I read these books as they came out but it’s been quite a while since I read the first one now, and I remember it leaving a huge impression so I have been wanting to do a re-read now that I can read the entire trilogy relatively close together (plus, does seem to go with my 2025 theme of dystopian/apocalyptic).
I had forgotten that this novel and The Strain came out around the same time (The Strain actually has the earlier publication date) but both of those series take an approach to vampirism that is more like the usual structure of a zombie novel – humanity overrun and restricted to small conclaves while trying to survive with the hoardes outside the gates. The Passage trilogy left more of an impression, has a wider scope and also felt more literary than The Strain (I very much hated the ending of The Strain trilogy) but I admit with, a decade removed, my memories were a bit foggy on what themes/components I remembered were shared across the universes vs from later parts of this one.
After all that musing and preamble, I still absolutely loved this novel. I remember my first time reading it, there was a huge shift at about the third way point, but since I knew it was coming this time around, the shift in character perspectives didn’t feel quite so disorienting.
The novel starts in the modern day, more or less – the novel was published in 2010, so it’s set a few years into the future from 2010 but in a version of the world where everything has gotten a bit worse. Gas prices are at $13, conflict with the Middle East is tense etc. It’s a world on the brink. Cronin does such a great job of adding in these little details about the world at large while remaining focused on the characters, giving us a relatively intimate feeling story even while including chapters from a vast array of character perspectives.
At the center of it all is Amy – from the very first sentence, we know this is her story even if for the first part, Wolgast could be seen as the main POV character, and later Peter. The novel starts with a government experiment gone wrong where the subjects, 12 former death row inmates turned into killing machines, escape and with them, release the vampire virus onto North America. Amy was the final test subject, a six year old girl, requested by the mad scientist behind all this as some kind of fail safe. Wolgast, the agent responsible for bringing her to the test site, bonds with her and protects her in the aftermath as the world falls apart.
92 years later, Peter is holding vigil/waiting on his brother at the Wall of what might be the last community of human survivors, located in former California. His brother didn’t make it back from a recent trip outside the wall so now he is waiting to see if his brother has been turned and if he will have to perform the final Mercy because the turned always come back home, for whatever reason. Instead, a Walker (human survivor from the outside) arrives at the gates, Amy.
Amy isn’t the catalyst for what happens in the village – things were already slowly building up with weird occurrences and fears of equipment failure but she is a catalyst of sorts, accelerating the tension and triggering Peter and a small group to leave in search of answers and maybe a way to save the community before it is too late.
I had forgotten that there is a bit of spiritual side to this novel – in addition to the supernatural of the vampires, Amy and the way the vampires can influence dreams and people, several characters act on feelings and voices that serve as a benevolent counter to the vampiric forces. It isn’t explained, it isn’t an overly preachy message but it is there, whatever one wants to call it.
