The Passage by Justin Cronin

An epic and gripping tale of catastrophe and survival,The Passage is the story of Amy—abandoned by her mother at the age of six, pursued and then imprisoned by the shadowy figures behind a government experiment of apocalyptic proportions. But Special Agent Brad Wolgast, the lawman sent to track her down, is disarmed by the curiously quiet girl and risks everything to save her. As the experiment goes nightmarishly wrong, Wolgast secures her escape—but he can’t stop society’s collapse. And as Amy walks alone, across miles and decades, into a future dark with violence and despair, she is filled with the mysterious and terrifying knowledge that only she has the power to save the ruined world.

I have mixed feelings about this book.  It's been on my to-be-read list since it was published, and for some reason, I just kept putting it off.  Now that I've read it, I can't help but wonder if somewhere my brain knew that I would feel very 'meh' about it.

The good of this novel includes the monsters and the base characters of Amy, Lacey, and Wolgast.  The post-apocalyptic world built here is also good.  My issues lie with the massive complexity of this novel.  There are so many characters (many whom I didn't care one lick about).  Right about the time I started investing in their story, I was ripped away to a whole new character and didn't see the old one for a long time. 

This novel made me feel tired.  I must admit I slogged through it.  And while there were moments when I did lose myself in the story, it was few and far between.

3/5

785 pages