Project Noah is a secret government program to create the perfect super soldier by turning convicted criminals into vampires. In an ideal world, these vampires would then be set on their enemies; they’re so difficult to kill that a few of them could decimate armies. But this isn’t an ideal world, and there is no way to control the vampires. When they break free and the horror is unleashed on the entire United States, only a select group of survivors remain to live in the light and keep fighting for their humanity.
The Passage is easily this summer’s most hyped read. It’s been endorsed by famous authors and some of my favorite book bloggers alike, which made it essentially a must read for me, too. That’s why I snapped it up from Amazon Vine the minute I had the chance and took a long haul flight as the perfect opportunity to bury myself in this supernatural thriller.
I found it wasn’t a perfect read; for one thing, I expected it to be quite fast paced, but I had a hard time getting into it. With a full 7 hour flight, I wanted to find myself compelling enough to read the majority of it in one stroke, but I found it moved surprisingly slow at the beginning and couldn’t hold my attention while other stuff was going on. In the end it took me a good few days of holiday time to read, which was surprising for something I thought would be a heart-pounding thriller that would keep me up all night dying to know the resolution to the story.
It was very good, though, for the tale it was, and I was genuinely interested in the characters and the story as it progressed. I found I was much more interested in the story after the epidemic began; I liked in particular how the character Amy tied everything together and made the story a coherent whole instead of a few related storylines. The book is smoothly written, with moments of brilliance and mediocrity in about equal measure. It feels nicely epic, as it should when the whole world is essentially at stake after an apocalypse. And the ending – I am not even sure what to say about the ending, except that it leaves me wondering and I thought was the perfect way to finish it, while leaving me wondering what’s next if this is truly the first of a trilogy.
The Passage doesn’t quite live up to its over-hyped reputation, in my opinion, but it does provide an entertaining, scary, and often gripping read that is perfect for the beach, especially if you have a few hours to get going in the story. I would definitely recommend it to horror fans and in particular those who enjoyed The Stand by Stephen King.
I am an Amazon Associate. I received this book for free through the Amazon Vine program.
I am having a really hard time getting into it. I borrowed an ARC from a friend and have been holding it hostage for weeks. Great review, you seem to have the same difficulty I am having now.
Pam´s last post …Dystopia or Negative Utopia
I do find that books seldom live up to their hype. But I still want to read this one
blodeuedd´s last post …Review- Fallen – Lauren Kate
I think I had the opposite problem – I liked it much more in the beginning than in the 100-years-later section. But I too wasn’t knocked over by it. …which was sad. I love to find books that, for me, anyway, live up to the hype!
rhapsodyinbooks´s last post …July 25- 2010 – National Hot Fudge Sundae Day
I am currently reading this book now and to be honest I don’t want it to end because I am enjoying it so much. I think the ending is ambiguous because there is supposed to be a second and possibly a third book, I’m not sure where I read this. If there are to be 2 or 3 more books it will be a let down to wait for them to come out being the impatient person that I am lol.
As much as I enjoyed the book, I have wondered what on earth caused all the hype. I mean it was good, just not *that* good.
Michele@ A Reader’s Respite´s last post …Tana French just keeps getting better
Just bought this book last week, and now I have to wait for my husband to be finished before I can start. He mentions that it is a slow starter as well, but since we have very different reading tastes, I wrote off his complaint. Now I know I am going to have to be extra patient in the beginning… I am glad that you ended up liking it though, even if it was not exactly what you were expecting. Thanks for your honest thoughts on the book.
zibilee´s last post …My Name is Mary Sutter by Robin Oliveira — 384 pgs
I’m not a fan of horror, so I may skip this one. Thanks for your honest review.
I thought this one was over-hyped too. It was OK, but not worth the raving that it has been getting. I don’t think I’ll bother reading the rest of the trilogy, but I’m sure the films will be great
Jackie (Farm Lane Books)´s last post …Who will make the Man Booker Prize Long List 2010
I own this and will get round to reading it next month sometime, I hope I enjoy it because thats a big book to waste your time to otherwise.
Jessica´s last post …The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga
Hmmm, how would turning criminals into vampires EVER be construed as a good idea? Hey, I know! Let’s take these already dangerous people who break societal rules and make them even stronger and more dangerous. Brilliant!
Yeah, probably won’t be picking this one up.
heidenkind´s last post …Musical Notes- Twice Bitten Edition!
Glad you liked it well enough. I enjoyed the bits after the plague got started myself, but I thought there was an eery sense of expectation in the early pages. I was glad, in the end, that he took the time to lay a thorough bit of foundation.
Now to wait ’til 2012 for the follow-up. Ugg!
Andi´s last post …More SubHerban Gardening
I am for some reason stuck on about page 250. I need to get back to this. I’m not as drawn in as other have been.
Beth F´s last post …Weekend Cooking- Review- Chocolat Film
I totally agree that it’s slow. In fact, I didn’t like it very much for the first part because it wasn’t the thriller I expected. But as I sank into it, I really started to like it. I’m glad you enjoyed it, despite the pacing.
S. Krishna´s last post …Book Review- Linger – Maggie Stiefvater
I agree, I liked it, but not really enough to read 800 pages of it, so I’m sort of disappointed that I even bothered to finish. I won’t be reading the next two unless they are much shorter. I do want to know what happens, but not enough to spend that much of my reading time on it.
Jen – Devourer of Books´s last post …The Chouans and the Downfall of Napoleon – Guest Post by Catherine Delors- Author of “For the King”
It was on the list, then off the list. I think it will probably stay off. I was excited about it when it first came out but after reading so many reviews, it doesn’t sound like it’s worth the 800 pages.
Amy´s last post …The Good Thief
So many people are reading and enjoying this book. Although almost everyone seems to have an issue with it. They like it, but … Still, I know I’m going to eventually read this. I’m just trying to wait out the wave of popularity. And I’m waiting for a time in my schedule when I’ll have the time to really fit it in. I’m thinking my Winter vacation to Florida might be perfect.
I agree with the fact that it doesn’t exactly deserve its hype! It was good, but it took me some time to get into it, too. I think it could have benefit from being a bit shorter!
kay @ Infiniteshelf´s last post …Review – Linger
[…] reviews: Estellas Revenge ; Medieval bookworm ; The Speculative Scotsman ; Bookfoolery and […]