The Strain

By: Guillermo Del Toro, Chuck Hogan

Narrated by: Ron Perlman

Length: 13 hrs and 35 mins

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

Surprisingly good

I was leery about the narrator, but he did an awesome job. I watched the series and felt it was ok due to some of the actors not meshing with their roles.

The book is definitely better!

It’s fine. If you’re like me save your money.

If your like me, you love books because they go where movies can’t. The mind, details only a book can flesh out. Books take you places where movies and tv series either can’t — or for the later — rarely can. This book has some great ingredients but it feels like it’s a pitch for a green light on a movie or tv series. Granted — I would probably tune in for a movie or series based on this book. . What i won’t do is buy book 2 or 3.

To me it feels like a very good movie director/writer/producer lent his name to a book. This director/writer/producer enlisted his friend — an actor he has a history with— to narrate the book. The deal? Someone will pick It up and they’ll all get the payoff when it happens. The book is ok, but it lacks the depth of a good book. It feels like an attempt to create buzz, get Netflix to pay tens of millions. And the rest is history. My advice— wait for the movie or series on Netflix. If you have credits to burn, give it a try and let me know if you agree.

good premise

Good story line! Narrator was a bit monotone. made the book drag. was happy it ended.

Very good with one HUGE complaint

I'm glad they changed narrators for the second and third books. While Ron Perlman has an excellent voice for the story, he really needs a better editor. Not only does he pronounce the main character's name wrong (EEF-rame instead of EHF-rum) but he also pronounces some other very normal words wrong, which just gets under my skin. The story is great, and I love Ron Perlman, but someone should have taught him how to pronounce the name "Ephraim."

Way too short for a trilogy.

Needs much longer segments in each piece.
Ron Pearlman does a great job of matching the speech patterns of each of the characters depicted in the TV series.

Loved it!

Absolutely loved it! I just finished the Vampire Chronicles and needed something new to listen to. Pearlman did such an excellent job at narrating this book! I just purchased the 2nd part and i cant wait to get into it.

Great!

Ron Perlman does a great reading of the strain but I believe he pronounces "Eph" incorrectly. Other than the one note, captivating story with a great narrorator. I'm looking forward to the sequel!

Most reviews are dead on

Interesting story, different for sure. Not your typical vampire or zombie story, the author sets his own rules here so forget all preconceived notions.
At times the book is gripping, other times it's quite frustrating as in real life the authorities wouldn't act this way and take so long to act, only send in one guy, and unrealistic things like this that the author uses to allow the villains to do what they do.
The narrator does a good job, not great, would give 3.5 stars if I could as the voices are clear & concise but could do a much better job changing his voice for the different characters.

Can't wait to get to the next two books

I don't understand the negative reviews. Vampires are overdone and pussified but this brings a new hardcore spin on the whole mythology. These vamps don't sparkle and they're not sexy, they're pure monsters and I love it. Now onto "The Fall"

Amazing from start to finish.

The narrator does a great job with all the voices. I watched the show and it's just as good both book and show. Story is amazing and keeps you wanting to finish the whole damn thing in a day.