Happy Black Friday, you crazy, bargain-hunting kids! Did you score some sweet deals? I hope each and every one of you walked out of your favorite Black Friday store with no less than two plasma TV's, an armload of Blu Ray disks, a new entertainment system, six blenders, seventeen pairs of blue Dockers and a sound machine that plays Lionel Richie's "Hello" on repeat. And don't worry about the elbow you took to the eye from that eighty six year old woman; a nice, juicy steak marked down to 72% off will cure that.
If you didn't go out and have been waiting on pins and needles for my next article, fear not: it has arrived! I can't point you in the direction of the best local deals, but I sure can recommend some awesome gifts to give this holiday season, even if you missed the sales (because you were waiting for this article. I'm sorry I failed you, I was in a tryptophan coma for the better part of the morning). I want to start off my recommended reading list with one of the best books I have been introduced to in a very long time.
I've been a big fan of producer/director Guillermo Del Toro ever since I saw Pan's Labyrinth in 2006. However, I wasn't aware that he was quite an accomplished author until the fine folks at Harper Collins sent me the final chapter in the Strain trilogy entitled The Night Eternal. I was initially hesitant to read it, simply because I had not picked up, or even heard of, the first two novels in the series. It would be like walking into a movie during the last 45 minutes - who does that? At any rate, I was desperately out of reading material one day at work and suffice to say, Night looked waaaaaaay better than re-reading the nutritional contents of my Lean Cuisine. I picked up the sturdy 384-page tome and was hooked eight words in. Seriously.
Night opens up to our protagonist (and oftentimes antagonist) Dr. Ephriam Goodweather scribbling in his journal. Eph is bone weary after tirelessly fighting the plague of vampires who overtook our world a mere two years ago, turning his beloved-if-estranged wife into a bloodsucking demon and stealing his precious-if-neglected son from his embrace. A nuclear winter reigns, blanketing our atmosphere with sooty, poisoned air and allowing only a small amount of sunshine in a day: a perfect environment for the disturbingly creepy vampire population (think Voldemort's face meets The Pale Man from Pan's Labyrinth with a horribly distended turkey wobble that becomes engorged after feeding) to feed and thrive.
Eph is part of a ragtag team of vampire exterminators who are dead-set on destroying the vampire's Lord - the Master. The Master, an ancient vampire possessed of staggering power, has the ability to control his global vamp populous using telepathy. These drones have no self-control, only feeding and infecting, as the human race dwindles to mere prisoners in blood camps, serving breeding and blood letting puposes only. Few have evaded capture, including Eph and his team of Dr. Nora Martinez (a former colleague), Vasiliy Fet (a staunch, if loyal, Russian rat exterminator) a handful of Mexican gangbangers and The Born (a half man/half vampire created by The Master itself). Their impossible job is to rescue Eph's son from the clutches of his monster mother and The Master and to restore world order. No problem, right? Uh...right?
This book actually gave me the willies as I read. Buyer beware: These vamps ain't sparkly Twilight hunks, or even Dracula-refined. They are serpentine, soulless, genitalia-free creatures with stingers that detach from the lower jaw to drink from and infect their prey. They have a white blood compound infested with worms which bite when released. These creatures don't talk, only stalk their next victim in an animalistic fashion. I was disturbed by this book in the best way possible, meaning that I was literally unable to eat while I read. Bravo, Mr. Del Toro.
I could expound upon each chapter of this lower-lip biting, nail-tapping page turner, but I will leave the discoveries up to you. The authors do such a beautiful job of drawing the reader in and explaining the back story without the reader realizing they're being hand-fed information that I'd recommend this book to anyone new to the Strain trilogy. If you're one of the lucky ones with a cast-iron stomach and an affinity for awesome dialogue, deliciously crafted plots and disgusting battle scenes, though, then I suggest you start from the beginning. Even though I know how this explosive series ends, I still can't wait to read The Strain and The Fall so I can spend a little more time with these exceptionally well-written characters.
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