The Strain

I'm not sure how much of this enjoyable little vampire novel was actually written by Guillermo Del Toro, but I'm also not sure I care. He may have just been hanging over Chuck Hogan's shoulder, saying, "ooh, ooh, try 'desiccated'" and "have the one guy's eyes be, like crimson, and swimming with flagellating virus-worms." I mean, even if that was his only contribution, it would still be a worthy one.

The book is basically a medical thriller set in Salem's Lot, New York, and the vampires are the same seriously evil, hungry and shark-eyed cabal from King's classic. There's no Lestat here, no tortured soul. Just pure eating machines. In fact, in a way, it's a lot more like a zombie story.

My only complaint is that it's pretty clear, almost immediately, that this book is the first of a trilogy. Not that it's that unsatisfying of an ending. It just all feels like one big setup. An entertaining, bloody, violent, decently paced setup. No biggie. Also, I caught a couple of typos. Seriously? Del Toro, why I oughta...

Anyway, that's my valuable opinion.