Book Review :: The Passage, by Justin Cronin

The Passage by Justin Cronin
Series: The Passage #1
Also in this series: The Twelve, The City of Mirrors
Published by Orion
on August 1st 2010
Genres: Fiction, Horror, Paranormal, Science Fiction
Pages: 766
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Deep in the jungles of eastern Colombia, Professor Jonas Lear has finally found what he's been searching for - and wishes to God he hadn't.

In Memphis, Tennessee, a six-year-old girl called Amy is left at the convent of the Sisters of Mercy and wonders why her mother has abandoned her.

In a maximum security jail in Nevada a convicted murderer called Giles Babcock has the same strange nightmare, over and over again, while he waits for a lethal injection.

In a remote community in the California mountains, a young man called Peter waits for his beloved brother to return home - so he can kill him.

Bound together in ways they cannot comprehend, for each of them a door is about to open into a future they could not have imagined. And a journey is about to begin. An epic journey that will take them through a world transformed by man's darkest dreams, to the very heart of what it means to be human.

And beyond.

Last updated on 19 January 2022

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My brief thoughts on The Passage

I won’t say much about The Passage, or I’ll give it all away, but it’s a great book if you like a bit of thriller, a bit of horror (though I didn’t really find it scary or horror-ry), a bit of action, a little bit of the recent craze which is vampires (though not really…you’ll see when you read it ) and just a little bit of romance (though not enough for it to be labelled too girly for the guys – in fact, it’s quite a male book I think).

Anyway, it’s really good and I do recommend it…if it sounds like you. If you’re the kind of person who reads only romance novels, or only crime, or only classic books…then maybe stay away from this one. But all you others, read read read! It didn’t take me long to read, despite me being very busy this week (will post about that at some stage), and there are times when I just couldn’t put it down.

I don’t really want to say too much about what it’s about, but basically there’s a girl called Amy, a man called Wolgast, a convict called Carter, a nun called Lacey, who are all connected to each other somehow (as well as various other people like Peter and Alicia) and a time span of about a thousand years. And if that, along with the idea of vampire-like creatures, isn’t enough to make you want to read it, then I don’t know what will be. Other than it’s good. Read it. The end is a bit weird, I found. And there was a bit in the middle I was confused about, but then as I continued reading, it was all fine again.

Here’s what some important people on the cover and the inside page of the book said:

‘Enthralling…Read this book and the ordinary world disappears’ – Stephen King

‘Colossal’ – Herald Sun

‘Disgracefully, compulsively enjoyable’ – Sydney Morning Herald

‘A feverishly readable post-apocalyptic-cum-vampire chiller…a brilliantly told story…thrilling plot twists and graphic action sequences’ – Guardian

‘Epic, apocalyptic, heart-wrenching, catastrophic, mesmerising’ – Daily Mirror

Do read it, and tell me what you think.