The Twelve (2012) (edit title/settings)

• Rated 3 stars

“Cronin can weave a well crafted story. That being said, I think he got bogged down in introducing too many new characters. It took him too long to get back to the characters from the Passage. Then I kept waiting for the new characters to have an impact on the end of the story and quite a few were never heard from again. This series is reminiscent of Stephen King’s The Stand, however Cronin has been unable to capture my heart for any of his characters. There were quite a few times I could have experienced strong emotional reaction to the storyline, but there was nothing. That is the biggest problem with his writing. He doesn’t spend enough time developing the relationships between his characters. Without that, it makes the story just so so.”

• Rated 5 stars

“In this sequel to The Passage, we are first given a different perspective of what happened shortly after the viral outbreak and what survivors had to endure to keep themselves alive. Some didn't make it the first year, but they made their impact. Then we essentially pick up where the main characters of The Passage left off. Having scattered in all different directions, they somehow converged together at just the right time to meet The Twelve.

I really enjoyed this sequel. It continues to build the thrill and suspense of what will happen to Amy and Alicia as they continue to change. One question I have is, are the virals landlocked in the Americas? I'm wondering what the other countries are doing.”

• Rated 4 stars

“Not that The Passage wasn't good but this one was better. There wasn't a disconnect from the characters in this novel like there was in the first book of the trilogy. I had a hard time putting this one down when I would pick it up to read. Anxious to see how all of this ends.”

• Rated 4 stars

“Was a little slow getting into, but then I couldn't put it down”

• Rated 2 stars

“First of all there was too much time between books even with the update at the beginning. Also, I didn't discover the list of characters until I had 164 pages left to read, which would have been very helpful, even though all the characters weren't listed. I found that the book skipped around way too much, was difficult in places to follow, but I trudged through and I'm not certain I'll read the third book, especially if he waits as long as he did between 1 and 2. ”

• Rated 4 stars

“Great continuation of the story from "The Passage - I was glad to see new characters as well as old favorites. Still creepy.”

• Rated 2 stars

“Cronin really is a good writer. And I loved the Passage. But this follow up was profoundly disappointing. Some of this may be due to my own preferences: I love the post-apocalyptic novel genre for its many portrayals of humanity in extreme situations, and unlike The Passage, The Twelve is a vampire novel, not a post-apocalyptic novel. But there are other problems too. We're kept reading and in suspense more by the abrupt switches between narrative threads and through deliberately vague events and references than through more legitimate literary means. Character development is close to nil. Gratuitous violence abounds. I'll read the third novel when it arrives, in hopes that it's another post-apocalyptic "rebuilding civilization" book.”

• Rated 4 stars

“This novel, the sequel to the Passage, continue the tale of a world gone awry after a government experiment to produce a perfect soldier accidentally releases a virus which transforms humans into vampire-like creatures known as Virals. Although, some of the novel occurs in the present as a backstory, the focus is actually about a century after the outbreak. A deteriorating infrastructure America is populated by three groups of inhabitants: pods of Virals, human communities, and a community of a mixture of the two. The blood of some Virals have restorative properties which can increase life expectancy. Therefore, some human communities have entered into a symbiotic relationship in which the Virals are fed human slaves in exchange for some of the Virals' blood. Amy, the Girl from Nowhere, and others introduced in the first novel, join with local insurgents to take down those supporting this practice. This series has the scope of Stephen King's The Stand and is a must read.”

• Rated 4 stars

“Liked the book but at times I felt very confused by what was going on. It jumps around from the past to present times and there are so many new characters. Not as good as the first book but still worth the read. ”