The Passage (The Passage, #1) by Justin Cronin Published by Ballantine Books on June 8th 2010
Genres: Dystopian, Fiction, Thriller
Pages: 766
Source: purchased
Amazon
Goodreads
I was not going to read The Passage. I absolutely positively wasn’t going to read it.
It was too hyped up plus I read a review that said it was about vampires, and y’all know I don’t do vampires. And I read it was going to be a trilogy and I hate waiting for sequels.
But then I read that the third and final book is coming out in May.
And I read this review and this one and this one. I decided I would pick up the book, read the first page, and if it didn’t grab me in that first paragraph, then sayonara The Passage.
Wouldn’t you know, it grabbed me and sucked me in with the very. first. sentence!
I’ve always been a huge fan of Indiana Jones, Clive Cussler’s, Dirk Pitt, James Rollins, Sigma Force and Michael Crichton’s every book ~ these adventure novels are perfect escapism reading.
The Passage is filled with flawed human characters, deftly created by a master storyteller.
Epic in scale. Plays on our every mortal fear and conspiracy theories. A scientist stumbles upon a deadly virus that makes terminally ill patients ‘cured’ of their cancers. These patients also appear to have an age reversal ~ becoming younger and more virile {yes, bad pun I know!}. Then a month later all of those patients are dead? Can you not just see all kinds of entities all over this? A virus that cures ailments and makes you younger – yes, please.
So what does this secret government agency do? Collect 12 human test subjects to experiment creating the ultimate ‘cure’ for disease, aging and death.
Somehow the experiment goes horribly wrong. But you knew that was coming, right? Because the book is 776 pages. And everything I just told you is in the first chapter!
Epic tale questions humanity & asks ‘what would you do’ #thepassageThe Passage is disturbing, makes you think and wonder what you would do.
3 Reasons I love The Passage
- it’s a hero’s journey, but the hero turns out to be a girl. {no spoiler here – it’s on the book flap and Goodreads description}
- it’s along the same lines of a true epic like The Lord of the Rings
- it makes you think. oh does this book make you think ~ and ask everyone around you “what would you do?”
2 Reasons The Passage is intimidating
- I love big books and I cannot lie. But with The Passage and the alternating time frames and the ‘have to read it at break-neck speed’ because I have to find out who lives made me feel like after I was finished that I need to go back and start from the beginning. a. because it was so good, and b. because I probably missed clues along the way.
- The whole thing seems so plausible. Terrifying.
Recommended for anyone who enjoys epic adventure novels, Michael Crichton-esque conspiracies and The Walking Dead.
Ok, I’ve got to know ~ have you read it? What did you think? Or were you like me and avoided it like the plague for the longest time?
