The Passage

By Justin Cronin

Book Overview

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER - This thrilling novel kicks off what Stephen King calls "a trilogy that will stand as one of the great achievements in American fantasy fiction."

ONE OF PASTE'S BEST HORROR BOOKS OF THE DECADE - ONE OF TIME'S TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR - A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: The Washington Post, Esquire, U.S. News & World Report, NPR/On Point, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, BookPage, Library Journal

"It happened fast. Thirty-two minutes for one world to die, another to be born."

An epic and gripping tale of catastrophe and survival, The Passage is the story of Amy--abandoned by her mother at the age of six, pursued and then imprisoned by the shadowy figures behind a government experiment of apocalyptic proportions. But Special Agent Brad Wolgast, the lawman sent to track her down, is disarmed by the curiously quiet girl and risks everything to save her. As the experiment goes nightmarishly wrong, Wolgast secures her escape--but he can't stop society's collapse. And as Amy walks alone, across miles and decades, into a future dark with violence and despair, she is filled with the mysterious and terrifying knowledge that only she has the power to save the ruined world.

Look for the entire Passage trilogy:
THE PASSAGE THE TWELVE THE CITY OF MIRRORS

Praise for The Passage

" A] blockbuster."--The New York Times Book Review

"Mythic storytelling."--San Francisco Chronicle

"Magnificent . . . Cronin has taken his literary gifts, and he has weaponized them. . . . The Passage can stand proudly next to Stephen King's apocalyptic masterpiece The Stand, but a closer match would be Cormac McCarthy's The Road: a story about human beings trying to generate new hope in a world from which all hope has long since been burnt."--Time

"The type of big, engrossing read that will have you leaving the lights on late into the night."--The Dallas Morning News

"Addictive."--Men's Journal

"Cronin's unguessable plot and appealing characters will seize your heart and mind."--Parade

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0345504976
• ISBN13: 9780345504975
• Release Date: May 2011
• Publisher: Ballantine Books
• Length: 800 Pages
• Weight: 1.43 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.4" x 5.5" x 8.2"

Customer Reviews

Outstanding Series

It is an end of the world trilogy that is one of the best series of books I've ever enjoyed. I just finished the third one and I'm sad it's over. The story, the characters, and the quality of the man's writing are exceptional.

Incredible

One word fantastic I normally don’t read books where a lot of characters in it but this book I could not put down. I couldn’t wait to go to book 2 that’s what I’m reading now once again I’m so glad I bought this book.

I didn't read much of it.

The book starts off pretty good but it jumps around so much I never finished it.. It is not one that I will read.

THE PASSAGE is bound to become a bestseller

It is with great anticipation that I have awaited THE PASSAGE, an apocalyptic vampire thriller written by acclaimed author Justin Cronin. This book represents a massive undertaking and one of much greater significance than any simple chronicle of monsters. Here, a benevolent man opens "Pandora's Box" and releases an evil that will consume the world. The creation of vampires impacts Earth like a bomb, as devastating as any cataclysmic event imaginable. Readers will be left wondering whether humans will ultimately survive this, or if we were even meant to. But as long as there are some who do, hope remains in the dream that one day we will live courageously and become free again. The devastating fall of mankind begins with a U.S. military operation where a scientist makes an unprecedented discovery in the heart of a Bolivian jungle. It is in hopes of finding a cure for humanity's ailments that Dr. Jonas Lear encounters a new species and manages to transport it to U.S. soil, locked up within an Army compound. This is a virus that stimulates enlargement of the thymus gland in humans, making growth of new tissue possible. The military plans to test it and pursues desperate test subjects. Twelve men consent freely to this, convicted murderers on death row, and a six-year-old girl is also found who is seen as a particularly desirable subject. After a period of confinement, the criminals become "jumpers," feeding on animals under lockdown in high-security cells until they manage to get out; no one anticipates what they are capable of until it is too late. Only the girl remains, and all hell breaks loose outside. The project directors had it planned so perfectly, but in the end, that reasoning is revealed to be simple overconfidence. "In her mind's eye, she saw it, saw it all at last: the rolling armies and the flames of battle, the graves and pits and dying cries of a hundred million souls; the spreading darkness, like a black wing stretching over the earth; the last bitter hours of cruelty and sorrow, and terrible, final flights; death's great dominion over all, and at the last, the empty cities, becalmed by the silence of a hundred years. Already these things were coming to pass." No amount of intelligence or power is enough to offer protection, and hiding is not an option. The best chance people have is to make a concerted effort to save a few, and those who live will become the first colony of the World After. Time is begun anew, and civilizations become skeletons, fading from memory. There are no longer such things as cities or countries, and humans have become the most vulnerable species on Earth. Survivors find sanctuary behind massive walls, and a new social system is formed based on protection from what lies waiting outside. A few lucky children are sent to the colony but without their parents, the guards becoming guardians, armed with lights and weapons. Walls alone are not enough to keep the virals out, and the colonists depend upon electri

It's a page turner

When I first heard of this book I was reluctant to read it for one reason, vampires. Everytime I turn around there is a movie or book about vampires. Now I happen to like apocalyptic stories with a lot of characters that take place in different parts of the country or world. I just couldn't get past the vampires. However, since the reviews were so good and I heard there is already plans for a movie, I thought I would give it a chance. I'm very glad I did. I don't know if you could create a totally original vampire, but the story is certainly original. There may be parts that remind of other books, but when all is said and done it stands alone. The Stand by Stephen King was the first big epic book I ever read and will always be number one to me. If the stand is 1a, then this book is 1b. This is a fairly long book but I couldn't put it down and ended up finishing after several days and nights of reading. This was the first of what I understand will be 3 books. I'm already impatient for the 2nd book. It's also a very sad book. Mr. Cronin does an excellent job of relating what it must be like to grow up in a world where you have to be locked up very tight when night rolls around, or risk being killed or turned. A world where the few survivors left don't have much hope left, if any. Until the girl from nowhere just shows up one night.

As if Harry Potter hit you with a "stupify" spell -- this book ROCKS and you won't do anything else

In my opinion The Passage earns its right to be considered one of the best books of summer. It is one of the 2 best books I've read this year. I have to admit I wasn't too sure about this tome when I picked it up but by the time I was 50 pages in I literally could not put it down. It is only a slight exageration to say all of my waking non-work moments were consumed with this amazing novel. It might sound strange but I was in the novel's "head space" for lack of better term for 3 whole days. So let's get the whole vampire thing out of the way so all those who think they will find Spike or Angel (or Edward for that matter) on these pages turn back now. I love me some Spike and Angel but I wasn't looking for another "vampires are so misunderstood" read. These vamps/virals are not romanticized at all. They are fine tuned killing machines without mercy and without conscience, but with a still small voice inside of them that wonders who they are. I found the parts of the book where you get a bit into their mind to be the hardest to get through. It wasn't sympathy for them so much as puzzlement and uncomfortableness- given their transformation from human to an evil people killing thing I needed for them to be all bad and have no good at all. Not that there is good but there is something - no matter how small still inside. They are difficult to fight, they have only one weak spot really and they're fast, agile, and scary. Soon after they escape the military bunker/location they've been developed in the world as we know it disappears. A word about plausibility. I felt like it was. Plausible. Unfortunately I could picture a world in the not so distant future where man creates this type of evil. There always seems to be a well meaning doctor or scientist who doesn't realize what he's done and is clueless to the dangers of the Frankenstein he's just created. The book starts off with a bang and a major right hook. Better than Tyson I'm telling you. It is fast and furious for a while and then it tones down a bit so you can catch your breath. Then you do it all over again. Like in many post-apocalyptic novels there's at least one human resistance area that survives by banding together and working as a group but they are few in number. The story divides between the time where these virals were created and how that happened (and, unfortunately, why) with the story of the last remnants of humanity. What will they do? How do they survive? The characters in The Passage, while numerous, are so well written you will feel as if they are your friends and comrades or people you know. I seldom read horror. It just freaks me out too much. While this novel wasn't overtly frightening (so that I would double check my windows and doors) there were definitely times I actually had to take a break because I was spooked a bit. I even dreamt about the events in this book. The saving grace that kept me from looking over my shoulder for weeks is that, as a dystopian n

Keep the Lights On

If this review sounds disjointed, meandering and incoherent, forgive me, because I am exhausted. My eyes are gritty and I have a cramp in my hand because I fell asleep on it. I got this book on Tuesday, read until my eyes were blurry and then snuck out of bed to sit in the icy cold living room so late at night (or early, depending on your point of view) to finish this book. I'm not exaggerating when I say that this book is addictive. First of all, I should tell you a little about my reading history. I've read The Stand, The Strain, Andromeda Strain, Red Storm Rising, One Second After, The Descent and World War Z, I could go on, but if you recognize any of these titles you will know that I have a thing for everything-goes-to-hell books. The Passage, in my opinion, is as good as, if not better than the best of these novels. I've gotten a bit jaded in my reading. Not only does it take more to shock me, it takes more characters, more excitement and mystery to keep me reading past the first five pages. When I read about the Passage on one of my favorite book review sites, I was interested, but not jumping up and down with glee to read it. After all, this was a book about Vampires. I've read a lot of vampire fiction lately, and the bloodthirsty fangers just aren't as thrilling to me as they used to be. There's just two kinds of vamp books, good vamps and bad vamps. Count Dracula, Lestat, Angel and Spike would run away from the vamps in this book. But, from the first chapter, I was drawn in by the characters. The destined for tragedy Jeanette, Wolgast, whose life has become one long waiting line, Amy, an innocent child with frighteningly wise eyes. All the side characters are intriguing too, Sister Lacey, Richards, Doyle, Peter, Michael, reminding the reader that the most placid surface can conceal the darkest depths. As the reader, I was frightened. I put the book down about 3/4 of the way through and walked around my empty living room, trying to shake off the creeping horror of what was happening. I think the style of the writing makes it scarier, it's real, like a car crash and just as sudden. Cronin shows you the best of people one moment and then scares the hell out of you the next. Some people might be angry about the world building. There isn't a lot of it, little clues let you know that the beginning of the book is in the future (no flying cars, gee whiz, it isn't that kind of story). The story and characters are the central focus, in this it reminds me of Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin, like Thrones, you begin to see what the world is like because you are experiencing it along with the survivors. The ending was unexpected. I don't want to say anymore about it, because you have to read this yourself.