The Passage

a novel

by Justin Cronin

Hardcover, 766 pages

English language

Published Aug. 7, 2010 by Ballantine Books.

ISBN:: 978-0-345-50496-8
OCLC Number:: 290464813

View on OpenLibrary

(82 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.

IT HAPPENED FAST. THIRTY-TWO MINUTES FOR ONE WORLD TO DIE, ANOTHER TO BE BORN.

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 an 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.

(front flap)

30 editions

Marsha Woerner reviewed The Passage by Justin Cronin (The Passage, #1)

Review of 'The Passage' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

What a weird book! The description or explanation of different things came at different times in the book, and by the end, some were still not explained. I'm not even sure whether it has a happy ending or not, because I'm not sure what's going on or has happened.
In the end, I know that there are vampires – although I'm not positive who are vampires, and I'm not sure that there are bad or all good. There is too much unexplained in the end, and I'm not sure whether I'm up to reading the other two books in the series. My son's mother-in-law really likes the series, and I think she understands it better than I; perhaps when I talked to her tomorrow, she can clear things up for me. I'm kind of uncomfortable not being able to figure it all out by myself :-(.
I like to hope …

Bryan Fordham reviewed The Passage by Justin Cronin (The Passage, #1)

Review of 'The Passage' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

Very good, looking forward to reading the rest.

This thing is LONG, though kept my attention for the most part. Hard to describe the scope of it. There are a few places where I felt it was a wee bit predictable, but overall it avoided being too neat and tidy.

V171 reviewed The Passage by Justin Cronin (The Passage, #1)

Review of 'The Passage' on 'Goodreads'

2 stars

It was too long. Plain and simple. But while that's not usually a problem, it was NEEDLESSLY long. There was so much fluff in this book that didn't need to be there, it made it a truly daunting read. It felt as if the author would think of an interesting piece of world building and decide to devote an entire chapter to explaining it rather than asking "Is this really important at this time? Can I incorporate this in another way?"

The story was... fine, but I would have liked it more with half of the chapters cut out. I think the story would have been better suited with a faster pace, but it was so touch and go with the speed that the plot moved. Side note, this was very clearly written by a man. You create THREE post apocalyptic societies and each of them is a different shade …

Mollarom reviewed The Passage by Justin Cronin (The Passage, #1)

Review of 'The Passage' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

UGH. And I mean that in the "oh my God that book was so good but it was LONG and I couldn't put it down and now I have to relearn how to walk" kind of way.

To start, this is another one of those books where if you had told me what the bad guys were before you handed it to me, I'd say no thanks.

But the writing is fantastic. Cronin breathes considerable life into his characters. The first chapter of this book is a harrowing, personal tragedy that honestly turned me off on my initial reading attempt. I went back to it, and needless to say, I got hooked bad.

Gonna need some time off before diving into the next book. The Passage took a lot out of me.

tivasyk reviewed The Passage by Justin Cronin (The Passage, #1)

Review of 'The Passage' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

чудова до- і постапокаліптична епопея. за винятком фіналу, на який (як і багатьом іншим авторам, на жаль) кроніну не стало наснаги (деякі фрагменти притягнено за вуха і вельми недбало натягнено на ср..ку). в цілому — читається цікаво.

ManyRoads reviewed The Passage by Justin Cronin (The Passage, #1)

Review of 'The Passage' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

Very long... for those who like books that are wordy. The story is too vampire-like for my taste although it was worth the read. I'm not certain if I'll the others in the series.

loppear reviewed The Passage by Justin Cronin

Review of 'The Passage' on Goodreads

4 stars

A solid attempt at big post-apocalyptic world-building, some of everything from thriller to quest. Does a decent job of standing alone despite being the start of a trilogy.

Kibrika reviewed The Passage by Justin Cronin (The Passage, #1)

Review of 'The Passage' on 'Goodreads'

No rating

It started off really dark and deep, with developed characters whose actions were understandable in the context of who they were. Then at some point it all went bad and turned into a generic action flick where everyone does reckless things and survives, jumping out of exploding buildings.

Steen Christiansen reviewed The Passage by Justin Cronin (The Passage, #1)

Review of 'The Passage' on 'Goodreads'

2 stars

Winding vampire novel where the narrative threads slowly come together but we have lost interest by then. The constant shift in characters and time periods make us lose focus before we get anywhere interesting.

Amerdale reviewed Der Übergang by Justin Cronin (Passage Trilogie #1)

Review of 'Der Übergang' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

Meine Rezension: amerdale.wordpress.com/2015/02/18/gelesen-justin-croninder-ubergang-the-passage-1/

Jonathan Arnold reviewed The Passage by Justin Cronin

Review of 'The Passage' on 'Goodreads'

2 stars

Blech. Meandering, pointless, overwrought, and under edited. Longer review coming soon.

RxBrad reviewed The Passage by Justin Cronin (The Passage, #1)

Review of 'The Passage' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

Not bad. Kind of a cross between "The Stand" and "I Am Legend", although it started to get kind of lame and soap opera-y in the last third of the book.

AnotherFrancis reviewed The Passage by Justin Cronin (The Passage, #1)

Review of 'The Passage' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

Great book.
Not your typical survival or vampire fiction. Highly recommended.

scifijack reviewed The Passage by Justin Cronin (The Passage, #1)

Review of 'The Passage' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

I. Love. This. Book. I went on a 20-minute, out-loud rant when one character did something I would have strangled her for. That's when I knew this book had me. I love this book. I love it. If you start it, and you get comfy with the present-day crime story feel of it, don't get too comfortable, but PLEASE take my word for it, the abrupt shift from that to something else works so completely and masterfully it will make you giggle. I love this book. Give me the sequal NOW, or the puppy gets it.