Author:
Narrator: Ron Perlman
Format: Unabridged-CD
Publisher: HarperAudio
Published: Jun 2009
Genre: Fiction - Horror - General
Retail Price: $39.99
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.
The Strain
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.
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A financier brings 'The Master' from Germany to New York aboard a Boeing 777. The financier is an evil old guy with Bill Gates money. Professor and Pawn Broker Abraham Setrakian has always known about Vampires. He is The Van Helsing and he too is old. He has all the Vampire knowledge and experience. Dr. Ephraim Goodweather from the CDC investigates the Boeing 777 at JFK. The good Doc seems book smart but easily distracted and a little slow on the uptake. V. Fet is an exterminator from Brooklyn and knows all about the N.Y. underground. The species of the Rat and the Vampire are remarkably similar. Gus the Mexican gang member is tough and knows the professor from the pawn shop and eleven year old Zach Goodweather is a geek who believes in Zombies. Book One takes place over four days in New York. This is not a romantic tale of hunky, love bunny Vampires. These Vampires are the Bubonic Plague of their day with the characteristics of Rats. Their only goal is to make more Vampires. These men must band together to hunt The Master and save humanity. Where is the government, the military and the media? Does the evil financier have that much money? Ron Perlman, who has appeared in several of Del Toro's films, does the reading. He is best as Professor Setrakian. Perlman reads the book he does not ACT. There is no emotion in his voice during any violent fight. Perlman while his voice sounds nice does not add anything to the story. A professional reader could have really made this book jump off the page. At the end of this book I didn't feel a real need to read the second or third book. The book was slow and the main characters were not interesting or clever. Del Toro and Hogan could have given the main characters interesting personalities but they turned them into cliches. The Vampires are the Bubonic Plague hence the Rats. The Black Death with Vampires? Call Dr. Goodweather from the CDC! We need an exterminator. Is there an old German Professor? Why do we need a Mexican gang member? Quick get eleven year old Zack we need to send a message to the world! This book could have been written with Zombies or Aliens it wouldn't have mattered. It's Invasion of the Body Snatchers. They are here, they aren't us and they are taking over. Watch Out!