Justin Cronin’s THE TWELVE
June 26, 2012 at 9:46 pm 3 comments
The Passage left me gasping for air. It was one of those books that prove why reading is such an amazing experience and was one of my favourite books of 2010 and I have been dying for the sequel for two years.
The Passage was part of a planned trilogy and The Twelve is book two. Sequels can be tricky things, more so in trilogies. Book two is never going to pack the same punch as the first book as it can’t catch you by surprise as much, particularly with a book dealing with vampires and the end of the world. It is also setting up book 3 so invariably the story won’t reach a conclusion but leave you hanging for more. But Cronin pulls it off brilliantly. Everything about this was amazing: the story, the world building, the twists – all freakin’ amazing once again.
I don’t want to spoil The Twelve for anybody and if you haven’t read The Passage you really should (go on you can even download it right now!). But I will say The Twelve wasn’t the sequel I was expecting. Cronin doesn’t pick up where he left off at the end of The Passage but instead goes back to the beginning to introduce a new strand to the story. This works great as a refresher and a reader may even be able to read The Twelve first (but I wouldn’t do that). However I was itching to find out about what happened to the characters at the end of The Passage so I was a little thrown at first before settling into a whole new story arc that opens up the world Cronin has built, destroyed and rebuilt. The Twelve is also much darker than The Passage as humanity competes with the virals over who can be more evil. The new story does catch up with The Passage’s arc and beyond and while there may not be as many gasping for air moments (there are still a lot) Cronin still manages to blow your mind on a number of occasions and of course leave you utterly hanging for book 3 after an absolutely epic finale.
ISBN: 9780752897882
Format: Paperback
Publishing status: Not Yet Published
Price: $32.99
RRP: $32.99
Author: CRONIN JUSTIN
Title: Twelve
Imprint: ORION
Publication date: 16/10/2012
Entry filed under: Book Reviews. Tags: apocalypse, books, The Passage, Vampires.
1.
Stephanie @ Read in a Single Sitting | June 27, 2012 at 10:10 am
Interesting that this one wanders off a little at the beginning, although I’m glad to hear that the conclusion is so strong. I still haven’t read The Passage, but I’ve read rave reviews and do want to pick it up at some point.
Thanks for the review!
2.
bashevis | August 22, 2012 at 6:36 am
Actually, it isn’t quite true that Cronin doesn’t pick up where he left off! He certainly does! He just waits a little while before bringing us back to Sara, and a really long while before we know what happened at the First Colony.
3.
cheryl | November 8, 2012 at 1:02 am
compleatly mind blowing!I loved it the twist bringing you right back to the begining best vampire book iv read in years I cannot wait for the finnal book I just hope it wont be as long a wait this time.