BOOK REVIEW The Passage – Justin Cronin

Vampire epic that Stands out from the crowd

Author: Justin Cronin
Publisher: Gollancz * 790 pages * £18.99
ISBN: 978-0-7528-9784-4 * 24 June 2010

After signing a book deal worth $3.75 million and selling the film rights to Ridley Scott, Justin Cronin’s first genre book (the first of a trilogy) arrives amidst great expectations. Fortunately, it more than lives up to the considerable hype. The Texas-based author delivers an exhilarating epic that easily rises above the flood of run-of-the-mill vampire tales.

Cronin’s main conceit is that his creatures of the night, the Virals – he never actually calls them vampires – are brought to life through genetic experimentation rather than biological evolution. He also neatly plays on the conventions: the Virals are averse to sunlight but attracted rather than repelled by garlic. Towards the end, he makes a heartfelt tribute to Bram Stoker’s Dracula, as the main characters watch Tod Browning’s 1931 film adaptation.

Inviting comparisons with Stephen King’s The Stand, the story begins in the present, with FBI agent Brad Wolgast struggling to rescue young Amy Bellafonte from a secret government programme. The supernaturally gifted six-year-old is inducted into the ranks of the Twelve, a group of death row inmates who have been transformed into ferocious vampire-like super-soldiers.

To Cronin’s credit, the pace never falters, despite the near 800-page length. A third of the way through, the narrative suddenly advances a century to a grim post-apocalyptic America and a whole new set of characters are introduced, making it seem almost like two books in one. Amy – who barely seems to have aged a decade, despite around 100 years having passed – chances upon a settlement of survivors. The breathtaking plot eventually circles back around, and the conclusion will leave you gasping. A modern classic in the making.

Stephen Jewell