The Passage

Justin Cronin's The Passage is this summer's must-read blockbuster. For some reason I never seem to read must-read books, but I read this one. The novel is divided in two sections. The first is set in the very near future and describes the destruction of civilization following the escape of vampire-like creatures that are the result of a military project gone bad. The second half skips ahead 100 years and focuses on an isolated band of survivors as they defend themselves from the now plentiful vampire monsters. A very long-lived girl is present in both narratives and ties them together. And she might just be what saves humanity from extinction. But you will have to wait for the sequel to find out.

I enjoyed the first part, but felt that the second part was too slowly paced (the book is 784 pages long). The characters in the first part were more substantial, while those in the second were flat and indistinguishable from one another. Many of the survivors in the second part get killed -- sorry if I spoiled a surprise, but hey, there are vampire things around after all -- and I found I didn't really care all that much if they lived or died.

While reading, I could not escape the notion that when the author first put pen to paper he was thinking movie deal. I then found out that a movie is already in the works though the ink is barely dry on the first printing! And then I heard the author interviewed and discovered that this is the first book in a trilogy. Marketing! I guess I should not be surprised. But don't let this dissuade you from reading it. Despite some reservations, I enjoyed it and read it to the end.

-Paul

If you like The Passage, you may also enjoy:

The Strain by Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan (also the first book of a trilogy)
The Stand by Stephen King
The Road by Cormac McCarthy
I am Legend by Richard Matheson