When I read and reviewed The Strain, I took some easy potshots at Twilight and credited Guillermo Del Toro and Chuck Hogan with trying to rescue vampires from the clutches of teenage girls and turn them into monsters again. However, the book didnt wow me, and I was hoping that the next one would be an improvement. After reading The Fall, Im even less wowed and realize that a book can be much better than Twilight and still be very meh. So youve got a brand of vampires that are part virus/part parasitic blood worms with a master vamp who has a plan to bring out about a bloodsucking apocalypse. The Master has been working with this evil old rich bastard who is kind of a hybrid of Dick Cheney and Mr. Burns from The Simpsons. Together, theyve got a chokehold on the government and media as well as a rapidly growing army of bloodsuckers.And in this corner, youve got the standard pack of adventure horror good guys ready to do battle. Theres the heroic doctor with a failed marriage and a drinking problem to overcome along with his pretty co-worker. I know youll be shocked when I tell you that theyre a bit attracted to each other. The doctor also has a teen-age son who is such a ball of fire that all he wants to do is listen to his iPod while the vampires are munching people outside. Theres the standard Van Helsing-type old man who has been hunting vamps for years and instructs the others. You've also got a Hispanic street hustler who forges a gang alliance based on vampire killing. Throw in a pest control expert and a former Mexican wrestling star, and youve got your motley crew ready to do battle with the undead.Ive liked several of Del Toros movies, and I was impressed with Hogans work in The Town. But despite a large scale story about a vampire apocalypse going on with tons of action, the whole thing seems curiously listless to me. It just never comes alive and gets me wrapped up in the story. Part of the problem is that the whole thing feels like a collection of things Ive seen before. Del Toro has felt free to swipe whole sections of his own movies like Mimic and Blade II with the descriptions of underground New York and the nature of the vampires. Plus, Joss Whedon used the Master concept and name for his main vampire villain on the first season of Buffy. And having one of the primary villains be a rich old guy selling out humanity for immortality doesnt seem particularly fresh either. Sadly, instead of trying to build up any true horror by creating characters you care about and then having bad things happen to them, the book just throws vamp attack after vamp attack at these cardboard cutout heroes and then tries to milk a little sentiment with a few dead-wives-turned-bloodsuckers sprinkled in. I almost think that Del Toro just grabbed some old storyboards from some of his movies, threw them to Chuck Hogan and said, Just write that up. Well make a fortune.!Its not a terrible book. Ive certainly read far worse. But I was expecting a lot more from two talented guys and so far it seems like theyve just been going through the motions.

I really wanted to enjoy this more than I did. I tried like crazy to care about the people in the book, to care about their families, their friends, and hope for the best. Unfortunately, I felt the writing was a bit on a half-assed side. The entire book read like it was a mediocre half price bin thriller. I was never completely engrossed into the story. In fact, some pages I can say that I skipped. Mostly the pep talk Eph gave his son Zach which is nice but it did not move the story forward one bit, giving me a reason to just skip it. I actually did enjoy the background story of Setrakian, but the whole heart in the jar background story was cliche as shit. As soon as it started, I knew exactly where it will go. Lots of cliches in this one but at least the vampires are ruthless, not the kind who have lived on the planet for hundred years and yet have not found a better way to spend their time than to go to high school and win the heart of a lifeless teenager girl. (That's right, I hate Twilight with the passion. Anyway, how an old guy with lot of health problems, a rat exterminator, and two CDC people will stop a vampire apocalypse is a mystery to my ass. I guess I will have to read the next and final book in this trilogy. Decent amount of action, lots of instances of vampire slicing, and a crapload of times when the author keeps saying that the leavings of vampires smell like ammonia and every time one was killed you can bet your ass the author mentioned the worms leaving the body. I GET IT. Don't have to keep repeating it. Not too much going on in this installment which makes me think it was a buffer/filler for the actual apocalypse that will be explored in the last book. It better be bloody. If it ends with everyone surviving and things being wrapped up in a chapter or two, I will be pissed.

Book Two of the Strain is a lot of fun to read. It is, in my opinion, better than the first book.The Vampire Outbreak has turned into a plague in New York. Book Two continues the story of our intrepid heroes and their struggle against this modern day vampire plague. Book Two delves more deeply into this vampire lore and I really enjoyed Chuck Hogan fleshing out the bare bones background of the first book. Now it starts to make sense why the Master's thinking might have become warped, and his vision of the future inspired, by the sheer surfeit (from a vampire's way of thinking) of food supply. The Book also helps explain the multiple reasons Dr. Setrakian has for hating the Master and his brood in particular. The confluence of events that starts in Treblinka in 1942 and ends up on the streets of New York "currently" give a deep meaning to Setrakian-Sardu (the Master's human name) conflict. I like the new twist on vampires. Del Torro and Hogan have created a vampire that is not attractive. The process of turning ,the underlying bloodworm, and the final vampire itself is the antithesis of the sexy, metrosexual, Calvin-Kelin models who tend to slink around in glitter laced ,designer, slim-line clothes seducing all and sundry with their smoking, lusty looks,magnificently undeniable charisma and sheer physical attraction. Witness True Blood or Twilight.These vampires look disdainfully at that sterotype and declare "Fuck that shit." These vampires are disgusting. They are filthy, foul, feces spewing (not making this up), undead bloodworm-human host hybrid. Yes they are killed instantly by sunlight and silver. Garlic, religion and the rest of the typical responses won't work. They also bleed a white plasma that is loaded with bloodworms and can infect you if they get into your bloodstream. No known cure save death.The comparison to a virus is apt. I tend to root for the bad guys. I actually appreciate them, for the most part. These creatures? No. This is a style of vampires few would find attractive. I think that is why the humans who do serve the Master tend to strike a more visceral dislike from the reader. It is one thing to make a deal with a well-dressed, wealthy, Brad Pitt True Blood vampire. I get it. I would do that. In a heartbeat. These things? Nope. I'll pass. That makes these vampires some of the most disgusting I've seen. Even the ones from "30 Days of Night" had some measure of class compared to this version. Though, to be fair, I am speaking of the Master's Brood.I won't give any spoilers. SO I'll avoid the plot. That is the point for reading this, isn't it? Was it fun? Yes. The story is exciting. It is certainly dark and grim. Humanity is not winning this battle. There are quite a few surprises in this volume (since the shows seems to have deviated in terms of plot) for me in terms of character deaths. So overall- I highly recommend this fun, fast paced vampire outbreak. This book was an improvement over the first book and I certainly look forwards to reading Book 3. If you like vampires or would enjoy a science themed "outbreak" story-check out the Strain. IT is easy to read and flows well (except for the painful "emotional" scenes which Hogan excels at butchering) making for a quick read.