulls on one's emotions. The problem with these characters is that there are simply too many of them, thus their continued appearances eventually bogs the narrative down to a crawl. Some were interesting and able to make me care; others were not as fortunate and felt completely inconsequential in the grander scheme of the book.Though that one glaring flaw does prevent me from rating The Strain a five, it's still one of the darkest books I've ever read and easily my favorite in the genre. Del Toro's visionary direction combined with Hogan's expertise and characterization made for an exceptional first novel in a trilogy that should be read by any fan of horror. I'll be checking out the sequel... after I read something a bit more upbeat first.

Just finished reading this book and now I'm ready for the next book, I am scared, but so excited to begin, this is a nail boring read and I can 't wait to start it.

After thoroughly enjoying Guillermo Del Toro's film  Pan's Labyrinth --a miracle concatenation of whimsy amidst horror not unlike Roberto Benigni's " Life Is Beautiful "--Del Toro's collaboration with Chuck Hogan promised to be filled with imaginative creatures with some masterfully concocted psychological needs and personal histories that would hopefully exceed those of the typically depicted vampire civilizations in role playing games like ` Vampire: The Masquerade 2nd Ed (Vampire) ' and books from the classic Bram Stoker to the more benign Stephanie Meyers The Twilight Saga Collection .Sadly, "The Strain" bites down too hard on the wooden stick of the formulaic page-turning beach read. It takes a good idea--the physical state of vampirism viewed as a disease resulting from the infestation by virus or parasite (the authors seem confused as to which)--and then runs that it into the ground of too many examples of blood-lusting hosts allowing their invading cellular entities to feed furiously on too many John Q. Public victims. After about four vignette-styled chapters, where individual sufferers experience the metamorphosis from human to host body, the reader gets the picture and is fully aware of the consequences of being `turned.' Instead of delving into some psychological themes pertaining to the head vampire--ominously and boringly called "the Master" and his centuries-old associations with others of his kind, Del Toro and Hogan add insult to injury and just deliver more vignettes with more blood-chomping zombies seeking to satiate their lust for hemoglobin.Del Toro and Hogan toss us a bone (albeit it gnarled) every now and then--the plot starts off with a bang: a plane lands at JFK and then mysteriously shuts down on the tarmac. A startled ground crew discovers that those on board have mysteriously died. Of course, the CDC is called in with Dr. Eph Goodweather of the broken family in command. On the sidelines, ever vigilant is Abraham Setrakian-a professor and concentration camp survivor turned pawnbroker with an arsenal of silver up his sleeves--his stories of the Master curdle the blood especially if you are reading at night just before turning off the night table lamp. But, Dr Eph's problems with his ex-wife, her new mate and his son, do not add up to any new exploration of vampire horizons. It just sounds like it is, a rudimentary character background blurb for the protagonist in a horror flick. As this is the first installment, perhaps the other two episodes will flesh out the vampire kingdom and its woes.Vampires as disease victims, presents a compelling scenario in the wake of swine and chicken flu epidemics in our every day world. However, the presentation of mindless hosts lusting only for blood does not stimulate the minds of those vampire lovers who enjoy digging a little deeper and turning a compassionate eye on creatures who have literally stood the test of time. Remember the old after hours show, " Forever Knight - The Trilogy, Part 1 (1992 - 1993) " with its memorable trio of vampires, Nicholas Knight, Lucien La Croix and Janette? They were unforgettable because of great scripts that provided their ancient history as motivation in the context of the modern story. Most likely, the Strain's Masters have such a background and their war and its motivations will be treated with the respect it deserves in the subsequent two thirds of the trilogy.Bottom line? "The Strain" looks at vampirism as a viral epidemic that doesn't leave much room for any psychological intrigue or character development once the victims have `turned.' Structured as a typical page-turner, the third person narration looks at a dastardly situation from a series of vantage points that work for a while, but them becomes formulaic. One of the climatic scenes at the end seems over edited and disjointed. Authors Del Toro and Hogan have not quite made up their minds about the actual rules for their virus/parasite--vampires in this tale still cannot cross water without human help and take a page from the werewolf notebook as to their dislike of silver. This mixing of legend and biology and legend is good but as you can see not perfect. Recommended as a fast beach read.Diana Faillace Von Behren"reneofc"

Mind-blowing! I totally recommend this book for anyone who enjoys thrillers. It's so well written that it got me hooked from the beginning.

It is a perfect horror thriller.The premise is there,the detailing is there and the pace is there.It is fit for a non stop one time reading. You will definitely love it if you love the vampire genre. The tone is not exactly Ann Rice but it is not dumb as the twilight series either. I have bought the second book already.

I was browsing around on the overdrive of my library and saw this book. The title called to me first and then the cover!! I remember being excited to watch the show when it first aired so I was really surprised to see that it was based on a book. I have to say that the show pretty much stayed true to the book.With the strain it is a neat idea on the vampire plague. These are not your normal vampires and the way the authors used descriptions on the way they fed and how they were affected was awesome. I could actually visual it. The stingers that these vamps have are just freaky.This is not your regular vampire story that will make you fall in love with them. These guys are the ones that you hope the good guys kill off.Another neat part of the story I liked was how the characters had to use UV lights to see the worms that were inside of people. For me that does seem unique as I have never read that before anywhere else.We are introduced to Eph who works for the CDC, while working for the CDC he also has to deal with personal issues with his home life and the custody of his son.When he gets a call he isn't prepared for what it is going to lead to, as the story builds up he gets the answers via someone who has been hunting this plague down. We get the back story of Abraham and why he hunts which I thought was good so we just weren't making assumptions. It will be up to a small team of people to stop this virus from leaving but can they stop it in time?As far as characters go they were all well developed and the plot was steady. I will be reading book two to see what will happen next.If you want a new outlook on vampires, not much gore then pick this book up.

Os autores conseguiram brincar de forma bastante surpreendente com a figura dos vampiros. Ao contrário de caracterizá-los como amaldiçoados a explicação dentro do romance é pseudo-científica e isso faz toda a diferença.Imagino que muitas das passagens e abordagens narrativas tenham sido ideia do del Toro, muitas cenas foram descritas em um ritmo cinematográfico. Ao Hogan "sobrou" a árdua tarefa de dar corpo a obra, e ele fez isso de forma bastante competente.O enredo em si não é nada espetacular, mas entretém e me faz querer ler as duas outras continuações.

No sparkly, sympathic creatures here! del Toro always has a fresh perspective on horror and the appcalyptic world he has fashioned here is no exception. The human characters are well moulded and the non human ones are creepier than anything I've seen in a long, long time.There are no wasted words on these pages, the story is taut and fast paced- I can't wait to finish the series.