Books › The strain
The strain
First published 2009 · 608 pages
A cinematic collision of CDC procedural and ancient, blood-drenched gothic horror.
What it feels like
Reading this book feels like watching a blockbuster horror film unfold in real-time. It strips away the romantic veneer of modern vampire lore, replacing it with a visceral, parasitic contagion that feels uncomfortably plausible. The narrative moves at a propulsive, breakneck speed, anchoring its ancient, gothic terrors in the clinical, fluorescent-lit world of modern epidemiology and CDC protocols. There is a pervasive, dread-soaked atmosphere that tightens like a vice as the outbreak spreads through a claustrophobic New York City. The prose is highly visual and unapologetically gruesome, leaning heavily into body horror and cinematic set pieces. It will absolutely devour readers who crave high-stakes apocalyptic thrillers where science and mythology violently collide.
- Mood
- dread-soaked
- claustrophobic
- apocalyptic
- tense
- Tone
- urgent
- clinical
- gritty
- ominous
- cinematic
- Pace
- propulsive
- Themes
- the fragility of civilization · science vs. the supernatural · paternal duty and sacrifice · ancient evils in modern settings · the corruption of the human body
- The writing
- Visceral and highly visual, blending procedural medical jargon with grotesque, gothic horror descriptions.
- The arc
- Begins with chilling, clinical mystery and escalates into desperate, adrenaline-fueled survival horror.
- Who it's for
- Fans of high-stakes biological thrillers and monstrous, unromanticized vampire lore who love a cinematic, race-against-time narrative.
Content notes
- graphic violence
- body horror
- gore
- child peril
- epidemic/pandemic themes
- holocaust references
About the book
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 StrainThey 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.
Description from Open Library.
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