The Passage

A Novel (Book One of The Passage Trilogy)

By: Justin Cronin

Narrated by: Scott Brick, Adenrele Ojo, Abby Craden

Length: 36 hrs and 49 mins

Publisher's summary

New York Times best seller.

This thrilling novel kicks off what Stephen King calls “a trilogy that will stand as one of the great achievements in American fantasy fiction".

Now a FOX TV series!

Named one of Paste’s best horror books of the decade.

Named one of the 10 best novels of the year by TIME and one of the best books of the year by The Washington Post, Esquire, U.S. News & World Report, NPR/On Point, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, BookPage, and Library Journal.

“It happened fast. Thirty-two minutes for one world to die, another to be born".

An epic and gripping tale of catastrophe and survival, The Passage is the story of Amy - abandoned by her mother at the age of six, pursued, and then imprisoned by the shadowy figures behind a government experiment of apocalyptic proportions. But Special Agent Brad Wolgast, the lawman sent to track her down, is disarmed by the curiously quiet girl and risks everything to save her. As the experiment goes nightmarishly wrong, Wolgast secures her escape - but he can’t stop society’s collapse. And as Amy walks alone, across miles and decades, into a future dark with violence and despair, she is filled with the mysterious and terrifying knowledge that only she has the power to save the ruined world. Look for the entire Passage trilogy:

• The Passage
• The Twelve
• The City of Mirrors

©2010 Justin Cronin (P)2010 Random House

Critic reviews

“[A] blockbuster.” (The New York Times)

“Mythic storytelling.” (San Francisco Chronicle)

“Magnificent...Cronin has taken his literary gifts, and he has weaponized them...The Passage can stand proudly next to Stephen King’s apocalyptic masterpiece The Stand, but a closer match would be Cormac McCarthy’s The Road: A story about human beings trying to generate new hope in a world from which all hope has long since been burnt.” (Time)

I really liked this book

Very different take on a vampire story. Enjoy Scott Brick as a narrator also.

Well worth the money.

I hope Audible will soon have the 2012 book by Justin Cronin as well.

I didn't want it to end!

In the tradition of The Stand, this exceptionally well-written and narrated tale is a long one but very satisfying. The characters are well developed and we the listeners end up caring about them. I couldn't get enough of this and found myself sneaking away from work to listen (always the sign of a great book). Justin Cronin's apocolyptic world of the walkers and the virals is utterly believable and one that I look forward to visiting again the sure to come sequels.

Ending??!!??

Well written book. A bit monotonous at times but a good story. Right up until the end that just leaves you hanging. After 36 hours I was expecting a conclusion.

Long, but good!

Writing is mostly excellent, but at times feels like it could use an edit. Long chapters where not much happens and passage after passage about nothing. But otherwise the story is very edge-of-your-seat. The narration is excellent!

I love it !

Ive read the bad reviews and dont think they are a reaction to the book but to Scot Brick.If this was read by someone else it would get much better ratings.Scot just reads badly,I read the book first and its better and you have to get around the whinning voice of his.The prose is good,the story lines detailed.And it may have a vampire story line but thats todays "monster".If it was from the 60s it would be space monsters. All books have a period accent to them.

Buy the book, it is a great value

I love long books and this one did not disappoint. This was very reminiscent of one of the big Stephen King books like The Stand or Under the Dome. Not as good as The Stand but Better than Under the Dome. For the people that complain about the ending find me a long book that ends the way we think it should and I will eat it.
Buy the book, it is a great value.

the first half was good

the story is in third person and has a very engaging start, characters are well drawn and the story moves apace. The second half degenerates into the same post- apocalyptic para- military society crapola that has been done to death. I simply cannot relate to characters who regard a cache of guns with holy reverence. Might as well let the creepies have all the people if thats the best they can do. I didnt make it all the way though and I won't ever listen again

A bit disappointing

Any additional comments?

The story is divided into three parts; The first is of the events leading to the disaster which brings on the end of the world as we know it. This first part was excellent, I was absolutely absorbed in the story, the characters, and the possibilities for the world after.

In the second part, The story sadly veers left into the compost heap. The second part concerns the social politics of a colony of survivors 100 years after the disaster. It doesn't go anywhere, and it doesn't go there fast. Petty rivalries, jealousy over women, who gets to be the leader this year. He said, she said post apocalyptic daytime soap opera.

In the third part, a small group of people get wise and decide to decamp, Here the adventure begins anew. And more or less redeems itself.

I had this book in my wish list for about a year. The reason it stayed there was that Audible wanted two credits for it. I'm glad I waited, it's worth a listen if you like this kind of thing. But if I had paid 2 creds for it, my review might have been a bit more negative.

Good story for 1 credit

It starts slow at first I was tempted to stop at 5 hrs but it gets interesting from 7hrs to end. It's annoying at times how the author jumps to a future date and backtracking on a plot. This 40hr novel doesnt end in a sense. I think there's a sequel to this. I like Scott Brick as a narrator so It was worth the listen. The story dwells on a screwed up military science experiment that practically wiped out the world. It dwells on how people cope up with it and how a little girl can save the world.

Should not be in the sci fi category.

It was moderately entertaining, but felt more than a little familiar, Stephen King's the stand mixed with that shitty movie Preist. But my true criticism is of the whole, it's God's plan bullshit. It felt also like the writer did zero research or even basic math at points. Gasoline goes bad after a year, cans of beans are not good after 100 years even if they are properly sealed, they have working computer systems that regulate their battery power flow and can connect a micro chip to one but are later astonished by a projector. And more than anything, the universe felt underdeveloped, rather than coming up with ingenious ways humans had adapted to their new world and found ways to kill the vampires, they were all just as weak and pathetic as humans from our time trust into the situation and had 6 months to figure out what to do. Rather disappointing in how plain and unoriginal the whole book felt.