Book Review: The Fall by Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan

The Fall by Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan
I love evil, scary vampires. There are no sparkly, vegetarian vamps here.
A band of humans came together to stop the vampires and their master in the previous book. These humans are a survivor of the Holocaust, an exterminator and a couple of CDC docs.  In The Fall we discover they are not alone in their fight and that they just may have some unexpected allies.

del Toro has brought his creepy, strange monsters from his movies onto the pages of these books and now that they are up front and center in this sequel to The Strain, I am loving it. I was a little disappointed with the slow start of the first book in the trilogy but The Fall starts off strong and keeps the action, scares and entertainment going to the end.

Ready to read the final book.
4/5
Source: publisher for reviewBook now available in paperback.
For more info on the books and authors visit TheStrainTrilogy.com._________________________________________

FTC Disclosure: Clicking on title and image links will lead you to my Amazon Affiliate page.

Giveaway: The Strain by Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan

The Strain by Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan was released today! To celebrate its release lets have a giveaway! I have two copies available thanks to Kat at WiredSet

Want more info about The Strain? Check out my review here and my post from yesterday has lots of great info and the really cool trailers.



Giveaway Details:

* 2 copies available
* Open to US Residents Only
* Leave a comment and an email address
* Contest ends Tuesday, June 9th at 7:00pm CST


Now closed,  go here and buy a copy!


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June 2nd New Release: The Strain

The Strain by Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan comes out tomorrow, June 2nd! I was lucky enough to get the book through Library Thing's Early Reviewers Program. You can find my review here. 

You need to check out these trailers! I usually am not a fan of book trailers but these are AWESOME. So good they make me want to read the book all over again now that I know what these vamps are supposed to look like. Very scary! Take a look.

(You might want to lower the volume at the beginning of this next one if you are at work or kids are around. There is the use of an expletive.)

Learn more at www.thestrainthebook.com
 and go here for a Sneak Peak inside the book.

Book Description:

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.

About the Authors:

Guillermo del Toro

Born and raised in Guadalajara , Mexico , Guillermo del Toro made his feature directorial debut in 1993 with the film Cronos, and has since gone on to direct Mimic, The Devil's Backbone, Blade II, Hellboy I, Hellboy II, and Pan's Labyrinth, which garnered enormous critical praise worldwide and won three Academy Awards. He will direct two films based on The Hobbit, to be produced by Peter Jackson.

 

Chuck Hogan

Chuck Hogan is the author of several acclaimed novels, including The Standoff and Prince of Thieves, which won the 2005 Hammett Award and was called one of the 10 best novels of the year by Stephen King. Prince of Thieves will soon be a major motion picture.

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Book Review- The Strain by Guillermo Del Toro and Chuck Hogan

The Strain by Guillermo Del Toro and Chuck Hogan

I don't usually do this, but I am going to use the blurb from the back of the book for the summary, just because I don't want to give anything away...

"They have always been here. Vampires.
Nesting and feeding.
In secret and in darkness. Waiting.
Now their time has come.
In one week, Manhattan will be gone.
In three months, the country. In six months-the world."

I was really excited about getting this book and had been anxiously waiting to find time to read it. When I finally opened it up and got started I became a bit worried that I had built it up a little too much in my head. My expectations were a bit high. I was expecting something similar in style to Pan's Labyrinth but didn't get it.

Now, I did enjoy it, but the beginning was a bit slow. Nothing really captured my interest until page 125 and that was quite a way in. The events leading up to the characters' realization of what they are up against were dragged out, minute by minute. A trip to the medical examiner finally speeds things up and the book gets much more interesting, creepy and fun.

This is a slightly different take on the vampire invasion story. A bit similar to I Am Legend... but, before Will Smith is left all on his own.  (I have only seen the movie, haven't read the book yet). The vampires were different than the norm and quite scary which I liked. 

This is the first book of a trilogy so I suspect now that characters have been introduced and story begun, the next two books should be much quicker to get started and full of vampire fun.

The book comes out June 2nd.

3/5