The Twelve (Book Two of The Passage Trilogy): A Novel
Wholly satisfying, The Passage manages to do something new with the notion of vampires, combining the bleak, apocalyptic landscape of The Road with the Christian overlay of Stephen King's The Stand. Driven by character as much as by plot, Cronin's bleak world is populated with a well defined, believable cast who carry the story well, even though episodes that feel slightly too arranged and overly cinematic. Probably most satisfying is the novel's ending, which sustains the sense of wonder held throughout the story, and leaves readers a multitude of avenues for their imaginations to travel.
