The Fall (The Strain Trilogy #2) is a 2010 vampire horror novel written by Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan, published by Harper. It is the second novel in the The Strain Trilogy and follows Dr. Goodweather, Vasiliy Fet, Dr. Nora Martinez, and Abraham Setrakian who search for the lost grimoire, Occido Lumen, in an effort to stop the Master’s vampire army from taking over the world.
The story does a great job of staying suspenseful as the Master’s plan is working with the good guys on the defensive and the viral outbreak on the rise. There are a lot of close calls that keep the pacing good while dealing with the interpersonal relationships among the characters. The story has a lot of action, a lot of great reveals, and that ending was pure gold. One of the better subplots is that we get the backstory of the Master through our heroes’ search for a rare manuscript. It’s hard coming up with original or creative origin stories for villains. It didn’t feel forced but actually begins framing the religious origins for the vampires. Another good subplot is that Eph’s ex-wife is now infected and actively hunting their son Zach. It keeps the stakes him for our hero Eph. As far as the story goes it maintains the growing tension that the first book was building, though for some, the attack being delegated to the background while the focus of the characters takes front and center will be a problem, especially with the growing stakes. (3 out of 5)
The characters are just straight up awesome. The main protagonists are Eph Goodweather, Nora Martinez, Vasiliy Fet, Gus, and Abraham Setrakian. Eph is in a lot of trouble. He’s trying to prevent the spread of the virus, protect his son from his now turned ex-wife, kill Eldritch Palmer to stop the Master’s plans, all while being a fugitive of the law. The events of the first book have definitely taken their toll on him.
Nora definitely steps her game up to try to end the threat and she is all the more awesome for it. The relationship between herself and Eph is becoming distant due to his obsession with stopping the Master. Fet does a pretty good and does add a great deal to the group and their efforts. Gus is the modern-day Van Helsing and I like him coming into his own. The guy is utilizing gangs to take the war to the vampires is just straight beast. I always wonder what gangs would do in situations like this so it’s good seeing them do something construction.
Mr. Quinlan is more pronounced, and the guy is pretty beast. He’s on this crusade to take out his father, the Master. And the guy has a pretty messed up backstory. Loved Setrakian. Thought it was pretty messed up Setrkian dies but the old guy goes out with style.
Gotta give it to the villains, they are stepping their game up in more ways than one. The Master proves to be crafty as he is dangerous and what we see of his backstory gives us the answers as to who the Master is, what his motivations are, and his relationship to the other Ancient Ones. Another antagonist is Thomas Eichhorst, who is actually a pretty interesting character, who is the Master’s righthand. A former Nazi general given the vampiric abilities by the Master without losing his will. He’s a douchebag but interesting. Also, there is Eldritch Palmer, a wealthy man assisting the Master to take over the world in exchange for eternal life. I think Palmer has a pretty interesting motivation and it makes me wonder, would a person condemn the world just to avoid death. (5 out of 5)
I did like the world created by Del Toro and Hogan. I think it remains consistent with the setup of the first book while exploring more aspects of the vampiric lore and the growing effects of the outbreak. The two do a good job of establishing strong characterization. I thought the characters acted and reacted in ways befitting their personalities and motivations. Conversations feel realistic though there are some lines and there that a bit cheesy.
The pacing was good and though the story does bounce around it doesn’t hurt the narration. But there is a lot of action with the war between man and vampire escalating. I don’t mind a slow burn if the characters are well written and have something going for themselves or the events within the story keep me engage. I liked seeing the breakdown of society as all of this is going down. The writing style was comprehensive, and I had little trouble with the direction or editing. There is an attention to detail and those nuances make the setting believable. The deaths are awful, brutal, and bloody.
Now that we’re seeing the Master’s plans come into fruition, I think it was a good call for the two authors to keep his plans so modern. There are some solid moments in this book. I will say that I do see some similarities between some sequences of Del Toro’s films and those of this book. The writing does have some issues, but I don’t think it’s enough to hurt the overall story. (3 out of 5)
The Verdict: In the end, The Fall (The Strain Trilogy #2) is a good follow-up to the previous read. The characters continue to be deep and engaging, the story evolving with the growing stakes, and the writing is decent. There are some writing choices that could’ve been better and some dialogue that should’ve fleshed out the dynamics more. However, this is still a good read. The Fall (The Strain Trilogy #2) is 4 out of 5.
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