The Strain

I'm a fan of Gillarmo del Torro's movies, so I had high hopes for his first book. I was not disappointed. The writing is excellent, the characters are generally compelling, and the plot is tight.
The book pays homage to the traditions of the genre. It has the hero scientist with family problems, a mysterious powerful business man who doesn't care about the consequences of his actions, feckless government officials, an extintion level pandemic, and a remorseless and unstoppable villian. It has all of the elements of a romping ScyFy movie.
While it hews to the traditions of the genre, The Strain takes the Vampire mythology in an interesting direction. I like the way the book updates the mythology to play on our modern fear of pandemics. Like the newer takes on zombies, del Toro brings vampires into the 21st century.
He does it without making them sensitive emo-wienies. These vampires are truly horrible. There evolution is as scary as there final form is awsome.