The Passage
Ratings161
Average rating4
15
Ratings161
Average rating4
IT HAPPENED FAST.
THIRTY-TWO MINUTES FOR ONE WORLD TO DIE, ANOTHER TO BE BORN.
First, the unthinkable: a security breach at a secret U.S. government facility unleashes the monstrous product of a chilling military experiment. Then, the unspeakable: a night of chaos and carnage gives way to sunrise on a nation, and ultimately a world, forever altered. All that remains for the stunned survivors is the long fight ahead and a future ruled by fear--of darkness, of death, of a fate far worse.
As civilization swiftly crumbles into a primal landscape of predators and prey, two people flee in search of sanctuary. FBI agent Brad Wolgast is a good man haunted by what he's done in the line of duty. Six-year-old orphan Amy Harper Bellafonte is a refugee from the doomed scientific project that has triggered apocalypse. Wolgast is determined to protect her from the horror set loose by her captors, but for Amy, escaping the bloody fallout is only the beginning of a much longer odyssey--spanning miles and decades--toward the time an place where she must finish what should never have begun.
With The Passage, award-winning author Justin Cronin has written both a relentlessly suspenseful adventure and an epic chronicle of human endurance in the face of unprecedented catastrophe and unimaginable danger. Its inventive storytelling, masterly prose, and depth of human insight mark it as a crucial and transcendent work of modern fiction.
(front flap)
Reviews with the most likes.
I really, really liked this book. To say more might spoil it and I think it's best enjoyed without knowing too much going in.
I should mention that I definitely wouldn't file this as a “vampire” book. It's totally not.
This was a fantastic book. The characters are very fleshed out as the book goes on. There are some loose ends that you want to find out what happened. The time jump in the book was a bit off kilter but later it made some sense why the author did that. I still would like to have that story of the in between time. This is a very different take on the vampire story. Being a made made virus. You could almost see it happening in real life. I'm looking forward to reading the next book. There are a few questions raised that I would have liked answered. 1)Amy is supposed to be almost 100 but she seems to be only about 15 years old in appearance. Does she age slowly and then stopped? 2) what happened to Amy in those years. She was 6 when she was left alone. How did she survive? 3) Why was the doctor developing the virus in the first place and why would you want a super soldier that had criminal backgrounds.
Definitely the most fun novel I've read this year. Nothing profound, but a ton of fun if you're into the genre(s).
This is a great book and a great setup to what should be a quality trilogy. It's an improvement on The Stand, which Cronin has said directly inspired it. It's also a rehash of The Stand, with repeated archetypes and events (beyond just the viral apocalypse). I docked it a star because while I thought the ending was appropriate, it frustrated me because the whole ~800 pages are really just setup. Kind of like reading the Fellowship of the Ring then having to just wait an unknown amount of time for the rest of the story.
Featured Series
3 primary booksThe Passage is a 3-book series with 3 primary works first released in 2010 with contributions by Justin Cronin and Miguel Romeira.
