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    The Strain
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    The Strain
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    The Strain
    Ebook504 pages7 hours

    The Strain

    By Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan

    3.5/5

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    Currently unavailable

    Listen to the audiobook instead
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperCollins
    Release dateJul 8, 2010
    ISBN9780007328598
    Author

    Guillermo del Toro

    Guillermo del Toro is an Academy Award®–winning film director as well as a screenwriter, producer, and New York Times bestselling novelist. He is best known for his foreign fantasy films, especially Pan’s Labyrinth, and American mainstream movies like The Shape of Water. Del Toro has published multiple bestselling adult novels with HarperCollins, including The Strain, which was adapted into a TV series by FX, and he is the creator of Trollhunters, Netflix’s most-watched children’s series.

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    Reviews for The Strain

    3.5/5

    1,527 ratings195 reviews

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    • 4/5
      So creepy and good... must get the rest of the series
    • 4/5
      Honestly, I don`t understand some people`s arguments against this book. Is it from the most original idea ever? Of course not. Does it have four dimensional detailed to the last minor part of their souls. Hell, no. But let me remind everybody that Stephen King`s best books were born from an old, who-knows-how-many-times-used idea after King has written them WELL. And this is a well written book as well. Good characters, fast paced and interesting storyline, what else do you need? Well, a better hungarian editor would have been nice...
    • 3/5
      I was pleasantly surprised by this book. It told an interesting story and was still a fast read. I've read that some don't like the changes to the vampire myth that Del Toro and Hogan made but I thought they worked.

      My only gripe is there is a scene near the end that is a little too much like a scene in Blade 2 (also done by Del Toro). But overall very enjoyable, and I look forward to the next ones.
    • 3/5
      This book is all kinds of dumb, but when it works, it really works. Some of the early scene-setting moments are fantastic, and the "getting the team together" moments crackle. The action feels so by-the-books, though, and the prose is...it's not bad, but it's sometimes too punchy.
    • 3/5
      I liked it and will read the next one. Not quite as good as I was hoping but a nice change of pace. Good to read an evil vampire story.
    • 4/5
      This was certainly a page turner. It's a perfect answer to the annoying warm and fuzzy vampire nonsense from Stephanie Meyer. These are horrifying monsters, not potential boyfriends. I can't wait to read the next one in the series.
    • 2/5
      The book races along which makes the characters extremely thinly developed and little more than caricatures. Much of the plot hinges upon a ton of people making absolutely boneheaded decisions for no reason other than it needs to happen to advance the plot itself. Having said that, it's an easy read and goes quick with an easy to follow plot. Great for if you're bored on a plane or just need something fast and dumb.
    • 5/5
      Definitely a thrilling ride. It doesn't take long at all to gear up and once it does it never slows down. Twists and turns I didn't expect. Great story-telling, a real page-turner. I was had a hard time putting it down for any length of time. I loved the characters, the complicated relationships between them. I liked that each character had their own personality and voice, even if they weren't around for long. The way that the authors wrote about the differences in social and class structures was also really nice to see. I can hardly wait to get my hands on the next book to continue and find out what happens next. I would definitely recommend it. So worth it! It's not for the faint of heart, but definitely a vampire story that's much different than anything I've read before. And who knew vampire science could be so interesting?! Get this book!!!
    • 4/5
      Slow start but gets good. Gotta love a "vampire" rendition that can't be romanticized. These things are gross and evil.
    • 5/5
      Excellent book!!
    • 1/5
      This book is terrible. There really isn't a lot of actual content. It reads like a glorified comic book. I'm very disappointed.
    • 1/5
      Nothing happens.
    • 3/5
      Not a bad read by any means, but I have a hard time with a lot of zombie/vampire horror (gets a bit too predictable frequently), and I ended up being pretty disappointed in the roles he placed Kelley and Nora in. I don't have any real urge to continue reading the series, but I think it will make a decent TV show (and thus far it has indeed been decidedly decent, I'll wait a few more episodes for something more definitive than that).
    • 5/5
      Extremely entertaining & highly recommended!!! Guillermo Del Toro and Chuck Hogan give us creatures of the night we can fear again thrown into a thrilling, suspenseful, and action packed tale.
    • 5/5
      I watched the first season of The Strain sometime in 2015 and really enjoyed it. I feel the book adds to the series with some better characterisation for the protagonist though a little less for some of the supporting cast. In general a decent entry into the vampire canon where I am always happy to see someone build a coherent world with Vampires!
    • 5/5
      What a scary, thrilling ride! I took The Strain to bed the first night to read before going to sleep. Big mistake. It became my daylight-only book because it scared me so badly that I could not read it after dark. It reminded me of my first Stephen King novels - the ones that kept me awake at night and made me jump at the slightest noise. The story is well written and well paced. I did not find any slow passages and as I read I could see it, as it will no doubt one day be, on the big screen - a real blockbuster. These are not nice vampires and you are not going to fall in love with them. I had forgotten how much fun a good scary book can be and I look forward to the next installment with bated breath and delectable dread.
    • 5/5
      A plane lands in New York with most of its passengers and crew dead. As the FBI and CDC investigate the possible causes for the tragedy, something begins to happen to the few survivors. And that something is spreading like a virus.I am not easily frightened by fiction. In spite of being a lifelong fan of the genre, I can count on my fingers the number of times I've been spooked by a book or film. But I have to say that delToro and Hogan have managed to make the hair on the back of my neck stand up with "The Strain." They seem to have an unerring instinct for the unsettling, the sinister and the downright creepy. Their writing is also informed by what has gone before in the horror genre -- the similarity between the dead airplane (even the electronic and mechanical processes failed utterly) with its grisly cargo of corpses, and the dead ship which brings Dracula to England is not an accident. They write with an awareness of what will get under our skin, what will move us to turn on the lights and lock the doors.But the horrors here are not all supernatural. As in "Pan's Labyrinth" the Nazis play a supporting role, and the combination of real world horror and unreal is a stomach-knotting one. Real horror exists on many levels, inside our hearts as well as our minds.I also have to say that while I find that many narratives need time to develop before they catch my interest, Hogan and del Toro caught me right from the first page. It's a compelling, well-written, nail-biting book that may well send you running for the locks and light switches. Highly recommended.
    • 3/5
      An interesting take on the vampire mythos and one I look forward to reading more about, if not eagerly. The male characters are varied and interesting but it really underdevelops the femal characters.
    • 4/5
      This was good horror. It wasn't good horror that would keep me up at night or infest my thinking pattern, but it was a nice summer read (in April). That said, there were some POV problems which actually made me read some passages twice. I'm looking forward to starting the second book (THE FALL)...right now.
    • 3/5
      Interesting idea but ultimately unsatisfying for me.
    • 3/5
      A very pulpy start to a vampire trilogy. Unfortunately all of the tropes are really quite tired. There isn’t really anything new about this, it’s the way that you could imagine a Cthulhu now scenario playing out. The characters are not particularly engaging, nor are they particularly sympathetic. I was quite Gripped by the action sequences but after a while they take the form of a 1930s cliffhanger type cereal. This is almost pulp matter for the modern era. I wonder whether the rest of the trilogy will be the same. It was good enough for me to want to read the second and third books, but don’t expect something Bright and new from this.
    • 4/5
      Just finished this first volume. The book is short sweet and to the point. No filler to be found. It is well written and loose, which gives it a good flow. There are some truly horrific moments. If I would have read this book as a teenager I would have been terrified. Case in point. The strigoi looking through the letter opener. That was very well written. The story has been critiqued as reading too much like a screenplay. Well..that is ok. The characters are well developed move well with each other. The writers really bring EPH into his own and show his conflict and despair concerning his wife. I was hoping to see the evil NAZI from the series make an appearance and I am glad the hacker hippie was not part of it. Was a little disappointed with the brief intro of the elders. I am sure they will be brought to further life later. It would be nice to see more of them. She is too much of a distraction. Good read. Looking forward to the second book.
    • 4/5
      Good book. it reminds me of Blade II.
    • 3/5
      This book felt like a Koonz/King beach book to me. This was surprising given the fact that Guillermo del Toro wrote it. The writing was only slightly above the level of any other horror thriller and the story did nothing to impress me. I expected too much from del Toro I suppose and might have enjoyed it more if I were to let go of those expectations. I may pick up and read the sequel in the future but it will be purely for a mindless entertaining read.
    • 4/5
      NO SPOILERS

      It was the first of this genre I have read in 2010. I have been missing out.
    • 5/5
      Yes! Vampires the way they should be! Monsters! The Master vampire was terrifying. Excellent book.
    • 4/5
      The beginning grabbed me,and the authors skills of blending the lore of vampires with realism grabs your interest throughout e story. My only complaint is that some of the scenes seem hurried, such as the trilogy could have gone further but they didn't want it to. Not really sure since I haven't read books 2 and 3 yet, but that's how it felt to me.
    • 4/5
      My only gripe is that Eph did not tell his ex-wife and son what to watch out for or warn them to steer clear of people acting a certain way. He was right on top of a violent and fatal epidemic and was nearly killed by one infected being but all he told his family was to leave the city. Just that. He cared so much for them but he acted like nothing dangerous is going on. His level of seriousness on tackling the life-threatening event with his family was way below the expected actions of a supposed to be caring (ex)husband and super loving father. It was upsetting.
    • 5/5
      WOW. I am not normally a fan of the vampire fiction genre, but I was hooked from the start. It is exciting and intelligent. There is a strong storyline with multiple layers. I like that it is more of a virus that a monster tale. I can't wait to finish the trilogy.
    • 3/5
      I picked this up as an audio book because I enjoy many of the movies that Guillermo del Toro has written and directed. I was hoping for a good suspense/horror novel, and that is exactly what The Strain gave me. The Strain begins with an airplane that completely loses contact with the airport once it lands. When the staff goes to check it out, everyone on the plane with the exception of four people has mysteriously died. I liked this book because it seemed very realistic; the CDC was brought in and the usual medical infection control procedures were followed. I also liked this book because it was about a pandemic from the beginning; no protocols are in place, and no one knows what it is or what to do about it. I find that subject very interesting.There were several issues that I had with The Strain. First of all, towards the end of the book, I got confused with who the characters were related too. The original four survivors had many friends and family members with branching story lines, and in the last 25% I often had to go back and check who was related to who. Similarly, I did not get the ending of the novel at all. What happened to the Master? Why did the Ancients want Gus? This is part of a trilogy, so I am hoping that some of my questions may be answered in the later books.The writing style reminded me of Frank Peretti; however, there was no element of religion in The Strain.Please note that this is written by Guillermo del Toro, so a lot of it is kind of weird and supernatural. If you like horror novels, I believe you would enjoy reading this one.