GG reviewed The Passage by Justin Cronin (The Passage, #1)
Review of 'The Passage' on 'Goodreads'
2 stars
I found the ending very frustrating.
First Edition, 766 pages
English language
Published June 8, 2010 by Ballantine Books.
4 stars
(96 reviews)
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 …
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 and 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.
Molly Foust reviewed The Passage by Justin Cronin (The Passage, #1)
Review of 'The Passage' on 'Goodreads'
5 stars
This is one of the best books I read all year. Riveting!
Laura Lemay reviewed The Passage by Justin Cronin (The Passage, #1)
Review of 'The Passage' on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
A post-apocalyptic thriller where a military virus escapes and turns everyone into vampire-like monsters. The future of the world rests in the hands of a few holdout colonies of humans and one mysterious little girl.
A fast-paced page-turner of a thriller, this was a great book to read on a boring rainy weekend. As big a book as it was I could not put it down and ripped through it in no time at all. Despite its very strong thematic similarities to "The Stand", "The Road," and other similar dark post-apocalyptic fiction, there were still enough original ideas here to draw me in and keep me reading.
Parts of it are very well written. Many of the characters are well drawn. The pacing and tension is nicely done much of the time.
But.
On a whole it is a huge, sloppy, mess. The core set of good characters are swamped …
A post-apocalyptic thriller where a military virus escapes and turns everyone into vampire-like monsters. The future of the world rests in the hands of a few holdout colonies of humans and one mysterious little girl.
A fast-paced page-turner of a thriller, this was a great book to read on a boring rainy weekend. As big a book as it was I could not put it down and ripped through it in no time at all. Despite its very strong thematic similarities to "The Stand", "The Road," and other similar dark post-apocalyptic fiction, there were still enough original ideas here to draw me in and keep me reading.
Parts of it are very well written. Many of the characters are well drawn. The pacing and tension is nicely done much of the time.
But.
On a whole it is a huge, sloppy, mess. The core set of good characters are swamped by large numbers of confusing, similarly named, one-dimensional characters whose subplots trail off or are irrelevant to the main plot. As quickly as the book moves when it peaks in the big action scenes the writing gets so choppy and jarring that I could not figure out what was actually going on. Some key action scenes happen off-camera, and we're left with long first-person expository diary entries explaining what happened. Argh. Slowing the pacing does not mean bringing the action completely to a halt.
The ending is particularly unsatisfying, not just because it became apparent that this is a setup for a trilogy (something I didn't know going in), but also because many of the characters' personalities and motivations suddenly changed, randomly, as if to force the threads of the plot to come together. I feels forced and manipulative on the part of the author. And even then some of the plot resolutions aren't resolutions at all, they pose more questions than they resolve.
At the least I think this book could have benefited from some much tighter editing, it could have been at least a third shorter, with many fewer characters and plots. Since it is a trilogy any of the major plots in this book would have served as a core plot, but there's just too much here.
I feel kind of like I just ate a dozen donuts all on my own. I enjoyed it while it was happening but the more I reflect on it I feel kind of queasy and unsatisfied.
hofo reviewed The Passage by Justin Cronin (The Passage, #1)
Review of 'The Passage' on 'Goodreads'
5 stars
Just freaking awesome, all the way to the end.
DaveCline reviewed The Passage by Justin Cronin (The Passage, #1)
Review of 'The Passage' on 'Goodreads'
5 stars
A bit long winded. One can skip some meaningless descriptions of what passing characters had for breakfast.
But overall an engaging book.
Anonymole reviewed The Passage by Justin Cronin (The Passage, #1)
Review of 'The Passage' on 'Goodreads'
5 stars
A bit long winded. One can skip some meaningless descriptions of what passing characters had for breakfast.
But overall an engaging book.
Shawn Towner reviewed The Passage by Justin Cronin (The Passage, #1)
Review of 'The Passage' on 'Storygraph'
5 stars
Holy crap this is a good book. It's got action, adventure, romance, vampires, creepy little girls with telepathic powers, Jenna Bush as governor, and even a dog eating vomit. If you read one book this summer, it should be The Passage. If you go through the Summer of 2010 without at least starting The Passage, well then you've wasted your entire summer. Awesome, awesome book. I can't wait to see how Ridley Scott fudges up the movie version.
erinmalone reviewed The Passage by Justin Cronin (The Passage, #1)
Review of 'The Passage' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
The perfect beach reading book. It's difficult to put down and weaves a variety of topics together - FBI mystery, kidnapping, Army/Government genetic manipulations and the supernatural with vampire things. Sounds confusing and at times it was, but it reads well, is entertaining, if depressing and as I said great to read while laying on the beach soaking up the sun.
ThomD reviewed The Passage by Justin Cronin (The Passage, #1)
Review of 'The Passage' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
If you liked The Stand you'll really like this book. It isn't an easy read but it is worth it.
Subjects
- Vampires--Fiction.
- Human experimentation in medicine--Fiction.
- Virus diseases--Fiction.
- United States--Fiction.