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Chuck Hogan
Guillermo del Toro
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Book
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Publisher | Harper | ||
ISBN | 978-000731129 | ||
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Reviewer
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Deborah
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Synopsis
High-concept thriller with a supernatural edge from world-famous director, whose films include Pan's Labyrinth and Hellboy. 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.
Review
Well, a vampire zombie fest is not my normal reading but this is very good. It is a combination of Will Smith's I am Legend and Sean of the Dead (may be I'm a bit cynical but I can see the funny side!), together with some good old blood sucking thrown in to the mix!
This book has two authors, with very good credentials, and I thought the beginning was fantastic, with the build up of suspense having me gripping the pages as I turned them! We start off with the air traffic control tower at JFK airport losing all contact with a large passenger jet - and when the plane is found at the end of the runway it is totally quiet, no power, no movement, nothing - and it is very creepy. When the police finally get on to the plane, everyone on board is dead - but there are no obvious marks on any of the bodies, so it is presumed that a virus may have been unleashed on to the plane in some kind of terrorist act. Two expert doctors belonging biological threat investigation team are called in; Dr Ephraim Goodweather, our main character, who is in a bitter custody battle with his ex-wife over his son, and he isn't very happy at being called away from his weekend with Zack and Dr Nora Martinez his colleague and one time lover.
By now four survivors have been found, including the pilot and a very famous US pop star, and they are taken to hospital. When a small nick is found on necks of some of the bodies, it is too late to speak to the survivors as they have been discharged before they can be properly questioned. Meanwhile, the seemingly dead bodies are taken to various city morgues - but suddenly they have all vanished! And there are one or two suspicious happenings, such as a big coffin mysteriously vanishing from the cargo hold of the plane!
We meet a local pawnbroker called Abraham Setrakian, who survived the nastiest of experiences in the Nazi concentration camps and who first heard about the jet's passengers on the television news. He goes to find the two doctors to tell them what has been unleashed on the world, but at first no-one will listen to him. The story has flashbacks to Abraham's youth, when he first comes across the vampires and it becomes clear that his pawnbrokers business is a cover for the vampire hunting.
Eventually they set a group to hunt down the vampires, but there a lot blood spilled and a lot of personal stories which are great, such as that of the abused wife who finally takes her revenge on the zombie her husband has become, and the man who sucks the blood of his two dogs and then chains himself up in the shed to protect his family.
I understand this is the first in a trilogy of books, which explains why the ending was left wide open with the world seemingly beyond hope! I would like to read more about Abraham Setrakian, the elderly vampire hunter who has dedicated his life to fighting the evil - a really great book.
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