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Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Recently read: "The Fall" by Guillermo del Toro & Chuck Hogan

The Fall

The Fall: Book Two of the Strain Trilogy

The second book in the vampire trilogy by del Toro and Hogan (following The Strain) .  Here, the vampire virus has basically taken over New York City, and is quickly spreading to other parts of the country and world.  CDC doctor Eph Goodweather, with his wife already a vampire, must protect his son and try to fight the spreading threat. He is aided by coworker Nora Martinez, exterminator Vasiliy Fet and Holocaust survivor Abraham Setrakian, who has been fighting vampires since his time in a concentration camp.

The fight opens up here, and we see that it is a struggle between "the Master" and the other original ancients.  The ancients employ their own vampire hunters, including gang member Gus and former wrestler/actor Angel.  At the same time, Setrakian believes that the key to destroying the Master lies in a 17th century book, which is being put up for auction.

The authors take on vampires is a bit different, though they have some of the usual weakness (silver, and light--particularly ultraviolet).  There are no fangs (instead there is a "stinger" that comes out of their throat).  The virus is passed along through "blood worms".  There's a lot of fighting and destruction, with the book being in many ways a story of civilization crumbling.  It's definitely the middle book of a trilogy, with a "lull" in the story, but no ending. 

If you like del Toro's movies, there's a good chance you'll like this, since his vision seems to driving the book (though I'm not familiar with Hogan's other work).  With a collaboration like this, I would assume that Hogan did most of the actual writing, though I don't know that.

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