The Passage: A Novel (Book One of The Passage Trilogy)
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The Passage is the debut novel in Justin Cronin’s trilogy of the same name, which also includes The Twelve and The City of Mirrors. The bestselling author of 2001 sensational hit Mary and O’Neil, Cronin has churned out another masterpiece in the form of a post-apocalyptic thriller – a chilling tableau in the spirit of Michael Crichton, Stephen King, or Cormac McCarthy.
You know the handwriting of an apocalypse is on the wall when swaths of Bolivian feral bats descend on humans from the skies and kill them indiscriminately. In fact, according to one eyewitness, a swarm of the bats lifted a private soldier fighting against drug cartels off his feet before they “bored through him like hot knives through butter.”
Shortly, the gas prices are spiking up north and a huge hurricane has struck New Orleans for the second time in a row. You can’t make this up, but the world is on the verge of societal breakdown and mad science is at the forefront of the apocalypse. The mad scientists are trying to create super GIs, but rather than get great soldiers, they engineered an epidemic.
In this epidemic, zombies called virals thrive and they are in the business of clearing everyone in their path. The good guys and mad scientists alike do all they can to salvage the American democracy from the ravenous beasts but to no avail. Wouldn’t you know it, the heroine that would save the day turns out to be Amy Harper Bellafonte, a young, innocent girl from Iowa.
Amy is a six-year-old, vibrant girl full of life and hope. Her mom thinks the world of her, and indeed she is one of the most important people in the world. Amy has been raised in a bubble-like nunnery by her loving mom. Anthony Lloyd Carter, despite being innocent of all crimes preferred against him, finds himself in one of the worst places: death row. While doing yard work for a mom, she mistakenly fell into the pool and drowned, leading to the wrongful arrest and arraignment of Carter.
Meanwhile, Brad Wolgast, a disgruntled and weary FBI agent (cliché alert!), thinks something powerful and devastating is about to happen. And he’s right … the passage is coming! Amy’s mom, a waitress with a few secrets, broaches an idea to the FBI. And because of Amy who has long been thought to be reserved and shy, the good guys have the right weapon to fight the bad guys.
Little did the good guys know that they are opening the trap door to one of the worst enemies! In this spine-chilling tale, Justin Cronin is a master of suspense, detailing a federal experiment that went all wrong and a contagious virus on the loose, turning people into immortal blood-thirsty, flesh-eaters.
With mayhem everywhere, the world turns into an unending blood hunt, with several outposts of armed gangs scattered all over America. Every output is trying to protect its territory and keep chaos from encroaching. What a recipe for an apocalyptic collapse?
Cronin’s The Passage is one of the most talked-about science fiction works of the decade and with good reason. It’s an awe-inspiring tale of evil and good, a crumbling society at the crossroads. As far as the post-apocalyptic genre is concerned, this novel has it all: fantasy, science fiction, horror, a little bit of romance, adventure, intrigue, violence, you name it. If you’re going to pick one book from the bestsellers list, then this is it.
Thanks to Cronin’s powerful and elaborate yet elegant writing style, he has managed to create a book that’s not only poignantly and painfully human but also an excellent work of sci-fi. The transition from one scene to the next is so smooth and seamless that, by the end of the book, you will be left thirsting for more.
The Passage is character-dense, but you don’t have to remember all of them. The plot is epic and the suspense helps keep the reader hooked to the story, from page to page. This vampire-cum-post-apocalyptic thriller is easy to read, the story is brilliantly told, and the graphic action marries well with the electrifying plot twists.
In some way, The Passage is so nightmarish and absorbing that you may confuse it with a mainstream horror novel. However, Cronin doesn’t overwhelm with the catastrophic, heart-wrenching, and apocalyptic scenes; he finds a way to make the story mesmerizing and a bit hopeful with a richly drawn cast of characters.
Overall, this is one of the most epic post-apocalyptic novels, so much so that you won’t put it down once you start reading. You’ll appreciate that Cronin writes with great versatility and verve.
