One is advised to tread cautiously when attempting to review a novel like The Passage. You certainly want to intrigue and convince people to dive in, but you don’t want to give anything away, either. So that said, the hole in this bed sheet is going to be awfully small…
It’s been ages since I’ve enjoyed a book this much. Justin Cronin is a new name to me. With a background that includes Pen/Hemingway and Stephen Crane awards, one can’t help but wonder what his tenured tweedy colleagues thought when they learned he’d gone over to the dark reaches of apocalyptic horror. And go over he did. Cronin has delivered a vast, compelling epic – the first of a proposed trilogy – that starts wonderfully small and reels towards no lesser a precipice than the very end of the world as we know it.
The Passage has the DNA of Richard Matheson’s I am Legend in its bones (more Charlton Heston's Omega Man than Will Smith) along with Stephen King’s opus The Stand. 28 Days Later and Let the Right One In may also echo in these hallways. But this is not some hybrid pastiche capitalizing on the current Stephanie Meyer/True Blood wave of renewed interest in things that bite. There’s no pale wallflowers here, no tween-friendly introspection. The Passage evokes what Peter Benchley did in Jaws, taking conventions you thought you knew and freaking you out in new and nightmare-inducing ways.
The events of The Passage will have you turning pages with the same ravenous fervor as the viral hoards within. As visceral and immediate as this read is, you may be taken aback at times by the effortless craft of the writing, the heart of the characters. You sign on for the duration immediately and the path Cronin takes to get there will satisfy and surprise you.
Director Ridley Scott is developing The Passage as a feature film. Let’s just say that Ridley has a lot to work with here. Here’s hoping he delivers the epic saga this book deserves. Make no mistake – I’ll be buried in book II the first day it comes out.
It’s been ages since I’ve enjoyed a book this much. Justin Cronin is a new name to me. With a background that includes Pen/Hemingway and Stephen Crane awards, one can’t help but wonder what his tenured tweedy colleagues thought when they learned he’d gone over to the dark reaches of apocalyptic horror. And go over he did. Cronin has delivered a vast, compelling epic – the first of a proposed trilogy – that starts wonderfully small and reels towards no lesser a precipice than the very end of the world as we know it.
The Passage has the DNA of Richard Matheson’s I am Legend in its bones (more Charlton Heston's Omega Man than Will Smith) along with Stephen King’s opus The Stand. 28 Days Later and Let the Right One In may also echo in these hallways. But this is not some hybrid pastiche capitalizing on the current Stephanie Meyer/True Blood wave of renewed interest in things that bite. There’s no pale wallflowers here, no tween-friendly introspection. The Passage evokes what Peter Benchley did in Jaws, taking conventions you thought you knew and freaking you out in new and nightmare-inducing ways.
The events of The Passage will have you turning pages with the same ravenous fervor as the viral hoards within. As visceral and immediate as this read is, you may be taken aback at times by the effortless craft of the writing, the heart of the characters. You sign on for the duration immediately and the path Cronin takes to get there will satisfy and surprise you.
Director Ridley Scott is developing The Passage as a feature film. Let’s just say that Ridley has a lot to work with here. Here’s hoping he delivers the epic saga this book deserves. Make no mistake – I’ll be buried in book II the first day it comes out.
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I am so on it!!! Just finished reading the un-believer series with the Ur-Lord himself; THOMAS COVENANT, and looking for a new read. When you suggest...I do. I will read it asap. I will never forget your strong suggestion for me to read The Stand. Love ya oh great reviewer. Your adoring fan...Cord
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