The Twelve by Justin Cronin

Chapters-Indigo | Amazon

I have been looking forward to this book since I finished the excellent first installment of the trilogy, The Passage, way back in 2010! Two years feels like forever when you’re waiting for a sequel.

I was a little intimidated to start the second novel since I was having trouble remembering all the characters and timelines from The Passage, but a quick read-through of the Wikipedia page and I was back on track. The prologue also helped to provide a refresher of the events of the first novel.

It’s hard to put this book into words, especially without giving too much away. But if you loved The Passage, you will not be disappointed in the sequel.

Each of these books are big — they have to be to cover the hundreds of years that the story spans. But Justin Cronin creates a world so big that you want to immerse yourself in it. Justin Cronin writes so beautifully and, while I’m sure it’s not without effort, it reads like he writes effortlessly. Every storyline captured my full attention and the characters are so well developed.

The only complaint I have is that the final installation feels so far away!