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)

Second Time Through

I love this book. Very detailed, very intense and I love the characters. I can't wait to start the second one.

Michael Crichton, the Bible, and Bram Stoker

All in one...

Hyper lexic J Cronin reflects many themes in dystopian biological vampire crusade with all those rough realistic points and the characters morph and gain into the super heroes we all wish to be in or dreams.

I love the repetition of "Oceans of Time"... great way to lay over allusion and convey the magnitude of the story and progression.

One of the best listens ever...

I have never taken the time to write a review before but was compelled to with THE PASSAGE. His use of prose is fantastic! I was hooked from the first sentence. He writes characters that you care about and manages to carry them all the way through and tie it up with a bow at the end. I listened to this book almost compulsively until I finished. I smell a sequel and I can't wait!

Greatly written and narrated! A must!!

Just amazing detail of characters, locations, and each of their situations!

I am ready to start book 2, and I've only just finished this one within the last 2 minutes... Glad I have all 3!

My husband has heard bits and pieces of it, and can't wait to listen. And he is NOT, an audiobook listener!

I have, and will continue, to recommend this book and author to all my friends and family!

Awesome book!

I'm not a big fan of fiction, but this book is BY FAR one of the best books I've ever read!!!! Great story! Superlative writing style imagination and detail. It's like watching a movie in your mind.

Mid-Passage Review

I'm listening to the book now. I was so in love with the book for the first third, and have just started the second third. Jumping decades into the future with none of the characters it took you hours of listening to get to know is frustrating. Only the fact that I've listened to the whole first third is pushing me to listen to the rest. I hope it gets better because I have a lot more to go. Right now I feel like I have started a whole new book and am upset about the non-conclusion of the first...OMG!

A reading experience reminiscent of “Dune”

I can understand that some readers would not like this book. What perplexes me is why so many of the naesayers even considered reading the book in the first place! What were they expecting??!!

I found “The Passage” to be spellbinding, transporting me to a world – a very dark and troubled world, to be sure – with characters, emotions, and a story line that grabbed the reader’s interest and never let go. I could put the book down, but I never wanted to! I enjoy Scott Brick’s narrations, in general, and I thought he did a fine job on The Passage. I should think readers who loved Dune would love The Passage, and those that did not like Dune would not like Cronin’s book. Cronin’s work was a master work of science fiction, just as Dune was.

I did not object to the ending, as many others did – even those who otherwise enjoyed the book. Obviously, it is setting up a sequel, but Cronin brought this portion of his tale to an appropriate conclusion. I just hope that the sequels to The Passage do not come up short as the sequels to Dune did! But so much imagination was packed into this epic novel -- and fully resolved – that it’s hard to imagine the sequel holding a candle to the original.

Interesting story

it was good until the end. it just slowed down. I'm hoping the 2nd book lights the fire again.

Well written, well spoken, totally enthralling

The story and it's well developed characters transport you to a time and place that is familiar and yet not. Disbelief is suspended, of course this could happen...

The people in the story engender empathy and attachment in the listener. The plot develops so as to keep you wondering what's next and you are pretty much surprised by what does. Not incredulous, more like awed.

Scott Brick's narration is masterful. Nuanced and varied with appropriate assist from some excellent female narrators who do not disappoint in the least.

I thoroughly enjoyed The Passage, book one of a trilogy, and will begin book two immediately.

PS: if I ever think dystopia is upon us for real, I'm packing a portable solar charger and my Audible device.

Amazing story, can't wait for more!

This is really two books in one. The first part is interesting but a little slow. The second part though far and away makes up for any slowness of the first. I was addicted to this book! I had my itouch stolen and had to run out and immediately buy another one so I could continue listening to this on my commute! A month after finishing the book, I still find myself thinking about the characters - not something I normally find myself doing. It's a must read if you're into post-apocalyptic fiction.