The Fall or The Strain part 2

The  Fall is the second of three books in a series that started with The Strain.

 

The Fall starts just after the events of The Stain’s climactic finale. The tapeworm vampires are on the move through New York and pockets of major cities around the world. Ephram Goodweather and his band of people have to fight a losing battle against this crazy vampire outbreak. They only number four adults and a child so it seems like an impossibility….and it pretty much is.

The Master (Sho’ Nuff!) has survived an attack. He has groomed a suitable replacement/ leader/ new form with Bolivar the goth metal rock star (one of the original chose four from the plane). I guess he can body swap or something. His plans with Eldritch Palmer (the C. Montgomery Burns of this story) have come to fruition. It seems he is ready to strike the next blow against humanity and the other ancient vampires with which he has beef.

Gus the latino gang banger is still alive and kicking after the first book. He has become Buffy and recruits other gangers to fight the vampire menace. Why? Well the ancients (or good tapeworm vampires) recruited him. He hunts during the day and also has a crazy bad ass vampire, Mr. Quinlan, who helps him.

I guess this is the Empire Strikes back of these novels. See nothing happens that really helps the “good” guys. Eph dives back into the bottle. He tries to throw this life away on a crazy plan. Eldritch Palmer’s crazy clandestine group and their plan fall into place. The fellowship splits when Nora and Zac (Eph’s son) bail to safety outside of New York. Well at least that is what they are planning until someone shows up to ruin that. Fet and Setrakian make a move on an ancient text that holds all the vampire secrets and truths through the ages. They also meet host a meet and greet with the “good” vampires. Gus and his gang of slayers move through the city fighting and saving who they can, but it is a war of attrition. The last bit is where the global system breaks down. It is mix of the end of Fight Club, 3 Mile Island, Chernobyl,  and a lot of events from Roland Emmerich movies. This just means that the problems for the heroes will be even greater come the third book, The Night Eternal.

This book all seems pretty dour, and it kind of is. I still have no real tie to any of the characters, but I am still very invested because I want to see what  comes to fruition. There are enough questions from the first book that get answered to make me happy. Then, of course, there are the new questions that appear. There is a good bit of social commentary on how humanity and government respond to all these events. The creep factor is still solid with the addition of blind children vampires that move all creepy and act as scent hounds. The action is descent with enough detail to paint a good scene. I am still curious to see what the end game of this will be. Well off to start The Night Eternal to get that question answered!