The Passage by Justin Cronin

Seriously, what can you say about this book that hasn't already been said? I don’t remember anymore where I first read about Justin Cronin’s The Passage, but I do remember that, around June or July, almost everyone was talking about it or reviewing it. Never mind that it’s 766 pages long—people read it or wanted to read it. Not a surprise, considering the hype, I guess.

And since I’m big on hype, of course I bought it and read it.

So, does The Passage deserve its humungous hype? I’d say yes. Not a resounding yes, but a yes all the same.

In The Passage, there is a scientific trip to the Amazon government that goes horribly wrong, there is a top-secret government experiment that also goes horribly wrong, and there is the world, changed forever because of both these events.

Then there are the people. There’s Brad Wolgast, an FBI agent who, with his partner, rounds up death row inmates to participate in said government experiment. Nice sort of guy who has his own demons. Detaches himself from what he’s doing, because he doesn’t really know what happens in those experiments anyway. Until he’s made to bring back a six-year-old child, Amy. In Amy, Wolgast sees redemption from his personal demons, and he and the child form a bond on the way to the facility. But though he tries to save her from being brought in to the experiment, he fails. And a little after that, all hell breaks loose.

If you’ve heard anything about The Passage, I’m sure you’ve heard that it’s a vampire novel. But not the sparkly kind. And not the ones looking for love, either. They’re more like the Barlow kind (from Stephen King’s Salem’s Lot)—out to infect and control the world. Except there’s Amy, who is supposed to be the key to everything. How she’s the key, I leave you to find to find out for yourself.

And do, do! I went through the 766 pages in two nights, because it is a fantastic page-turner. And all throughout, I kept thinking Cronin was channeling Stephen King during his best novels—The Stand, It, etc. Not a surprise, I guess, that King endorses The Passage; it has many of the elements present in King’s novels: the global/local catastrophe, the wounded male character, the innocent child savior, the evil creatures with depth, the small band of heroes, the distant journey, and the tinges of religious influence. Plus, Cronin’s a great weaver of story and a good writer, which really makes this a gripping read.

By the middle of the book, after the military experiment’s failure, the story jumps 92 years ahead and introduces a new cast of characters. This was slightly off-putting for me because I didn’t expect it, and I was wondering what happened to the original set of characters. But eventually, I began to care for this set of characters, too. And I like Cronin’s courage to sort of start his novel from scratch right in the middle of it. I found it interesting that he showed how humanity survives given the circumstances. Besides, the plot strands get woven together eventually, satisfactorily enough for me.

Cronin also wove in biblical themes and tropes, which I enjoyed. For instance, one vampire survives from the original set, and 12 vampires are made from his blood. These 12 vampires then infect the rest of the world. And the infected by a particular vampire are called, for instance, The Many of Babcock (Babcock being the name of one of the 12). Moreover, at a certain part, there is something akin to a religious service or a mass, though an extremely disturbing one. Not to mention that the names of some of the characters are positively symbolic: Peter, Theo, Sara, etc.

Aside from the biblical themes, there’s plenty of mysticism involved, like visions, premonitions, not to mention the immortality. And though The Passage doesn’t really use the term “vampire” till way into the book, it does retain some faithfulness to traditional vampire lore—kill one of the twelve, kill all his progeny. On the downside, however, I would’ve liked a scarier resolution. Yes, I’m brave that way.

If all of this sounds like something you like, then by all means, grab a copy of The Passage and read. Just a word of warning—if you get to the end and let out a big gasp because you’re wondering what the heck happened and how the novel could end that way, do not worry. The Passage is the first in a trilogy. And this is a big comfort, because I did gasp when I got to the end. It was a huge relief to find out that there’s more to come. Trust me, once you’ve read it, you’d be relieved, too.