Fiction Addict

Genre: Horror

Publisher: William Morrow

Publication date: June 2, 2009

Reviewed by Jeremy Taylor

A plane touches down at JFK International Airport in New York, taxis for a few hundred yards, and then inexplicably comes to a halt and shuts down. All attempts to communicate with the pilots or anyone else on board fail. Finally a security agent enters the plane, only to find it full of corpses. The cause of death is a mystery; no trace of poisonous gas, toxins, or biological agents of any kind can be found on the plane. The only similarity between the victims is the tiny puncture in each of their necks.

The mystery deepens as the investigation continues. Strangely, none of the corpses seem to be decomposing. A mortician working late hears a loud noise from inside the cooler where the bodies have been stored. The next morning all the bodies are gone. The mortician is nowhere to be found.

This is the chilling scenario created by award-winning filmmaker Guillermo del Toro and veteran author Chuck Hogan in their first joint effort, The Strain, the first of a three-book series about a horrible vampire-creating virus unleashed upon New York City. The authors paint a gritty, realistic picture of an outbreak of vampirism, including a fascinating look at the biological changes occurring within those who have been “turned” as well as governmental response and public reaction to the crisis. The cast of characters includes the CDC agent tasked with investigating the mysterious plane deaths, an old Romanian who has been waiting in fear for this moment for decades, and a shadowy billionaire who seems intent on ensuring that the evil unfolding in the darkness of the New York night will prevail.

As vampire stories go, The Strain is excellent. Thrilling, frightening, and well-written with great character depth, a familiar setting, and realistic plot lines, the book succeeds wonderfully in doing exactly what stories like this are meant to do—remind us that no matter how civilized and sophisticated we are, there’s still something deep inside us that’s scared of the dark. A word of caution—these are not the romanticized, young-adult vampires of the Twilight series, and they’re not the smooth-talking vampires of Bram Stoker or Anne Rice. Hogan and del Toro’s creatures are an altogether different breed. The book contains lots of violence, some language, and some genuinely frightening scenes. This book is by no means for everyone. But fans of the horror genre will appreciate the realism and suspense the authors inject into the plot.

If the idea of watching movies like I Am Legend and Dawn of the Dead makes you cringe or turn away in disdain or disgust, you’d better leave this book on the shelf. But readers who enjoy good old-fashioned vampire fiction will love this book.