The Strain (Book 1 in 'The Strain' Trilogy) by Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan ~ Started: 23.11.10 ~ Finished: 01.12.10
Synopsis ~
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.
'The Strain' is the first book in 'The Strain Trilogy'.
The story begins with flight 753 from Berlin landing at JFK airport in New York, there is no communication from the plane and when personnel investigate, they find the plane without power, all the doors locked (and unable to be opened) and no noise from inside of the plane from the 210 people on board (199 passengers, 2 pilots and 9 cabin crew), the initial thought is possible terrorism but when the plane is opened, its becomes clear that its not terrorism, its something else. Dr Ephraim'Eph' Goodweather, head of The Canary Project, part of the CDC (Centre for Disease Control and Prevention), a rapid-response team of epidemiologists who detect and identify biological threats are called to investigate, what Dr Goodweather finds is something sinister, something that spreads fast and the only person who can help is Abraham Setrakian, pawnshop owner, former professor and survivor of Treblinka, who knows what has happened to the people on the plane and how to stop the situation from getting worse.
'The Strain' is an excellent story, the characters are shown brilliantly and are easy to identify with and you feel for them, there is enough excitement to keep you entertained and shocks too.
******
The Fall (Book 2 in 'The Strain' Trilogy) by Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan ~ Started: 01.12.10 ~ Finished: 13.12.10
Synopsis ~
The vampiric virus unleashed in The Strain has taken over New York City. It is spreading and soon will envelop the globe. Amid the chaos, Eph Goodweather - head of the Centres for Disease Control's team - leads a band out to stop these bloodthirsty monsters. But it may be too late.
Ignited by the Master's horrific plan, a war erupts between Old and New World vampires, each vying for control. At the center of the conflict lies a book, an ancient text that contains the vampires' entire history . . . and their darkest secrets. Whoever finds the book can control the outcome of the war and, ultimately, the fate of us all. And it is between these warring forces that humans - powerless and vulnerable - find themselves no longer the consumers but the consumed. Though Eph understands the vampiric plague better than anyone, even he cannot protect those he loves.
With the future of humankind in the balance, Eph and his team, guided by the brilliant former professor and Holocaust survivor Abraham Setrakian and exterminator Vasiliy Fet and joined by a crew of ragtag gangsters, must combat a terror whose ultimate plan is more terrible than anyone has imagined - a fate worse than annihilation.
'The Fall' is the second book in 'The Strain Trilogy'.
'The Fall' begins where 'The Strain' finished, a week has past and the situation is worsening within New York and the world, more and more vampires are being created. Eph Goodweather and Abraham Setrakian are now in hiding and trying to find a way to stop the Master, a foe which Abraham has faced before, with more and more vampires being created and enemies of not only the Master but the human race now involved, what will happen next to Eph and Abraham.
'The Strain' is an interesting sequel to 'The Fall' and I am looking forward to the final part, 'Eternal Part' which is due for release in October 2011.