The novel “The Strain” by Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan was published for the first time in 2009. It’s the first novel of the Strain trilogy.

A Boeing 777 arrives at JFK Airport in New York but soon after landing communications are interrupted and no sign of life comes by passengers or crew. Dr. Ephraim “Eph” Goodweather, head of a team that deals with possible biological threats, is called to check whether it’s a case of bioterrorism and when he enters the aircraft its crew and passengers are almost all dead for no apparent reason.

While Eph and his team are carrying out the autopsies of the dead, the few survivors seem in a state of confusion. As if that weren’t enough, he’s approached by Abraham Setrakian, a former professor and Holocaust survivor who tells his a seemingly absurd story. But when the bodies start disappearing and the survivors show strange changes, even a vampire story starts looking like the only one that makes any sense.

Director Guillermo del Toro had devised a story as a television series but found no buyers. He was then advised to adapt it into a series of novels, a job well different from that of director and even screenwriter so he did it along with Chuck Hogan, a writer who already had a lot of experience in the field of horror.

The result is a trilogy in which we can say that Dracula is brought in the CSI era. This is certainly a trivialization of these novels but it gives an idea of ​​how traditional elements of vampire stories have been included in a story in which the modern scientific analysis of a possible scene of a crime is essential.

Just like in the story of Dracula, in “The Strain” an ancient vampire is transported to a new land in a coffin but in the third millennium even these creatures use commercial airliners. Something very bad happens at the end of the journey and the competent authorities are alerted because initially there’s fear of an act of terrorism.

When almost all the crew and passengers on the airplane are found dead, an investigation starts that aims to determine if there’s a biological threat. The results get more and more surprising because in “The Strain” vampirism is seen as a form of parasitism that causes significant physical changes in its victims.

In the course of the novel, the investigation conducted by the team led by Ephraim Goodweather shows the metamorphosis that occurs in the bodies of the vampire victims. This is an important element in the story where classic horror elements are mixed with those of modern thrillers such as CSI.

If the novel didn’t start with the legend of Jusef Sardu, its first part would give the impression of being a thriller. However, subsequently the horror elements emerge more and more, also with the active involvement of Abraham Setrakian, who knows the true nature of the evil force at work.

Originality isn’t the strong point of “The Strain”. The novel brings together elements from here and there and not only from the classic stories of vampires. The character of Abraham Setrakian seems inspired by Saul Laski from “Carrion Comfort” by Dan Simmons, also for the flashbacks about his clash with the ancient vampire during World War II.

The other characters in the novel are generally built on clichés, starting with the protagonist Ephraim Goodweather, whose marriage failed because he works too much and for the same reason it’s hard for him to have a relationship with his son. Concerning the names of the characters, the billionaire Palmer Eldritch is a reference to the novel “The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch” by Philip K. Dick.

“The Strain” has no ambition to be great literature. Despite the modern contamination and the fact that the vampiric infestation is treated in many ways as an epidemic, in the end it’s a horror novel. Its purpose isn’t to offer philosophical insights but to arouse emotions in the reader.

In “The Strain”, the tension is initially given by the mystery around the aircraft landed at JFK. In the course of the novel, the horror elements become more and more important and are described with several details and a lot of blood flowing. There’s a lot of action and Abraham Setrakian looks really brisk considering his age and his physical conditions. However, the pace is quite slow at times when the elements of procedural drama are dominant.

I wasn’t impressed by “The Strain”. It’s well written so it’s an easy reading but I haven’t found it brilliant. Probably it will appeal mostly to horror fans who can be read in the dark nights to feel some thrills. It must be said that at the end of the novel the story doesn’t end so you have to start reading it with the idea of ​​going forward with the other novels in the trilogy.