High-concept thriller with a supernatural edge from world-famous director, whose films include Pan's Labyrinth and Hellboy. A plane lands at JFK and mysteriously 'goes dark', stopping in the middle of the runway for no apparent reason, all lights off, all doors sealed. The pilots cannot be raised. When the hatch above the wing finally clicks open, it soon becomes clear that everyone on board is dead -- although there is no sign of any trauma or struggle. Ephraim Goodweather and his team from the Center for Disease Control must work quickly to establish the cause of this strange ocurrence before panic spreads. The first thing they discover is that four of the victims are actually still alive. But that's the only good news. And when all two hundred corpses disappear from various morgues around the city on the same night, things very rapidly get worse. Soon Eph and a small band of helpers will find themselves battling to protect not only their own loved ones, but the whole city, against an ancient threat to humanity.
The Strain
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‘The first in a trilogy that soars with spellbinding intrigue. Truly, an unforgettable tale you can’t put down once you read the first page. I can’t wait until the next one.’ Clive Cussler
‘Blood and apocalypse mix in a terrifying story that feels like it was ripped from today's headlines. Vividly wrought and relentlessly paced, THE STRAIN haunts as much as it terrifies. I cannot wait to see where Del Toro and Hogan take us next.’ James Rollins
‘A rattling piece of escapism’ The Times
‘An entertaining mix of action blockbuster and vampire myth … with Del Toro’s talent for creating fantastical, macabre characters shining through … an exciting page-turner’ Metro
‘Del Toro and Hogan succeed in constructing a driving plot and delivering a gripping conclusion. Great characters … and a flair for striking scenes get this trilogy off to a first-rate start. Kirkus Reviews
Review
Best known as an innovative film director, Mexican Guillermo Del Toro makes his first foray into literature alongside thriller writer Chuck Hogan with this entertaining mix of action blockbuster and vampire myth. With an obvious nod to bram stoker's Dracula, The Strain follows the story of a plane that lands in New York with nearly all passangers dead and a mysterious, earth filled coffin in the hold.
Whether it's the curious dual authorship or just a desire to set the scene accurately, the beginning of the story is a disappointingly sluggish mass of technical description. Thankfully, once The Strain is unleashed and a host of half-zombie, half-vampire creatures start laying waste to New York, the book shifts up a few gears, with Del Toro's talent for creating fantastical, macarbre characters shining through. As part of an intended triology, The Strain ends on a hesitant note but it's still an exciting page turner, perfect for those with a taste for the gruesome.
'The Strain takes a horror staple and gives it a modern patina'
Whether it's the curious dual authorship or just a desire to set the scene accurately, the beginning of the story is a disappointingly sluggish mass of technical description. Thankfully, once The Strain is unleashed and a host of half-zombie, half-vampire creatures start laying waste to New York, the book shifts up a few gears, with Del Toro's talent for creating fantastical, macarbre characters shining through. As part of an intended triology, The Strain ends on a hesitant note but it's still an exciting page turner, perfect for those with a taste for the gruesome.
'The Strain takes a horror staple and gives it a modern patina'
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
By John Milton
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
I picked this up on the recommendation of a friend. They were of the opinion that I would LOVE this given that (and I'm not ruining anything here since it's on the cover of the book) it's all about a vampiric plague infesting New York.
The novel sees the arrival of a plane in New York City and the efforts by a CDC doctor, a disgraced European professor and assorted others in a race against time to fight the vampire contagion and `The Master'.
That short synopsis is effectively what the book is all about and that would have been enough to snare my attention and make me part with a few Queen's Heads for the book; but the big attraction for me was the author: Guillermo Del Toro, the man behind Mimic, Blade II, Hellboy and Pan's Labyrinth. I was later to discover that Del Toro, although lending his name to this novel, submitted a 12 page layout and let co-writer Chuck Hogan do the rest.
However, I have to say, that considering this man put his name to the tome, I was quite disappointed. Allow me to seemingly contradict myself here, please do not doubt I enjoyed this book thoroughly! My problem lies with the fact that given Del Toro is identified as the author, the novel lacks the striking originality of much of his work, in fact, `The Strain' is an incredibly derivative piece of work. Allow me to explain...
Early in the novel, a plane lands at JFK airport in mysterious circumstances carrying a strange cargo; much like the Demeter in Bram Stoker's Dracula. Instead of a Transylvanian Count, we have a Polish nobleman. The Van Helsing of The Strain is a Holocaust survivor and we have a CDC doctor instead of Jonathan Harker.
Many reviewers seem to think that Del Toro was doffing his cap to the horror granddaddy with such references.... Read more ›
The novel sees the arrival of a plane in New York City and the efforts by a CDC doctor, a disgraced European professor and assorted others in a race against time to fight the vampire contagion and `The Master'.
That short synopsis is effectively what the book is all about and that would have been enough to snare my attention and make me part with a few Queen's Heads for the book; but the big attraction for me was the author: Guillermo Del Toro, the man behind Mimic, Blade II, Hellboy and Pan's Labyrinth. I was later to discover that Del Toro, although lending his name to this novel, submitted a 12 page layout and let co-writer Chuck Hogan do the rest.
However, I have to say, that considering this man put his name to the tome, I was quite disappointed. Allow me to seemingly contradict myself here, please do not doubt I enjoyed this book thoroughly! My problem lies with the fact that given Del Toro is identified as the author, the novel lacks the striking originality of much of his work, in fact, `The Strain' is an incredibly derivative piece of work. Allow me to explain...
Early in the novel, a plane lands at JFK airport in mysterious circumstances carrying a strange cargo; much like the Demeter in Bram Stoker's Dracula. Instead of a Transylvanian Count, we have a Polish nobleman. The Van Helsing of The Strain is a Holocaust survivor and we have a CDC doctor instead of Jonathan Harker.
Many reviewers seem to think that Del Toro was doffing his cap to the horror granddaddy with such references.... Read more ›
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
By Manda Moo
VINE™ VOICE
Format:Paperback
Whilst I enjoyed the style of writing used throughout The Strain, and was intrigued by the various strands of the story as they appeared I felt that a promising start dissolved into a rather lack lustre book. The story got a bit tired and relentless after the middle, I felt that it could have been about 200 pages shorter and still said the same things. I can't believe the story extends even further into a trilogy, but then I suppose there's still the potential of vampires spreading to the rest of the world isn't there. I might read the other books, but I'm not in a huge hurry.
If you are a fan of vampire stories, this is a good one, but with a good editing it could be much better and tighter.
If you are a fan of vampire stories, this is a good one, but with a good editing it could be much better and tighter.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
By Angela
Format:Paperback
*THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS*
A good friend of mine sent me this in the post a couple of years ago and it's just been sitting on my bookshelf ever since collecting dust. I totally forgot that I even owned it until another friend was talking to me about it, so I eventually picked it up to read.
Modern vampire books worry me ever since `Twilight' became so inexplicably popular but thankfully this reads more like a Stephen King vampire concept (see 'Salems Lot) than Meyer's sparkling stalker. This is how vampires are supposed to behave - basically as evil beings.
Del Toro and Hogan have written a novel which adds a new dimension to vampire lore. I loved the concept of the vampire acting more as part of a hive as opposed to being an individual. I also loved how the vampire is viewed as a contagious virus and the description of how this virus is spread - those blood worms were fairly horrifying, and the white blood adds a nice creepy and gory element to it.
This book took me about 100 pages to get in to it as the beginning is extremely slow paced, and quite frankly dull. The writing is not particularly good either, but then I was expecting that as the friend who sent me the book had kindly put a note inside the covers telling me this was a trashy read but fun. He was correct; this IS a trashy, fun read and one that horror fans would lap up as there are some definite creepy moments in it. One element of the writing I loved were the flashbacks with Setrakian; an excellent use of storytelling and added a whole new level of creepiness to the novel in general.
A few things concern me though, and I am putting this down to bad writing. There are gaping holes in the plot which I find difficult to overlook.... Read more ›
A good friend of mine sent me this in the post a couple of years ago and it's just been sitting on my bookshelf ever since collecting dust. I totally forgot that I even owned it until another friend was talking to me about it, so I eventually picked it up to read.
Modern vampire books worry me ever since `Twilight' became so inexplicably popular but thankfully this reads more like a Stephen King vampire concept (see 'Salems Lot) than Meyer's sparkling stalker. This is how vampires are supposed to behave - basically as evil beings.
Del Toro and Hogan have written a novel which adds a new dimension to vampire lore. I loved the concept of the vampire acting more as part of a hive as opposed to being an individual. I also loved how the vampire is viewed as a contagious virus and the description of how this virus is spread - those blood worms were fairly horrifying, and the white blood adds a nice creepy and gory element to it.
This book took me about 100 pages to get in to it as the beginning is extremely slow paced, and quite frankly dull. The writing is not particularly good either, but then I was expecting that as the friend who sent me the book had kindly put a note inside the covers telling me this was a trashy read but fun. He was correct; this IS a trashy, fun read and one that horror fans would lap up as there are some definite creepy moments in it. One element of the writing I loved were the flashbacks with Setrakian; an excellent use of storytelling and added a whole new level of creepiness to the novel in general.
A few things concern me though, and I am putting this down to bad writing. There are gaping holes in the plot which I find difficult to overlook.... Read more ›
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
By Serious
Format:Paperback
I fail to see how anyone could give this book full 5 stars to be honest. It was very cliched and very poorly written. What struck me most was all of the 'Tell' which was generally lazy writing. I think Mr Toro should stick to screen writing. Novels aren't for him.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
By AndyH
Format:Paperback
Written by Helen. Unfortunately, the name Guillermo Del Toro sold this to me, on the back of his fantastic movies Pan's Labyrinth, The Devil's Backbone, and Cronos; I will not be making the mistake again. I kept giving it chance after chance to come to life as a story, but it was really badly written, the characters were unconvincing, and the story was in no way frightening, intelligent, or time-worthy or even thought-worthy. I am only bothering to give it more time by writing this review, in the hope that I may save someone else the disappointment that is Strain. I will not even be giving it to a charity shop - I hate the thought of someone else wasting money and time on such a desperately dreadful book. Unbelievably disappointing. I hope I never see the name Chuck Hogan again. If you haven't read it yet, you'd be much better off reading The Passage by Justin Cronin - that is worth both time and money.
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3.8 out of 5 stars
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great book
Zombies, vampires, Nazis and epidemiologists this book has it all. A definite worthwhile read. Full of action and suspense. Would highly recommend reading this.
Published 7 days ago by joshua Dolan
1.0 out of 5 stars
I'm sorry...
...but, if he wrote this, he should stick to his day job because there is no comparison between the awful prose and his directorial imaginings. Read more
Published 25 days ago by John Guiller-McCallum
3.0 out of 5 stars
Ok
I didn't hate this book but it was unremarkable and not that readable, to be honest I was pretty disappointed.
Published 1 month ago by Miss R A Clarke
3.0 out of 5 stars
cracking start, not as good as it should have been
For me, this book is a lesson in unfulfilled potential. Whether or not the 2nd and 3rd books redeem them I dont know, as I havent read them, however I finished this feeling... Read more
Published 1 month ago by djf
5.0 out of 5 stars
Cracking read
First in the Strain trilogy, and introduces us to the horror of the Master!
The Trilogy is a fantastic story of vampires, their takeover of the world and the resistance trying... Read more
The Trilogy is a fantastic story of vampires, their takeover of the world and the resistance trying... Read more
Published 2 months ago by DJHEW
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good
Very good read, does tend to drag in places but I liked how they made the virus n vampires believable. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Kirsty
5.0 out of 5 stars
One of the scariest books I've read
Having read all three books of the trilogy, I must say that this is one of the most realistic, and scary vampire stories I've ever read. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Gina
5.0 out of 5 stars
Buy, buy, buy
Just brilliant. Some books you read and some you actually create your own movie in your head. This, for me, was one such book. I tried the sample first and it just hooked him. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Kevin
3.0 out of 5 stars
Still considering whether i want to Read the the 2nd Book in the...
I am Not a Vampire Book Type Person but having Read the Passage and loved it i thought i would give this Book a try As indicated it was ok at Times i could Not put it down but... Read more
Published 4 months ago by Sweetie
5.0 out of 5 stars
The strain
I was pleased to receive this book quickly and I have read it. It's different to most books I've read and it certainly keep my attention although the story itself contains... Read more
Published 4 months ago by Mary
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