Book Review: The Passage by Justin Cronin
Wow. Have you ever read a book so epic, so complex, so evocative, that you wished it would never end, even as you are gobbling down the pages as fast as you can?
This is one of those stories you pick up and immediately you are drawn into the world created on the paper – a world that, as you read further and further into the story, begins to fill you with dread, then alarm, then horror. Your tiny pinprick of hope is a small girl named Amy – who disappears for several chapters mid-book. I admit to feeling despair at that point and thinking, there’s no way they will come out of this alive. That’s how good Justin Cronin is – you are smack dab in the middle of the story, you care fiercely about the characters, and you just don’t know what’s going to happen next. I admit I had a several moments where I wanted to scream because the suspense was killing me.
The story begins with two federal agents signing up death row inmates for an experimental drug – a virus, brought back from the jungles of South America that turns soldiers into indestructible killing machines. Side effects include a craving for an all blood diet and aversion to light. Cronin calls them vampires but they are not the sexy, charismatic vampires found in today’s literature. They are hairless and with rows of shark-like teeth, killing machines that decimate the population. Of course, what could go wrong with such a dangerous experiment? And why would the government direct the agents to pick up an abandoned 6-year-old girl for the drug trials?
One hundred years later, post-apocalypse, humans are struggling to survive and it looks pretty bleak. Peter lives in The Colony, a compound surrounded by lights that keep out the virals, and the batteries are about to die. When Amy shows up, nearly 100 years old but looking like a preteen, Peter and his friends decide they must find out about Amy’s origins in the hopes that it will be the key to destroying the virals. Amy is the key for their quest to save humanity.
I loved how Cronin looped back and dovetailed details from the beginning with what happened in the end. Cronin is also a keen observer of human relationships and conversations (the power struggles in The Colony, Peter’s unknowing love triangle). I also really think he writes superb action – the escape in Las Vegas was a nail biter! This whole book is a roller coaster – up the hill and down your first dive in the beginning, a plateau in the middle that builds into so many loop-de-loops at the end your head is spinning. All that action is nicely balanced by the relationships between the characters.
My only bone to pick was the ending – but then I found out that this is the first book in a trilogy. Whew. It’s not exactly a cliffhanger, just an uneasy feeling. I should also mention that this is not a breezy summer read – clocking in at 766 pages, this is a whopper of a book. But you will read it all. Oh yes, you will. Once you start, you can’t put it down! It’s been compared to Stephen King’s The Stand, and Cormac McCarthy’s The Road, and if you liked either one of these you will love The Passage.
I give this book 5 STACKS
STACKGirl Nancy, who needs a nightlight please – 1,000 watt.
Impressive review, maybe someday I will get to it…I really liked The Stand.
I can’t wait to read this! Seriously, it’s sat on my shelf taunting me. But it’s so huge, it will have to wait a while. Thanks for such a brilliant, well-written review!
Thanks Jenny! I really like your website, and I am totally jealous you got to interview Justin Cronin! I tried to get him before he left for the UK but he is so in demand … maybe when he gets back. After all, he is a fellow Texan – perhaps he’ll take pity on me and work me in!
Nancy- this is an awesome review! Do you know if the library has this one? I think I just might have to put my camera down for a few minutes to read it
Pam, I think they do but it’ll be on a waitlist. You can borrow my copy if you want!
Thank you! I just finished the unabridged audio book (it kept me on the edge of my seat for days whether I was mowing the fields of my farm or on an airplane)…but today while I was clearing bamboo and reached the end I was left feeling somewhat empty. I even listened to the last chapter over again making sure I hadn’t missed something…what became of Carter? What was Peter? And Amy…..knowing it is the first of three (or “one of many”) makes me feel better about where it left me today….Justin, please don’t take too long before you write Book #2.
Lu Anne, I did the same thing! I listened to the last chapter twice, convinced I had missed something important. I was very unhappy with the ending, but I am excited about the sequel!
I agree about the ending. very disappointing. not only do I not forgive the ending on the fact that there will be a sequel, I consider it to be cynical to end the book this way. a reader who has stuck with a book for 700+ pages deserves a better than this.