If you like your vampire stories gross and creepy, then "The Strain" is definitely for you. The book starts out with an ominous mystery -- a grounded 777 jetliner at JFK, newly landed yet not responding to the tower or showing any signs of life. The suspense mounts slowly, with the creep factor ramping up quickly. Vampirism here spreads like a virus, deadly and inexorable, horrifyingly unstoppable. It's up to our crack team of heroes -- a CDC doctor and his colleague, an elderly Holocaust survivor, and a rat extermination expert -- to take a stand for humanity before the plague completely consumes Manhattan and then the world. This is easily the most disturbing vampire book to come along since Salem's Lot, and has shades of The Stand to boot. It was disappointing to discover that The Strain is the first book in a trilogy, with the second and third installments due in 2010 and 2011, respectively. It was somewhat disconcerting to realize that the fate of humanity would remain unresolved, and the final scenes are truly horrific. Word of advice: "The Strain" is best read on a bright, sunny day. You won't look at nightfall the same way for quite a while.