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The Strain

By: Guillermo Del Toro, Chuck Hogan
Narrated by: Ron Perlman
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Publisher's summary

The visionary creator of the Academy Award-winning Pan's Labyrinth and a Hammett Award-winning author bring their imaginations to this bold, epic novel about a horrifying battle between man and vampire that threatens all humanity. It is the first installment in a thrilling trilogy and an extraordinary international publishing event.

They have always been here. Vampires. In secret and in darkness. Waiting. Now their time has come. In one week, Manhattan will be gone. In one month, the country. In two months - the world.

A Boeing 777 arrives at JFK and is on its way across the tarmac, when it suddenly stops dead. All window shades are pulled down. All lights are out. All communication channels have gone quiet. Crews on the ground are lost for answers, but an alert goes out to the CDC. Dr. Eph Goodweather, head of their Canary project, a rapid-response team that investigates biological threats, gets the call and boards the plane. What he finds makes his blood run cold.

In a pawnshop in Spanish Harlem, a former professor and survivor of the Holocaust named Abraham Setrakian knows something is happening. And he knows the time has come, that a war is brewing....

So begins a battle of mammoth proportions as the vampiric virus that has infected New York begins to spill out into the streets. Eph, who is joined by Setrakian and a motley crew of fighters, must now find a way to stop the contagion and save his city - a city that includes his wife and son - before it is too late.

©2009 Guillermo Del Toro and Chuck Hogan (P)2009 HarperCollins Publishers

Featured Article: The 25 Best Vampire Audiobooks to Suck You In


Vampire stories have fascinated people across cultures for generations. From gothic Transylvania to early-aughts Washington, it seems like vampires have taken every form in every culture and every country around the world. From all of these options, we’ve selected 25 of the best audiobooks from the pack—those with the most captivating characters, creepiest settings, and, perhaps most importantly, the best vocal performances available.

What listeners say about The Strain

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
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    3,415
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    2,064
  • 3 Stars
    899
  • 2 Stars
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Story
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    2,885
  • 4 Stars
    1,495
  • 3 Stars
    684
  • 2 Stars
    150
  • 1 Stars
    78

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Great story with lackluster reading

Great story you will enjoy. Ron Perlman is a great actor but probably wasn't the best choice as a narrator. Books two and three replace him with another narrator who does a really good job.

The story is good and the characters are deep enough to keep you interested at first growing deeper as their backstories are revealed through out the books.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Slow build

It is a slow book but Ron Pearlman is an excellent presenter. The story is a good take on vampires and humans and vampires and vampires. I don't think we will last.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

What a ride!

Fast Pace creepy Adventure tale. Couldn't put it down. The audio book equivalent of a real page-turner. Can't wait to listen to books two and three since this is the beginning of a trilogy.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Wonderful concept, but the performance not so much

The story was alright, could definitely tell it was originally intended for the screen, but I had a problem with some of the voices the narrator used, they were a little hard to hear.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Ron Perlman is a fantastic narrator!

Fantastic story, very well written! I can't wait to listen to the next book! Also Ron Perlman did an excellent job narrating!

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Worst Narrator I've Ever Listened To

If I could give the narration zero stars, I would. Ron Perlman can barely pronounce a lot of this. He reads in monotone, no inflection in his voice whatsoever. I've considered returning this book two or three times, based purely on that. The music played between interludes is SO ANNOYING. If you can get past those things, I think the story is actually pretty good. But there are a LOT of characters and it's hard to keep track of them with this monotonous reading.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

A bit much

I don't typically leave a review unless I loved the book. This book was just ok. The plot was interesting, however I think the story was overly descriptive. I enjoy books that allow the reader to create a bit of the story and figure things out along the way. This book tells you over and over what to think and when. And at times these overly descriptive passages were inaccurate. The author describes rotting bodies as a mix of parmesan cheese, rotting eggs, and methane gas. Methane, by the way is odorless, the rotting egg smell is added. I know that's a small detail to get hung up on, but it bothered me.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

"EEF"

the book is good, story is amazing, I love Ron Perlman narrating but every time he mispronounces the main character's name it hurts.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Greatt Vampire Story

I started by witching the TV show which I loved. Now I'm going through the audio books. Even though there are differences, I am loving the books just as much. I love Ron Pearlman's performance He is such a great actor and severly underrated..

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Fav

I love this book series. I can't say enough good things about it. The TV show and graphic novels are good, as well.

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