“...to all the monsters in my nursery: May you never leave me alone.”While the Strain may deliver a nifty TV show, it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a great book.While that may sound contradictory, trust me, that’s the way it read. Guillermo del Toro is used to making movies and you can feel the sense of 'scene changes' in the book. You can tell it's for the sake of reading the story and plot rather than reading through character's experiencing story and plot. Lots of tell, little show, there is

Whoever said this book is full of clichés I think missed the mark a bit. Yes, there are obviously some cliché characters such as the knowledgeable old man, but there is also a lot of originality in relation to the mechanics of the vampires. How can you write a vampire book without clichés? The best way I can describe the vampires is that they act like zombies. They slowly turn and are brainless beings. It's not until a week in where they gain their human intelligence back. Their "blood" is also

3.5 stars, with a slight nudge toward 4.I have had this book on my To-Read list for a while, but never got around to reading it until now. I'm glad that I read it because it was pretty good, and parts were very creepy. I didn't find it scary and had no problem sleeping or anything reading it, but there were parts that had a higher than average creep factor, and it was nice. I liked that this book had a realistic baseline, and felt like it could truly happen. Don't get me wrong, I like the tradit...

This series was very problematic, in my opinion. Please read the full review for the series here on my blog. Book one was the only book truly worth the attention. Like I said, it started out quite original, like any catastrophy or epidemic story, and I have to say, it was very cinematic! No wonder, it's co-written by Guillermo del Toro. The book reads pretty much like a show – in scenes. Most things are indeed tell, and not show, which put you in the middle of the action. The tension is

A nice and breezy read, though nice isn't quite the right word and the breeze is a bit fetid! The Strain is an increasingly rare (ahem) strain of badass vampire novels. There are no well-coiffed, sexy, maudlin vampires in this book, they just "vant to suck your blood" (without the Lugosi style Euro-accented declaration). Of course talking about how de-fanged, lame and sparkly vampires have become since the advent of Twilight has become a trope for vampire books review so I just want to get it ou...

I know this book is old but why dont more people talk about it????I have no words for just how much I enjoyed this book. I had so much fun reading this book and I need to watch the tv show now. But not before I read book 2 The Fall. I haven't read and enjoyed a vampire book in so long, probably not since Salem's Lot. And just like in Salem's Lot, the vampires are truly terrifying in this book. Once again this book has something I usually hate. This book has A LOT of characters...A LOT! And yet I...

What if vampires were real, ancient, and spread their vampirism like a virus? That's the central premise of The Strain, and I was on board from the first page. Ultimately, it was a disappointment for me, and I won't be reading the other books in the trilogy.This book starts out with so much promise. It's a taught, intense, compelling thriller that gradually introduces compelling characters that it's easy to care about.Then, in its middle third, it starts to wobble a little bit. The characters st...

Imagine that you’re reading one of those Twilight books as Edward is whispering chaste sweet nothings into Bella’s ear, and it was oh-so-romantic-and-couldn’t-you-just-die-OMG-OMG-OMG. Suddenly Edward’s head flips back and his throat opens up like he just became a Pez dispenser. A six foot stinger/sucker thing flies out, and it zaps that silly girl right in a major artery and drains her dry in about twenty seconds while parasitic worms take over her corpse and turn her into a mindless bloodsucki...

It was alright. I kinda got lost. Zero stars for the dogs!! And the milky stuff - ewwwww. I hate milk and this made me want to gag! I still have to fight gagging when watching the first Alien for the millionth time 😂Happy Halloween 🎃Mel 🖤🐺🐾

This is a terrible book. Nearly all of the characters were caricatures straight out of Central Casting, or TV Tropes. We had the Wise Old Guy, the Street-Smart Shitkicker, The Brain, and The Chick. Oh, and speaking of The Chick, there were two: the love interest of the Brain and the nagging, irrational Ex-Wife -- because Ex-Wives must never be charming and smart -- mother of The Wesley Crusher son of The Brain. The whole book reads as though somebody figured out how to do Novel-By-Numbers and ma...

This is a striking example of what is officially called literatherapy. So tired from finals (finishing a semester-long draft--ending with 322 pages [!] plus a non fiction piece PLUS grading... [This is sooo irrelevant,) but a good assessment of this reviewer's desperate mindset whilst reading the novel]) I REALLY had to do something about the overstimulated brain, to lull my senses significantly and inspire me to finally do something to chillax--so I got this from the library, deciding that del

This is the first of a planned trilogy. The director of Pan’s Labyrinth and an award winning mystery author brings their vision to the vampire tale.Del Toro and friend - from Geek Nation The Strain is a fast, entertaining read, with a twist to the rationale for vampirism that is fun, if a bit derivative. In fact a lot of this book is derivative, cobbling together elements from a host of books and films. There is a scene that is reminiscent of the haunted ship sequence in Dracula. In the original...

Seems these days if you want to make a buck, you gotta write a vampire story. Don't get me wrong. I've enjoyed many vampire books out there but think the sub-genre has all but been bled dry. So along comes a book co-authored by visionary Guillermo Del Toro, a favorite movie director of mine, that claims to turn the concept of the vampire story on to its head. So yeah, I had high hopes for the book. It's too bad that after the promising first few chapters it simulated the experience of watching a...

6.0 stars (this one may make it onto my "All Time Favorite" list). This is instantly on my list of the top five Vampire stories I have ever read (or in this case read and also listened to on audiobook). I am not a "vampire" book reader in general meaning I do not buy every new vampire story that comes out. I do read a lot of SF/Fantasy/Horror and so I do come across them on a fairly typical basis. For me, what makes a great vampire novel is when you can create a completely original (or mostly or...

If you have found yourself reading vampire fiction and thought, "You know what this needs? Vampires urinating and defecating on their victims. Also, tongues that shoot out of their necks with stingers on the end. And, make sure that they have worms crawling out of their milky white blood."Then, boy, do I have the book for you!!As for me:You need rubber gloves to touch this book, it is so gross.This book is so disgusting that I need a bath in bleach right now to clean off the yuckiness in my brai...

Security Question: Please answer the following question to proceed with the review.What is your idea of a vampire?a.A sparkly 'Monster' like this: b. A vicious, stinger flaring Monster like this:If you answer (b), read on. Else, you might find this review a little offensive. The First Bight: When I saw that Guillermo del Toro had written a book, I simply could not wait to read it. Reason: He's the Master of dark fantasies. No no, not paranormal eroticas, which people try to pass off unde

(Music fades.)Me: Welcome back to the studio everyone, we have a wonderful surprise for you. Joining us for a few minutes on the airwaves today are two men that have transformed the vampire world: let’s welcome Chuck Logan and Guillermo Del Toro. Let’s start with you Chuck. You are the recipient of a 2005 Hammett Award for your novel PRINCE OF THIEVES, and are the bestselling author of numerous others. I have to admit, I just saw Ben Affleck’s version of your novel PRINCE OF THIEVES, renamed The...

Action-packed and gory, this book kept me on the edge of my seat!4.5 stars rounded up

This just isn't very good. After a promising and creepy opening, it devolves into repetitive ridiculousness. The writing is also just not good and sometimes laughable, providing such gems as this:"Eph too had been turned. Not from human to vampire, but from healer to slayer."I did somehow finish it. My wife did not. I'm sure del Toro will eventually make a movie out of this and it will be one of the rare occasions that the movie is better than the book.

I thoroughly loved this book A take on the classic vampire tale A twist of biology Mythology And ancient loreAnd the human fear and shortcomings Can’t wait to read book 2