Director Guillermo del Toro has
partnered with thriller novelist Chuck Hogan to write a virus zombie thriller called
The Strain. The novel is the first in a trilogy about New York City's fight against a terrifying vampiric virus.
Writer and director Guillermo del Toro ("Pan's Labyrinth") teams with thriller writer Chuck Hogan ("The Standoff") to create a visceral page-turner that reimagines vampirism as a virus that causes its victims' bodies to mutate — disgustingly — into buglike creatures, stomping zombie-style around Manhattan and wreaking havoc. A disparate team of a rogue CDC doctor, rat-catcher and an Eastern European pawnshop owner come together to try to stop them.
Unlike Stephen King's classic "The Stand," another epic battle between good and evil involving a virus, the book never transcends genre fiction and the main characters remain staunchly two dimensional, secondary to the forward-rushing plot.
The series is sure to quickly garner a cult following. It's probably a good time for a virus thriller with the
H1N1 virus spreading. Fortunately, the H1N1 swine flu virus does not turn people into bugs or zombies.
