Justin Cronin

A literary thriller revealed in multiple time frames, The Twelve is a suspenseful tale of the human capacity for sacrifice and the transformative power of renewal. In the present day: As three strangers attempt to navigate the chaos cast upon civilization by a U.S. government experiment gone wrong, their destinies intertwine. More than a hundred years in the future: Amy, Peter, Alicia and the others introduced in The Passage pinpoint the weaknesses of the twelve original vampires . . . even as they confront a betrayal by one of their own.

The Twelve

a novel

The twelve

Amy Thibodeau

I like these Passage books, though they're a big commitment. The plotting is pretty wonderful and Cronin manages to keep things moving, which is not easy given the length of these books.

Scott Wilson

This was an amazing book... I personally found the plot lines a bit difficult to keep straight in my mind, but the book kept me riveted and I went through it very quickly. You should read the Passage first to understand what or who the twelve are. I will be reading this one again for sure!

Yulande Lindsay

Actually 4 1/2 stars.
Note: If you haven't read the first of this proposed trilogy "The Passage" in a while, reacquaint yourself with it before you read this sequel. Because it is a sequel. Make no mistake. There is very little "recapping". The author expects you to remember what happens and simply gets on with the story. A lot happened in this sequel and not...how to explain? The first third of the book deals with the immediate after effects of the Viral onslaught focusing on various characters and happenings. Without going into details, some of these characters are pivotal to the story that follows. 

Then things seem to slow to a crawl...yet not. Characters from the The Passage are reintroduced to continue their journey - Alicia, Amy, Peter, Michael, Sara - all will prove to be pivotal.

It is a dark book, sometimes unrelentingly so, but can I tell you? I HAD to keep reading, it was like a compulsion. It is beautifully written - this man knows language! - and I enjoyed every page. The climax is to be read to be believed. Bad ass. Seriously. Heartbreaking. So of course I am already anticipating the conclusion. My guess as to the title - Zero.

Highly recommended.

Richard Binder

Anna Marija

Justin Cronin does a great work of using a way of storytelling that is simple yet detailed. You'll never know you're reading a book of 600 pages, and if you do happen to notice that you still have 350 pages to go, you'll feel excited about not having to put away the book just yet. There is a thrill to feel on every page!

Victoria Bartlett

not as strong as the passage but interesting. for a book that started in a sort of plausible reality it is getting a bit too spiritually weird to me.

Alan Schussman

Three stars for The Twelve because certain books and, er, passages in it are quite good, but that's a generous rating based partly on promises that the book doesn't really deliver.

The chronology is difficult to follow, as the story bounces between timepoints, locations and characters with something equivalent to a fast-cut film. Unfortunately, many of these cuts go from drama or crisis to a slow narrative. It's jarring and frustrating to be told that characters have discovered or realized something entirely opaque to the reader, only to begin the next chapter not just somewhere else, but somewhere else that's relatively boring. And alas, much of the intended dramatic and emotional heft of the entire story is encapsulated in these Deep Truths that somehow the characters just understand without requiring demonstration to the reader. (Another reviewer is quite right to call this "hide-the-ball" storytelling.)

More that's tough to take in The Twelve: It has a hard time with physical space. In a big book with a number of what are intended to be epic action set-pieces, it's hard to visualize scale or position of anything. I am entirely lost when Cronin describes an assault on Carlsbad Caverns. Somehow amid tunnels and switchbacks our characters are within line of sight of one another? And expect at the same time to outrun the giant bomb they are placing? (view spoiler)[Likewise the later climactic confrontation in a stadium is similarly disorienting. Where *is* everybody? If Amy is dumped in the mud in front of Guilder's platform, how does he kick her? Does he have telescoping legs?  (hide spoiler)] It's frustrating to read these sequences and have so much difficulty visualizing what the scene truly looks like. I don't expect Cronin to map it out like a tactical RPG, but give me something plausible.

Also: Boy, all those characters' stories sure tied up nicely with the unexpected rendezvous and rediscoveries, didn't they? That was far too pat for me. It makes it hard to take danger or grief seriously.

Back to the hide the ball thing: I still don't know exactly what happened, and at this point I only partly care that so much of the apparent insight in the book is still locked into various characters' heads. In this, I think Cronin leans *way* too heavily on the mysical semi-religious hoo-hah brain/soul connection created by the virus. I don't know if characters like Amy are supposed to be a Christ allegory or what. 

So what works in The Twelve? Like I said, some sections are fraught with tension or emotion. The Field is one example, as are the early scenes where we see Lila trying to navigate a world with her cracked mind -- unfortunately, these set a high expectation that most of the rest of this long (mercifully, shorter than The Passage) book fails to measure up.

The eagerly anticipated sequel to the global bestseller The Passage, soon to be an epic drama on Fox from writer Elizabeth Heldens and executive producer Ridley Scott. THE TWELVE Death-row prisoners with nightmare pasts and no future. THE TWELVE Until they were selected for a secret experiment. THE TWELVE To create something more than human. THE TWELVE Now they are the future and humanity's worst nightmare has begun. THE TWELVE The epic sequel to THE PASSAGE

Anyaconda

I DNFed this at 233 pages. I liked the first book and all the characters, but I simply don't care enough for the new ones. I'm nearly halfway into the book and no clue what's going on or what everyone is trying to accomplish. I'm so gutted. I so wanted to like the sequel to The Passage.

The Twelve

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