The Strain (The Strain #1) in Book Riot's Read Harder Challenge

Jan 12, 2010 Carla rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: ebook, own, 2010

I've entered the vampire world through the first two volumes of the Anita Blake series... and didn't venture much far (I have the rest of this series on e-book even though I don't like this format that much, but I like to keep some around for those times in which I might get bored while on the pc and feel like reading something). After that I picked up Meyer's saga, which again wasn't a success, and finally I read Dracula by Bram Stoker which didn't exactly matched my expectations. Despite havin I've entered the vampire world through the first two volumes of the Anita Blake series... and didn't venture much far (I have the rest of this series on e-book even though I don't like this format that much, but I like to keep some around for those times in which I might get bored while on the pc and feel like reading something). After that I picked up Meyer's saga, which again wasn't a success, and finally I read Dracula by Bram Stoker which didn't exactly matched my expectations. Despite having read not that much about these creatures, I already knew some variants of the myth (through Slayra's courtesy, who also lent me this book) and it was with some curiosity that I read this book, where vampirism is a sort of "disease".

The story begins with an airplane landing in New York, but something is amiss since no one comes out and even the plane seems "dead". CDC's epidemiologists are called and they discover that crew and passengers are all, but four, dead due to unknown causes as no traces of blood nor of struggle are found. Following the investigation they're faced with a myth and an epidemic, which if not stopped at time, can destroy all humanity.

This book must be read as a movie, or didn't it also have the signature of a renowned director (who I can confirm has a very weird image of vampires... remember Blade II ? Here the vampires are more or less like the hybrids), who I am sure must have contributed for very visual descriptions. Besides that, you can find many clichés one sees on this kind of movies: the hero with personal problems, the elderly teacher who tries to warn and find a pupil to whom he can pass is knowledge, a villain who tries to take over the world and countless situations with endings one guess even pages away... But all this, along with the scientific explanations for this kind of vampires and how are they linked to the myth, with some mentions to Stoker's work, turn the reading addictive and compulsive – I would find myself picking it up whenever I had a couple of seconds to spare to read it, something few books have been able to do lately.

The mystery is also well structured, even if some flaws can be found here and there (for example, I didn't quite understood how the collective conscience coexisted with the individual and why 4 people were left alive, when the "disease" is also spread by the dead/zombie-like people), and it clears the way for a second volume as the end is left opened. I have some theories but I really look forward to the next volume. ...more

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Feb 07, 2015 alana rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: books-on-the-big-screen, vamps, fantasy, sci-fi, horror, audiobook

Ohh creepy creepy icky bits, wee! I stumbled upon The Strain in my library's audiobook catalogue and decided to "read" it (listen?) for the PopSugar 2015 challenge: "Book that became a TV show" (though I've yet to watch the series). I loved Guillermo del Toro's movies Pan's Labyrinth and The Devil's Backbone but had no idea he'd written books. Bonus: Ron Perlman reads the book, woohoo! The story starts off with a mysterious plane accident and reminded me lots of Station Eleven in its initial bui ...more

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Dec 13, 2010 Jaime rated it liked it

Shelves: horror, read-2010

It’s been a few weeks since I finished this, and I’m still not completely sure what I thought about it. On one hand, it was a interesting, creepy twist on the vampire. No brooding looks or sparkling skin here, just gore and horror. On the other hand, you could really tell that a screenwriter was one of the authors. Things jumped around A LOT. There were many times when I just wanted to get back to our main heroes: Eph, Nora, and Setrakian. The reason we were following some of these secondary cha ...more

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Aug 23, 2010 Ami rated it liked it

Overall, I thought this book was kind of 'meh.' There are some kind of cool ideas in how the vampires work, and the opening scene is pretty amazing, but the whole thing sort of just felt like a video game, where you spend the whole time trying to get to the big boss at the end. ...more

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Dec 27, 2010 Lori rated it really liked it

Yikes! Scary, creepy, horrifying and yet somehow excellent. I had to keep reading...even when I didn't want to. I'm already casting the movie! And can't wait to read the sequel on my Nook! ...more

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Jul 20, 2009 Mia rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2009-books

Super scary and suspenseful, great build-up, I'm just sorry that it didn't really end and that I have to wait so long for the next one! ...more

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Mar 14, 2009 mandy rated it really liked it

The first time I've finished a horror novel. It was not as graphic as I expected, and kept me interested the whole time. I think this was a better choice for me than a "realistic" horror novel. The events in this book are pretty far-fetched, so its easier to stay a little disconnected I think. Will definitely read the next in the trilogy when it comes out next year... ...more

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Jul 24, 2015 Jillian rated it liked it

Shelves: 2015-reading-challenge

It was only a like, not a "really like," although it was still quite good. I like the angle of vampirism being an actual biological virus (see Scott Westerfeld's Peeps for another example) and the scary bits were properly scary. ...more

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