Charlotte Hillewaere Hillewaere itibaren El Overo, Bugalagrande, Valle del Cauca, Colombia
Finally, a vampire book that is actually horror rather than the stupid pop culture crap we've had with Anne Rice and all her acolytes. These vampires are far from sexy, but the turning and the blood sucking and the primal nature of them is not what makes this book so interesting. I was not surprised to find that a vampire book bearing Guillermo del Toro's name would have such a deep, rich history to it, and the old-world legend aspect of The Strain is really what makes the antagonist so frightening. More unsettling than the vampires are the bedtime, monster-in-the-closet parts of the book where a dark figure unfolds itself from within the shadows and emerges to stalk silently and stare at little children. He just stares. A lot of the characters are throw-away, but I got used to it after the first quarter of the book, and I found the themes surrounding childhood, parenthood, and family to be surprisingly insightful. An excellent page-turner that is as smart as it is scary.