The Passage

A Novel (Book One of The Passage Trilogy)

De: Justin Cronin

Narrado por: Scott Brick, Adenrele Ojo, Abby Craden

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

Reseñas de la Crítica

“[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)

Long, wordy, not much fun

"The Passage" begins at some unspecified point in the near future -- around 2020, judging from hints in the story -- then proceeds to another unspecified point further into the future -- maybe around one hundred years later. It proposes an intriguing scenario: What would happen if the Army, attempting to bio-engineer a super-soldier, accidentally released an unperfected virus into the human population? This virus turns the people it infects into monsters -- well, it turns them into vampires, to put it tritely. The concept has potential; and, occasionally, "The Passage" fulfills this potential. But, in general, the story drags and strains credibility. The reader, Scott Brick, despite his respected reputation, and despite his adequate acting chops, has an irritating voice; so his reading in no way compensates for the novel's shortcomings, as sometimes happens with mediocre audiobooks read by excellent actors. If you are looking for a fun thriller, I would recommend against "The Passage," as it does not deliver good escape fiction.

Not love or hate, just sort of Meh.

One reviewer said you either love it or hate it, but I didn't fall to either extreme. For me the whole thing, story and performance, just seemed unaffecting. I was so disappointed to go from, "Oh, boy! Almost 37 hours of entertainment." To, "Oh, gee, when is this thing going to be over?" The reviews from professionals were even more amazing: "big ideas"? - hey, it's a zombie/vampire thing; "unnerving" - more like enervating. Humdrum and ponderous.

The story is told with a dreamy quality, and narrator Scott Brick performs it that way - throughout! I admired Mr. Brick's work for the quality, clarity, and tone of his voice. But just how much dreamy can a person take?

The other narrators? Why?? It served no good purpose.

None of the characters or situations grabbed me. That I felt just the slightest twinge of suspenseful tension in a couple of places kept this review from being less than three stars. I won't be looking for any more works by either Mr. Cronin or Mr. Brick, and if something of theirs comes highly recommended to me, I will carefully audition it before purchasing it.

Very very very slow, so slow, wandering mess

I started out really liking the book. I really want to like the book. After about 4 hours of narration of nothing really happening I started to doubt there was any point to the book.

I gave up. Some portions of the story seem to be interested. I know there is a story in there somewhere. It doesn't appear to start in the first few hours (or maybe I feel asleep).

If you really liked "The Host" where the story goes on and on for hours about people's thoughts or feelings or dreams, you will like this book.

If you thought you were going for something energetic then this book is not for you.

I have 200+ audio books. This is in my bottom 10.

Long, choppy boring.

I have not listened to all of this...yet. It is long, choppy, depressing, and really does not hold my interest. I do not want intimate descriptions of vomit. I can't stand detailed descriptions of slime and foulness. I can't stand the language change when the world has changed and people are living like they did in the 19th century. Hard for me to follow. However, my husband enjoyed it and loaded it on my ipod saying I must listen to this. I am about to throw the thing out the window.

Irritating

This enormous story goes on and on and on and then suddenly.... it just stops... left me feeling like there should be another chapter, like I was missing pages. Also consider these elements: Colorado, Las Vegas, a prescient old black lady, a virus that was made by humans and got out of control, etc. The Stand sure comes to mind, and evidentially to just about every reader of The Passage! All said, I thought it an engaging story but I was very disappointed at the sudden stop ending. One feels it should say "to be continued." Many are saying it is his way of setting us up for another enormous volume to follow. I think I would pass. Also there is a woman reader who reads at odd times and she is much too sibilant. That got old fast.

Fantastic

This is by far the best audio book I have ever listened to. I can't wait for more from this Author. From start to finish it was captivating!

Not really worth 2 credits

Not exactly a bad book but alot slower paced than I expected. The story starts to become kind of a downer after a while, with nothing but bad luck, bad memories and bad omens. You keep expecting some kind of redeeming event to happen but it never comes. In fact, the big moment kind of falls flat. You feel like "what? is that it?" then it goes on for a while and ends with no real resolution. They're obviousley trying to leave the door open for a series of books. Kind of a ripoff of "I am legend" with a longer timeline.

My favorite trilogy ever!

I listened to The Passage Trilogy by Justin Cronin three times already and I will listen to all of these amazing audiobooks again and again! The most beautiful writing style I have ever experienced, paired with flawless narration from Scott Brick, one of the best professionals in the audiobook industry, make The Passage, The Twelve and City of Mirrors my favorite audiobooks in the whole wide world.
I fell in love with these characters, I cared for them, I suffered alongside them and I cried for them. That has never happened to me before or since. Pick up the first audiobook and you will forget that there is another world out there.

Ok... WHAT?

When I read the summary this sounded right up my alley. Post apocalyptic, action and adventure, a little romance... Yes! Yes. Yes. But not only did this book take FOREVER to get through, it didn't make any sense to me. The only way I can describe it is to say it was like "the Stand," "I am Legend," and "the Walking Dead" were assigned to a group project where they all did their part but no one read the whole thing and they Hurst turned it in. Don't get me wrong I enjoyed parts of this narrative but it seemed super disconnected to me, almost jumbled, with just a few threads keeping it together. I'm glad I finished but man... that was a slog.

If you like The Stand, you will love this.

This is the best book I almost never finished. The first time I attempted listening, I was really feeling it, until about 1/3 of the way in when there is an abrupt and jarring change in perspective. I lost a lot of steam and eventually moved on to something else.

Luckily for me, I decided to give it another go, knowing full-well what was going to happen. Once I got over the hump of where I left off, I was entranced. I listened to this book everywhere I went. I found reasons to drive around. I didn't watch TV for nearly a week. I devoured it.

The story is epic and riveting. It has a lot of similarities to Stephen King's, The Stand, in terms of the heroes' journey across a decimated USA, even heavily featuring the same locations (Colorado, Las Vegas, Texas, ETC.) It is also similar in conceit: Government attempts to militarize a virus and it all backfires real quick.

However, where The Stand is a relatively compact story, The Passage has a sweeping scope across both geography and time. It also details a more frightening world overrun by fast, strong, ruthless creatures. It is also set in a modern time, with the story beginning in what I interpreted around 2020ish, so it feels very relevant.

I highly recommend this to anybody who enjoys horror, militaristic thrillers, or dystopian novels.