From the Archives: Book 20: "The Strain" by Guillermo Del Torro and Chuck Hogan

"The Strain" by Guillermo Del Torro and Chuck Hogan
Verdict: Really liked it.

Okay, for all of you twilight lovers, this is not your kind of vampire, don't read this book. I was excited to pick up this book and see what Del Torro (writer/director of Pan's Labyrinth) would do to vampire legend. I want to make it clear that these are not even close to the sexy, intelligent, pretentious vampires our society has created. These are vampires based loosely on the South American succubus legends.

"The Strain" is book one of a trilogy. The book is horror fantasy. Here's the summation. Vampirism is a plague that is taking over New York City. Transferred any time a vampire feeds, the host is transformed by parasitic worms into more of an insect than a person. Unless you are one of the seven elders or a direct descendant, the host is victim of a hive mind mentality and functions more as a zombie would than a traditional vampire. The main plotline of the story is trying to stop the infection from taking over the world. By the end of one week, it has a large portion of New York City in its grasp.

Book one is obviously mostly set up, which means it is a slow starter. However, by the end you know that three main groups will be the focus. Group one is led by a member of the CDC and an aged vampire hunter. With their ranks are another member of the CDC and an exterminator that discovered a major vampire hive in the underground. They also have the son of the CDC member in charge to protect from infection. Group two is the Master vampire, a rouge elder and the new vampires of New York City. His goal is to start a war against the other six elders. Which brings us to group three. The other six elders, who have now captured a former Mexican Gang member of NYC to be their "daylight hunter". How the three groups will fight, combine, help, and eliminate each other is what we are waiting to find out in the next two books. I'm excited to see how it turns out.