The Strain (Strain Trilogy, #1)

by Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan

[leahrosereads]

3ish Stars

After reading very mixed reviews, I almost decided to pass on trying The Strain by Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan, but I’m glad I didn’t.


While the book did have its faults, overall, I really enjoyed the story. My biggest issue with this, wasn’t the writing or the majority of the characters, but rather the constant change between stories within the novel. We see so many different sides, but several of them, to me, were unnecessary to read about.


The Strain mostly follows Ephraim Goodweather (a/k/a Eph), a doctor with the CDC, specifically their Canary project. His job is to investigate potential biological threats, and when a plane mysteriously breaks down at JFK airport and all of the passengers are found dead, Eph and his team are called in to investigate the cause behind the deaths. With no outward signs of damage, and autopsy results that are bizarre, Eph and his team definitely have their work cut out for them.

During the plane investigation, a pawnbroker, Setrakian sees this mystery for what it really is, and takes it upon himself to warn Eph about the upcoming plague...that plague is viral and it’s creating vampires. So Eph, Nora (one of his team members as well as love interest), and Setrakian run around NYC trying to stop this outbreak before it spreads uncontrollably. With no one believing them, and the vampires working against them, they end up having an extremely hard time accomplishing their tasks.


We meet several other characters, including Gus (a gang member who I believe will be more important in the later books of the trilogy), Fet (a pest control worker who discovers the plague on his own, and has enough adaptability to keep himself safe), Kelly (Eph’s soon to be ex-wife who is used against Eph by the vampires in a very tragic way), Eph’s son, Zack (a young adolescent dealing with his parents’ divorce as well as a possible apocalypse. Poor kid cannot catch a break). On the big bad’s side, we meet - The Master (Buffy-esque name in my opinion, but that’s just who I grew up with), Bolivar (a rock star who was on the plane but survives. He hosts the Master in his body), and Eldrich Palmer (a dying old man, who wants to live forever. He’s the reason the Master makes it to the US in the first place...that bastard!).


Like I said, overall, I liked this book. I did feel like having too many voices throughout the novel was a hinderence, but in the end, I just read those stories quickly (maybe a little too quickly) and got back to the meet of the story, with Eph, Nora and Setrakian. I really liked those three characters in general, and when Fet enters their group, I still felt the dynamics worked really well.


I’m sure I’ll end up getting the second book in the trilogy to continue this story, because I’m definitely interested to see where it goes...especially with the characters introduced near the end of the book.