Thursday, July 8, 2010

766 pages of Wow

Mr. Cronin has had superb buzz on his book The Passage, and rightly so. I read rave reviews in Entertainment Weekly, the Dallas Morning News, and the Wall Street Journal, plus Stephen King has the book listed in his summer must reads.

I jumped on the bandwagon, just finished all 766 pages, and I have to say I did not skim, jump ahead, or get bored. I finished it last night with an out loud, "Wow!" and told my husband, Ray, he would love it.

The book blurb says, "It happened fast. Thirty-two minutes for one world to die. Another to be born." Yikes! Indeed, I don't want to give anything away, but there's an expedition in the jungles of Bolivia that might prolong life. Then again, could be trouble. There's a military experiment that might have gone a teensy bit off track. Uh-oh. There's action, chases, a few treks, and some memorable characters along the way.

And then there's his first sentence, which ropes you in, intrigues, and introduces you to a compelling character who holds the key to everything: Before she became the Girl from Nowhere - the One Who Walked In, the First and Last and Only, who lived a thousand years - she was just a little girl in Iowa, named Amy. Amy Harper Bellafonte.

The Passage is a saga - there's love, fear, doubt, recrimination, and exaltation. Births and deaths abound. There are some scary creatures, and sometimes they are human, or part-human, or part of a dream. This book is enthralling and the writing is damn clean. Descriptions, dialogue, character development - check, check, check.

Trust me. If you really love a great story, this is your must read summer immersion.

2 comments:

  1. Sounds like a must read for sure. Thanks!

    I've gotten way behind in reading blogs, but I'm down to the "W's" and am catching up slowly but surely. I'll be reading and commenting on your posts in the next few days.

    bl

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  2. Thanks for the recommendation. I've added The Passge to my list.

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