A plane lands at JFK and mysteriously 'goes dark', stopping in the middle of the runway for no apparent reason, all lights off, all doors sealed. The pilots cannot be raised.
When the hatch above the wing finally clicks open, it soon becomes clear that everyone on board is dead - although there is no sign of any trauma or struggle. Ephraim Goodweather and his team from the Center for Disease Control must work quickly to establish the cause of this strange occurrence before panic spreads.
The first thing they discover is that four of the victims are actually still alive. But that's the only good news. And when all two hundred corpses disappear from various morgues around the city on the same night, things very rapidly get worse. Soon Eph and a small band of helpers will find themselves battling to protect not only their own loved ones, but the whole city, against an ancient threat to humanity.
The Strain
Guillermo Del Toro's TV-show book TV-show-again The Strain is an enjoyable enough vampire thriller, but much like it's subject matter, it doesn't hold up quite so well in the light of day. Ephraim Ridiculousname Goodweather is a pandemic specialist and reformed alcoholic with a bizarre craving for full cream milk, and that is seriously his most interesting character trait. He is one of the first on the scene when a plane of dead people casually rolls into JFK International and scares the pants off of government officials. Long story short it's vampires, and Ephraim and his obvious love-interest are quickly thrown into some CSI-style forensics, followed by some good old fashioned horrifying-tongue-stinger-slicing action. It's harmless fun in the style of Stephen King, but lacking the trademark effortless prose and overwhelming sense of dread. You'll have a good time, and fans of the series won't be let down, but don't go in expecting this to be Salem's Lot 2 Dead Serious. by 54BD
QBD, 18/08/2014
