Have had the books on my Amazon wish list for a couple of years now. A little bit disappointed (in myself) that it got turned into a tv show before I had the chance to read them. But hey: It's FX. And they haven't missed on much these days. With that said: I am being very cautious staying away from spoilers (my wife almost ruined THE RED WEDDING for me.) But the first episode: LOVED IT.
"The Strain" was me struggling to watch the entire episode before deleting it. I didn't know much at all about the books, so I didn't know what to expect. I pretty much hated it. The actor playing the lead CDC guy is awful.