The Passage

Enthralling ... Read 15 pages, and you will find yourself captivated; read 30 and you will find yourself taken prisoner and reading late into the night. It had the vividness that only epic works of fantasy and imagination can achieve. What else can I say? This: read this book and the ordinary world disappears -- Stephen King
Cronin's massive novel transcends its clichés and delivers a feverishly readable post-apocalyptic-cum-vampire chiller. It's not only a brilliantly told story, with thrilling plot twists and graphic action sequences, but a moving psychological portrait of survivors facing up to the poignant fact of a lost past and a horrifically uncertain future * GUARDIAN *
Enthralling ... richly imagined. Above all, Amy is a superb creation, believably human yet beguilingly enigmatic * SUNDAY TIMES *
If you only take one book away with you this summer, make it The Passage. It's an absorbing, nightmarish dream of a book, a terrifying apocalyptic thriller, populated by believable, sympathetic characters. Once you start reading it, you won't want it to end * THE TIMES *
Epic, apocalyptic, heart-wrenching, catastrophic, mesmerisizing... * DAILY MIRROR *
An exhilarating epic ... the breathtaking plot eventually circles back around, and the conclusion will leave you gasping. A modern classic in the making * SFX *
Dense stuff with intriguing characters, Cronin's story of a supernatural government experiment that gets out of hand is surprisingly gripping. Full of plot twists, action and vampires. It's a dark epic that matches the best of Stephen King * HEAT *
An epic thriller, the story hinges around Amy, a six-year-old girl used as a test case by the government for a covert mission involving a deadly virus. And yes, she manages to escape... We loved it * STYLIST *
Cronin is a skilled writer. Most of the characters are well drawn and he tackles the philosophical issue of gaining eternal life at the cost of your soul in between the throat-ripping battle scenes. I turned The Passage's pages feverishly to find out what happened next * OBSERVER *
A gripping story and a richly drawn cast. This is an epic that often bears comparison with Stephen King * DAILY MAIL *
Read 30 pages and you will find yourself taken prisoner and reading late into the night * SUNDAY EXPRESS *
Magnificent * TIME *
Magnificently unnerving . . . The Stand meets The Road * ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY *
Cronin has given us what could be the best book of the summer. Don't wait to dive into The Passage * USA TODAY *
Justin Cronin has written a wild, headlong, sweeping extravaganza of a novel. The Passage is the literary equivalent of a unicorn: a bona fide thriller that is sharply written, deeply humane, ablaze with big ideas, and absolutely impossible to put down -- Jennifer Egan, author of A Visit from the Goon Squad
Addictive, terrifying, and deeply satisfying. Not only is this one of the year's best thrillers; it's one of the best of the past decade-maybe one of the best ever * MEN'S JOURNAL *
If you only take one book away with you this summer, make it THE PASSAGE. It's an absorbing, nightmarish dream of a book, a terrifying apocalyptic thriller, populated by believable, sympathetic characters. Once you start reading it, you won't want it to end. * THE TIMES *
The stuff of reading frenzies * SUNDAY TELEGRAPH *
Cronin's massive novel transcends its clichés and delivers a feverishly readable post-apocalyptic-cum-vampire chiller. It's not only a brilliantly told story, with thrilling plot twists and graphic action sequences, but a moving psychological portrait of survivors facing up to the poignant fact of a lost past and a horrifically uncertain future. * GUARDIAN *
A truly epic masterpiece that will have you hanging on for dear life -- Maxim Jakubowski * LOVEREADING.CO.UK *
For most of this enthralling novel, it's not difficult to discern why the publisher is so excited. Cronin writes with verve and versatility, and is just as good in action scenes as he is in handling more literary material. His reinvention of vampires niftily ditches Transylvanian clichés and his future world is richly imagined. Above all, Amy is a superb creation, believably human yet beguilingly enigmatic. * SUNDAY TIMES *
This epic tale is truly exhilarating stuff but what makes THE PASSAGE work so well is not its massive canvas, but the concentration on its human characters, notably six-year-old redhead Amy Harper Bellafonte. * DAILY EXPRESS *
Epic, apocalyptic, heart-wrenching, catastrophic, mesmerisizing... * DAILY MIRROR *
Every so often a novel-reader's novel comes along: an enthralling, entertaining story wedded to simple, supple prose, both informed by tremendous imagination. Read 15 pages, and you will find yourself captivated; read 30 and you will find yourself taken prisoner and reading late into the night. It had the vividness that only epic works of fantasy and imagination can achieve. What else can I say? This: read this book and the ordinary world disappears. -- Stephen King
Cronin is a skilled writer. Most of the characters are well drawn and he tackles the philosophical issue of gaining eternal life at the cost of your soul in between the throat-ripping battle scenes. I turned THE PASSAGE's pages feverishly to find out what happened next. * OBSERVER *
A modern classic in the making. * SFX *
As far as blockbuster novels go, this is up there with the most compelling. * THE JOURNAL *
A gripping story and a richly drawn cast. This is an epic that often bears comparison with Stephen King. * DAILY MAIL *
Read 30 pages and you will find yourself taken prisoner and reading late into the night. * SUNDAY EXPRESS *