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.
Two boys in the West of Scotland awaken an ancient vampire. And the only way to stop it is in the power of a book—a bible detailing the dark religion of the Eldren. But time is running out, and the sun is getting low. Are you afraid of the dark? You will be.
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THE STRAIN is by far one of the best vampire novels I’ve ever read. It starts with infected passengers on a dark airplane and just gets scarier and scarier. I don’t know how Del Toro and Hogan pulled this off, but their writing is seamless, as if this book were written by one great author. The action and suspense are tautly written. The prose is some of the best I’ve read. I often re-read passages because they were written so eloquently. The story moves along at a break-neck pace. Every character, including the supporting ones, were fleshed out with facinating details and back story that made this book fun on many levels. And the weaving of the fairy tale with the modern-day horror was done with great effect. I still get chillls thinking about how much I enjoyed this book.
The first in a trilogy that soars with spellbinding intrigue. Truly, an unforgettable tale you can’t put down once you read the first page. I can’t wait until the next one.
Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan have crafted a deliciously creepy story that will literally make the hairs on your neck stand up. The Strain is Bram Stoker meets Stephen king meets Michael Crichton. It just does not get much better than this.
Blood and apocalypse mix in a terrifying story that feels like it was ripped from today’s headlines. Vividly wrought and relentlessly paced, The Strain haunts as much as it terrifies. I cannot wait to see where del Toro and Hogan take us next.

