The Passage
by Justin Cronin
Published June 2010
Goodreads: See here
Science Fiction / Horror
Synopsis at a Glance:
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. He 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—towards the time and place where she must finish what should never have begun.
Reviewed:
I’m going to somewhat blow my whole “objective book reviewer” persona here but I have to say it: I loved this book, and it remains one of my top reads for 2017. I’m not going to say it’s perfectly executed, but it certainly has shot right up the ranks for me due to a number of things, including a wildly engaging story, with such an inventive premise, and twists and turns that blew my mind.
The Passage is a post-apocalyptic thriller that spins the Vampire genre on its head.
Basically, Cronin takes this:
And combines it with this:
(or something quite like it) to create a fascinating new take on the traditional – and increasingly bland – vampires that have saturated horror media for decades. The baddies in this story are threatening and scary and I was completely hooked the entire way through just because I had to know what was going to happen because of them next.
This book was also more than I expected it to be, in a literary sense. I went into it expecting thrilling action and mayhem, and while that does get delivered there are also stunningly written literary moments dispersed throughout. Because as much as this is a story driven by plot, it’s also driven by incredibly developed characters that I believed in and fell in love with, and it’s all tied together with some strong themes underlying the prose.
Cronin weaves themes such as family, parentage and hope seamlessly in to a novel in which darkness and despair is almost all his characters have ever known and it just works. Seriously, it’s so beautifully written that I just took my time relishing in the way its constructed as much as I did in the actual story.
I don’t want to say too much more in this review just because I feel like this is a novel best gone into mostly blind, like I did. I do recognize that it’s probably not for everyone though. The thematic content is incredibly dark and violent the majority of the time so if you’ve got a weak constitution, you might want to find another series to enjoy. If you’re a horror buff, this is definitely the book for you.
My personal review score would probably be 4.5 stars because I felt like some parts of the last 100 pages or so moved a bit too quickly and lost some of the literary charm I’d so enjoyed, but the rest of the book was so good it mostly made up for it in my mind.
⭐⭐⭐⭐✯= 4.5/5 stars!
Have you read this book? What did you think of it? Have you finished out the series? If so, without spoiling me, tell me what you think of the quality of the next 2 books!
xoxo
Great Review as usual Bentley !, I hope you have a great day 😊😊
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Thank you! And you as well Sofii! 🙂 ❤
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Great review! I’ve been on the fence if I want to read it or not. We shall see 🙂
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I definitely recommend it! There were a few moments that were way crazier and more intense than I expected they would be.
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I love this book and need to reread it as I have The Twelve sitting on top of my TBR pile.
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Yay! I’m glad to hear you loved it too! I own both The Twelve and City of Mirrors and need to get to them ASAP. My TBR pile is always growing though so I’ve just got to make sure I prioritize them.
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That is the problem with TBR piles they get bigger when we are not looking
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I started this one ages ago and got distracted. I’ve intended to go back but just never got around to it. Great review and definitely good encouragement for me to read it! 😊
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I’m glad to hear my review made you consider getting back to it. I can see how the more slow, literary moments might not be for every reader, but in my opinion some of the twists and turns that pop up throughout the story make it well worth the journey. Hope you enjoy the rest of it!
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Good to know and thanks, me too! 😊
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This is one of my absolute favourite ever series. So glad you loved it too! Hope you enjoy the next two – they’re all awesome in my opinion.
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Awesome, Emma! I’m so glad to hear you enjoyed the rest of the series. Makes me want to run to my bookshelf and start the next one right now. 🙂
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Great review! I like that you shared your enthusiasm without giving away plot details. I haven’t read this one but it was on my radar when it came out and I had heard such great things about it
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Thanks, Renee! ^_^ I’m totally dead set against spoilers, so I try to keep my reviews spoiler free too. It’s definitely a great read. Highly recommend it!
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OK, so I’ve seen this book around somewhat… but never really look into it deeper… but.. your review makes me feel like I’ve been missing out and vampires? I’m always on a look out for a good vampire story. I have to check this out!
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This book was a really great surprise to me. I had seen it around too, but I had no idea that it was going to be so tense or creative, or quite so well written. The monsters are truly unique and quite frightening in my opinion.
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Great review! I’ve read this whole trilogy and really enjoyed it!
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Thank you Nicole! 🙂
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Hmmm I had heard about this book before but wasn’t sure whether to add it to me never ending ports for plunder list. But this has me intrigued.
x The Captain
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It was like that for me too, Captain! I heard about it for years, and was iffy about it but ended up being very pleasantly surprised by it. It was much more interesting and driven by action than I expected it to be.
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I have never heard of it, but man it sounds good.
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It’s definitely one I recommend if you like sci-fi and horror. It’s exceptionally well written in a literary sense too.
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If you can stomach/like the first book, you’ll probably love the rest of the trilogy as well…
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Absolutely adore the whole series!
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I really loved this book. I’ve had to put off reading the rest, but I was actually planning on reading book 2 in February, so your comment is fortuitous as it’s built my anticipation again. Thanks! 🙂
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You’re welcome! Let us know how it goes!
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