A Review of The Passage by Justin Cronin

Funny enough, The Passage is a post-Apocalyptic tale in much the same vein as Oryx and Crake- life after a virus has destroyed most of the world. Unlike Oryx and Crake, the virus in Mr. Cronin's book is one that changes human beings into vampires with one bite. These are not the typical suave and sexy vampires that have been depicted since Bram Stoker wrote Dracula, these are beasts. Mindless, bloodthirsty, rip people into literal pieces beasts.
This book was interesting on several levels. First, it was nearly 800 pages long. That's a lot of set up, and a lot of post-virus world. This story is apparently part of a trilogy as well, although this first story was just published. The story is broken into many sections, and written in many different formats, which was both interesting and annoying. The story is not narrated by any one character, perhaps because their lives are often so fleeting. There are sections written as journal accounts, written by different characters.
The best part about that is that the story doesn't get boring because you are only hearing from one character. The "main" character in the story, if there is one, is Amy. Amy is both from the "Time Before" (our time now- the story begins about 8 years from now) and the "Time After". Before and After refer to the virus wiping most everyone out. Amy is young girl purposely infected with the virus in the Time Before and who is still around in the Time After. She is the one piece that gives the story its continuity and she is the least understood character.
I know I normally write a summary of the story, but I find that the scope of this book is such that I would have to write quite a lot- too much really- to explain adequately without giving things away that the reader should find out for him- or herself.
I will say that the second half of the book was better than the first. I enjoyed the characters and the story better in the Time After than the setup for how the virus has come to be and how it escapes.
There are clear good and bad guys in this story, and truly, it is a tale of good versus evil. But the last third contains a group of friends who set out on a mission and this is the part that was the most entertaining.
I feel it is necessary to point out a few specifics about this story. One of the things I enjoyed the most was the author's writing style. His writing is truly beautiful. He has a real talent for making it easy to visualize his world and for making you feel the intense pain and suffering his characters feel. He is an extremely talented writer. However, this story borrows heavily from quite a few other books I've read, and while this is an original story, it is also not original. There was quite a bit of The Stand, Lord of the Rings, A Game of Thrones and even The Lottery, for those of you who remember that short story from high school English syllabi. While Mr. Cronin makes the story work, it also feels like he borrowed too much at times.
I really can't explain much more than that. I do intend to continue whenever the next book comes out (too much suspense not to!). I would recommend it, but be prepared.