• The Twelve

  • A Novel
  • By: Justin Cronin
  • Narrated by: Scott Brick
  • Length: 26 hrs and 23 mins
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars (11,383 ratings)

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The Twelve  By  cover art

The Twelve

By: Justin Cronin
Narrated by: Scott Brick
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Publisher's summary

New York Times best seller

The end of the world was only the beginning.

In his internationally best-selling and critically acclaimed novel The Passage, Justin Cronin constructed an unforgettable world transformed by a government experiment gone horribly wrong. Now the scope widens and the intensity deepens as the epic story surges forward....

In the present day, as the man-made apocalypse unfolds, three strangers navigate the chaos. Lila, a doctor and an expectant mother, is so shattered by the spread of violence and infection that she continues to plan for her child’s arrival even as society dissolves around her. Kittridge, known to the world as "Last Stand in Denver", has been forced to flee his stronghold and is now on the road, dodging the infected, armed but alone and well aware that a tank of gas will get him only so far. April is a teenager fighting to guide her little brother safely through a landscape of death and ruin. These three will learn that they have not been fully abandoned - and that in connection lies hope, even on the darkest of nights.

One hundred years in the future, Amy and the others fight on for humankind’s salvation...unaware that the rules have changed. The enemy has evolved, and a dark new order has arisen with a vision of the future infinitely more horrifying than man’s extinction. If the Twelve are to fall, one of those united to vanquish them will have to pay the ultimate price.

A heart-stopping thriller rendered with masterful literary skill, The Twelve is a grand and gripping tale of sacrifice and survival.

Look for the entire Passage trilogy:

The Passage
The Twelve
The City of Mirrors

Praise for The Twelve

“[A] literary superthriller.” (The New York Times Book Review)

“An undeniable and compelling epic...a complex narrative of flight and forgiveness, of great suffering and staggering loss, of terrible betrayals and incredible hope.” (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)

The Twelve is even better than The Passage.” (The Plain Dealer)

“A compulsive read.” (San Francisco Chronicle)

"Gripping... Cronin [introduces] eerie new elements to his masterful mythology.... Enthralling, emotional and entertaining.” (The San Diego Union-Tribune)

“Fine storytelling.” (Associated Press)

“Cronin is one of those rare authors who works on two different levels, blending elegantly crafted literary fiction with cliff-hanging thrills.” (Fort Worth Star-Telegram)

©2012 Justin Cronin (P)2012 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

Named one of the Ten Best Novels of the Year by Time and Library Journal, and one of the Best Books of the Year by The Washington Post, Esquire, U.S. News & World Report, NPR/On Point, and St. Louis Post-Dispatch

"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." (Time)

What listeners say about The Twelve

Average customer ratings
Overall
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The Passage et al

This is a review for all three books. There are plenty of lengthy reviews regarding the story and plot lines, so I won’t get into that.

Despite what some of the negative reviews say, this epic saga is not depressing (although I did sob at the end). It is a story of hope against all odds, but the overarching theme is love, the power of love, and the ethereal reality of an afterlife. If your favorite genre is apocalyptic fantasy/science fiction, this is probably gonna top the list for you. Personally, I think it’s better than “The Stand”, and that speaks volumes.

You will experience pre-apocalypse, apocalypse, postapocalypse, another apocalypse, and a final postapocalypse, all wrapped up with a happily bittersweet and cathartic 2 hour epilogue.

How often do you finish a great novel with fabulous character building and wish you knew what happened to the people you grew to know and love? This is an epic of major proportions, the character building is phenomenal, and you will find out what happens to all of them.

This is my second time with Justin Cronin’s masterful trilogy. The first time I read it, but listening was magical. Scott Bricks, while not using different voices for every character, uses voice inflection, emotion and poignancy to bring the characters to life. I look forward to listening again in the future.

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You won't be disappointed if you listen.

This is by far my favorite series in a while. I love how he gets you into the heads of the characters.

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Great book in a great series

Such a great book and series. They tried to make it into a tv series but I feel much like the Dark Tower it’s too grand to ever do it justice

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    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Wouldn’t recommend this to friends

There is an awful lot of incredible violence in this story, some of which rings so closely to todays news it is scary. The fact that it was written ten years ago, before Covid, well… scary.

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    2 out of 5 stars
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I hate audible

With the audible app being so bad it's hard for me to give an honest review because audible just takes over the experience and ruins it

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    5 out of 5 stars
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More horror than The Passage

I read this series about 6 years ago. The Passage was superb, and The Twelve did not disappoint. I found it had a lot more horror than The Passage, which generally I find I cannot tolerate. However the story is so great I had to keep going. Scott Brick is a fabulous narrator.

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takes a great new storyline w/ familiar characters

I read other reviews and they made me wonder if I'd like this second book. it was as good or better than the first. new storyline with the same characters, and filled in lots of blanks. awesome book!!

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    5 out of 5 stars
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best narration

The story is great but the narration truly made it a pleasure. Mr. Brick nails it!

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    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

terrible narrator

the story is alright, ending is pretty rushed and anticlimactic. not sure how they're going to force a 3rd book after this.

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Wonderful!

Just like the rest of this series the story, narration and characters were strong. This is one of my favorite series, and I'm sure I will listen to it again.

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