goodreads | The Passage - Justin Cronin (Reply)

Title: The Passage
Author: Justin Cronin
Genre: Dystopian, paranormal, horror
Rating: 4.5/5
# pages: 963, ~36hrs
Date read: May 2011, May 2019

First, the unthinkable: a security breach at a secret U.S. government facility unleashes the monstrous product of a chilling military experiment. Then, the unspeakable: a night of chaos and carnage gives way to sunrise on a nation, and ultimately a world, forever altered. All that remains for the stunned survivors is the long fight ahead and a future ruled by fear - of darkness, of death, of a fate far worse.

As civilization swiftly crumbles into a primal landscape of predators and prey, two people flee in search of sanctuary. FBI agent Brad Wolgast is a good man haunted by what he's done in the line of duty. Six-year-old orphan Amy Harper Bellafonte is a refugee from the doomed scientific project that has triggered apocalypse. He is determined to protect her from the horror set loose by her captors. But for Amy, escaping the bloody fallout is only the beginning of a much longer odyssey - spanning miles and decades - towards the time and place where she must finish what should never have begun.

Really, really fascinating book. And a somewhat unusual book as well, in that it completely changed focus/style about half way through. The first half was about the creation of the disaster, the second half about the aftermath - almost 100 years later! I'm used to books being either one or the other, so it was a bit of a mental shift to have to make. It somehow seemed a bit like a mix of "The Stand" by Stephen King and "The Forest of Hands and Teeth" by Carrie Ryan.

It's a long book, but 'deserved' its length, in that it didn't seem drawn out at any time. The writing was tight and the characters believable. I loved Amy and Wolgast, but somehow didn't get as attached to any from the colony - except Auntie, but then I've always loved wise, old women ;)

The only thing I was really annoyed about was the very last paragraph. Seemed a bit like a cop-out, but I guess Justin Cronin was just setting the stage for book 2 in the series - which I'll definitely want to read.

Really, really fascinating book. And a somewhat unusual book as well, in that it completely changed focus/style about half way through. The first half was about the creation of the disaster, the second half about the aftermath - almost 100 years later! I'm used to books being either one or the other, so it was a bit of a mental shift to have to make. It somehow seemed a bit like a mix of "The Stand" by Stephen King and "The Forest of Hands and Teeth" by Carrie Ryan.

It's a long book, but 'deserved' its length, in that it didn't seem drawn out at any time. The writing was tight and the characters believable. I loved Amy and Wolgast, but somehow didn't get as attached to any from the colony - except Auntie, but then I've always loved wise, old women ;)

The only thing I was really annoyed about was the very last paragraph. Seemed a bit like a cop-out, but I guess Justin Cronin was just setting the stage for book 2 in the series - which I'll definitely want to read.

Reread in 2019 "Read" it as an audiobook this time, which didn't quite do it justice. At 36hrs it was just too long. I was surprised by how MUCH I had forgotten of it. I remembered most of the first half, but after they left the colony I almost felt like I was reading it for the first time again. I liked Peter and Michael a lot more than it sounds like I did on my first read-through, and enjoyed Sarah's diary entries. But despite the open ending it still feels very self-contained (an oxymoron, I know), and I don't actually know that it really needs a sequel after all. I'm still going to give it a try though.