The Passage by Justin Cronin

The Passage by Justin Cronin

                I was super excited about this re-read. I read this book when it first came out in 2010. It was a book recommended by Stephen King and honestly, I haven’t mistrusted his taste ever so I was definitely ready to read this book. My first time reading The Passage was quite an experience. I had nightmares. I was seeing things in the trees. I loved it. It was suspenseful. It was a new and refreshing look at vampires and the horror genre. It was different and at that time I needed something different. I didn’t originally know that this book was the first in a trilogy written by Cronin. The way it ended left an option for a sequel with a nice little cliffhanger. And now the time has come for this trilogy to end and I thought it was time to bring the world back to me anew. So here we go.

                This all began because they were looking for a cure. A cure for death. A cure to live. A cure for sickness. The scientist thought they might find it in La Paz. The U.S. government thought they might as well. Instead Zero was created. Then they wanted twelve inmates. Twelve people that no one would miss, that were desperately looking for a last chance for survival. They would all agree in the end. Amy was never given an option. She was left, abandoned and then taken. The twelve were not the cure. The twelve were the beginning of the end. The virals would escape and take over. Killing instinctually and turning the tenth person into one of them. It was a desperate time for desperate measures. States would secede from the U.S. to protect themselves and the viral hordes spread out. Vampires were what everyone had become. Then 93 years have passed and one colony is known to remain. They haven’t seen a walked in years. The lights have stayed on. But the dreams keep coming. And the lights will soon go off.

                So here is the situation. The government created a virus they were hoping would cure every known disease. The virus turned people into super strong, glowing, psychic vampires. In the midst of all this is a young girl who has always been extraordinary who has also been injected with the virus but isn’t like anyone else. Is she human? Is she viral? What is she?! Then our story jumps into the future and you realize just how desperate life has become.

                I know the plot seems crazy and it is, in a very refreshing “where-the-hell-is-Justin-Cronin-going-to-take-this” way. I was intrigued from the very beginning. This story is told in the third person with the help of a few emails, military transcripts and diary entries. All of the former are used sparingly but when used they add some perspective and really usher the story along. From the very beginning you know something dangerous is afoot. You know catastrophe is going to strike and it is a slow painful trek till the other shoe drops. You can feel it coming with the turn of each page and yet when it happens your mouth drops, you immediately understand the extent of power these being have and that everything is going change. As soon as the suspense drops slightly, you are plunged into the future and it all begins again. I credit all of this to great world building and suspenseful storytelling. The character development was amazing too. It’s hard to imagine a desolate population with nothing, when we live in a technology driven society now. It’s almost painful to conceive but then add on top of that the threat of extinction or becoming a viral and it gets worse.

                The Passage had action, suspense, horror, graphic (intense, kind of gross) detail and characters that drove the plot. It had a few moments where I shook my head and wanted to throw it but all in all it was really enjoyable. The second time around wasn’t as mesmerizing as the first time but still great. I give it 4 out of 5 stars. Moving on to the sequel.