The Passage by Justin Cronin; post-apocalyptic 766 pages
Before I say anything else, let's just get this out of the way...Justin Cronin's The Passage has vampires in it. Now before you ignore the rest of this post because you are as sick of vampires as I am, let me say a few things on the subject: None of the vampires in Cronin's post-apocalyptic epic sparkle in the sunlight or fall in love or conscientiously object to the drinking of human blood. Cronin's vampires are brutal, feral, and 100% deadly. Although Cronin's undead antagonists are constantly referred to as vampires (as well as jumps, smokes, dracs, virals and many other nicknames) they seem a lot more like zombies (a genre that still has quite a bit of life left in it, no pun intended). I don't think Cronin's intention was to hop on the Twilight bandwagon, because he doesn't even mention vampires in the blurb on the jacket (a fact I am happy about, because I probably would've thought of the book as another lame Twilight ripoff if he had).
Cronin's The Passage is the a brilliant epic spanning a hundred years that paints a very vivid picture of humankind in its struggle against the overwhelming odds of a vampire infestation. The first 200 pages deal with the cause of the infestation (a virus that is released from a government facility) and the origins of one of the story's protagonists, Amy, a young orphan girl with a mysterious past.
Suddenly, the story completely changes pace and the timeline shifts almost 100 years into the future after the vampires have eliminated or turned most of humankind. The story after this point reads the same as many post-apocalyptice dystopian novels that have come out before it. The narrative changes to a story about a misfit band of survivors on a journey to save humanity from the dangers of the vampires and the virus that spawned them. Although this type of story may seem overused, I believe that it is Cronin's storytelling that truly sets this epic tale apart. Plenty of end-of-chapter cliffhangers and flashbacks that act as exposition for a variety of Cronin's very detailed characters (which fans of the TV show Lost will definitely enjoy) contribute to making this the best story I've read in a long time, if not ever.
For those of you who haven't read it yet, pick up a copy. The book is excellent, and although it is extremely long, the gripping prose will keep you reading and screaming for more when you read the last page. Luckily, there will be more, because Cronin has said that The Passage is only the first in a trilogy, the second, The Twelve is scheduled to be released in 2012.
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