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Book Review of The Strain (Strain, Bk 1)

The Strain (Strain, Bk 1)
Bookfanatic avatar reviewed on
Helpful Score: 1


This is not a paranormal romance book. These vampires aren't sexy or sparkly. They aren't Edward, the Black Dagger brothers, Eric or Bill. They are about as far away from attractive and sexy as you can get. They don't care about your feelings. You're food.

The premise of the story is very scary. This book might keep you awake at night if you're easily spooked. A transcontinental flight lands at an airport in New York City at night. It sits still on the tarmac, all windows shades down, completely dark inside and unresponsive to any hails from the Control Tower. When officials finally board the plane, the majority of people on board are dead yet there aren't any obvious wounds or injuries. Suspecting that perhaps a contagion affected the people, an elite group of CDC scientists are tasked with finding the answers. The answers they find are shocking. Even more troubling is the unwillingness of the government to acknowledge what's happened.

This is the first book in a trilogy. The ending of this book was less than satisfying. I understand the writers are setting it up for the other book to follow, but a main character does something so incredibly stupid and unbelievable. I won't spoil it, but I wasn't happy with that scene. I can't stand it when seemingly smart characters end up doing something off-character.

If you've gotten tired of the recent vampires are our friends craze, you'll like this return to old-fashioned horror. This is CSI meets Dracula. Modern and scientific, yet also terrifying.