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3.62 AVERAGE
3.62 AVERAGE
dark
medium-paced
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Really liked this book. Was disappointed with the sequel, but this book was great and very much worth reading.
Last year I acknowledged that I needed to read more horror. Joining Read It, Swap It allowed me to do that and to break away from the Herbert and King work that had become the core of my genre reading. One of the works that pricked my ears up was this interesting nugget co-written by one of my favourite film directors.
JFK International Airport. A Jumbo Jet lands and immediately all of the electrical systems and engines shut down. It does not as instructed taxi to its allocated gate. What's more, all of the shutters are drawn and all attention of airport staff is focused on this bizarre aircraft as it sits there, on the tarmac, doing nothing. After all attempts to contact any crew or passengers fail, security services decide to break in.
When they eventually get the crate open, they discover that the entire crew and passenger list is dead of a mysterious and inexplicable illness. Over the following hours, a solar eclipse passes over eastern North America allowing the wheels to be set in motion for the main crux of the story - the vampire apocalypse. At the centre of this, Dr Ephraim Goodweather, head of a rapid response team investigating biological threats and Abraham Setrakian, a holocaust survivor with a chilling tale to tell. Together they must discover the menace that has infected New York City and prevent a disaster.
In the early part of the book, despite the growing tension, I don't really get a sense of the growing unease from the various characters. We are told about it but it isn't properly transmitted in the writing style in perhaps the way that Justin Cronin's The Passage did so perfectly. However, vampires need to be scary again and this is achieved rather effectively, especially as the nature of the infection inches rather than charges forward. We are nearly half way through the book before we see any sign of the infection in the general population. Setrakian's story is also incredibly illustrated as he describes a vampire eating its way through the population of a concentration camp - cautiously selecting those who are close to death. Eventually, there is a break-out at the camp and Setrakian finds the creature. This takes it from what would have been an average horror novel to a good horror novel.
It didn't blow me away though, there was too much about it that was all done before but it does have a few interesting takes on vampire lore most notably that there have only ever been seven in the world - three in the old world and three in the new world who have a pact never to cross into each other's territory with one renegade always threatening to declare war on the other six. They are also presented more as parasitical than they have been in the past, comparisons to leeches and fluke worms rather than bats or rats.
You should probably read it, but you will forget it soon after completion. It is part of a trilogy and the final two parts were released in 2010 and 2011 respectively. FX in the USA are currently producing a TV version (which was the original intention but Del Toro couldn't convince anybody to make it - with the success of The Walking Dead, this has clearly changed).
See more book reviews at my blog
JFK International Airport. A Jumbo Jet lands and immediately all of the electrical systems and engines shut down. It does not as instructed taxi to its allocated gate. What's more, all of the shutters are drawn and all attention of airport staff is focused on this bizarre aircraft as it sits there, on the tarmac, doing nothing. After all attempts to contact any crew or passengers fail, security services decide to break in.
When they eventually get the crate open, they discover that the entire crew and passenger list is dead of a mysterious and inexplicable illness. Over the following hours, a solar eclipse passes over eastern North America allowing the wheels to be set in motion for the main crux of the story - the vampire apocalypse. At the centre of this, Dr Ephraim Goodweather, head of a rapid response team investigating biological threats and Abraham Setrakian, a holocaust survivor with a chilling tale to tell. Together they must discover the menace that has infected New York City and prevent a disaster.
In the early part of the book, despite the growing tension, I don't really get a sense of the growing unease from the various characters. We are told about it but it isn't properly transmitted in the writing style in perhaps the way that Justin Cronin's The Passage did so perfectly. However, vampires need to be scary again and this is achieved rather effectively, especially as the nature of the infection inches rather than charges forward. We are nearly half way through the book before we see any sign of the infection in the general population. Setrakian's story is also incredibly illustrated as he describes a vampire eating its way through the population of a concentration camp - cautiously selecting those who are close to death. Eventually, there is a break-out at the camp and Setrakian finds the creature. This takes it from what would have been an average horror novel to a good horror novel.
It didn't blow me away though, there was too much about it that was all done before but it does have a few interesting takes on vampire lore most notably that there have only ever been seven in the world - three in the old world and three in the new world who have a pact never to cross into each other's territory with one renegade always threatening to declare war on the other six. They are also presented more as parasitical than they have been in the past, comparisons to leeches and fluke worms rather than bats or rats.
You should probably read it, but you will forget it soon after completion. It is part of a trilogy and the final two parts were released in 2010 and 2011 respectively. FX in the USA are currently producing a TV version (which was the original intention but Del Toro couldn't convince anybody to make it - with the success of The Walking Dead, this has clearly changed).
See more book reviews at my blog
This is a fun twist on the vampire mythos. In this horror tale, vampirism is caused by a parasitic organism. And the plague is sweeping NYC.
This book reminds me of what 28 Days Later (and other movies) did for zombies. However, if you're like me and watched the FX show first, you won't get much more from the book. The show follows very closely to the book and the former even adds needed depth to the book's thin characters.
This book reminds me of what 28 Days Later (and other movies) did for zombies. However, if you're like me and watched the FX show first, you won't get much more from the book. The show follows very closely to the book and the former even adds needed depth to the book's thin characters.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Great writing, but half the book is *tongue, white blood, black eyes, silver, knife, knife, knife* on repeat without moving the plot. Got a little monotonous, but will continue the series to see if the plot goes anywhere.
adventurous
dark
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Pretty boring & repetitive lines.
The vampires have very distinctive characteristics though.
The vampires have very distinctive characteristics though.
What would you get if you crossed a frog, a mosquito, a worm and Dracula? The vamps in The Strain. Don't take that as a slight against the story, because it's really not, it's just .... I found this one a little difficult to classify. It took the trope and twisted it some, but not as far as some have. These vampires have the decency to die in sunlight, and at least one of them sleeps in something like a coffin, but there are some unique features about them that has me on the fence about whether I'm going to listen to the second and third books in the series. The overarching story arc was interesting, and the concept was intriguing. What frustrated me throughout this book was the human characters seemed like cookie cutter story tropes. I've read these characters before. The brilliant, recovering alcoholic hero with government authority who would do ANYTHING for his son - except take a day off. The wizened old man from the old country who has to win the trust of said brilliant hero. The estranged wife caught between the almost-but-not-quite-smart-enough-to-be-snarky boyfriend and the ex-husband with issues. The female assistant to said brilliant hero who has something of a silent crush on him. Maybe they felt so flat because the story was chopped into three books and their development didn't really get a chance to get rolling? Yes, I said chopped. The ending pissed me off. It was a blatant "go buy the next one to find out what happens, tee hee..." I'll give this one time to marinate and we'll see if I go further in the series or just let it ride. All in all, it was a good story, if a little predictable and familiar.
180 pages in and I just don't care about anything or anyone. I hate not finishing a book but I can't waste time on a book I don't care about.