The Ferryman

Much appreciation to Netgalley and Random House/Ballantine for giving me a chance to read this early.

There's always hesitation when reading a new author. In most cases, you're learning their pacing techniques and their prose as a whole, so it might take some time to dive their writing initially. Having not read a Justin Cronin book before, I was interested to jump in without a second thought. After having heard zip about The Ferryman, besides the synopsis on Goodreads, which I started with zero reviews, I knew I'd rarely get a chance to read something with such a blind perspective. I'm glad I did too.

Although I'm uncertain if it's because I read an uncorrected proof of the novel or not, there was an editor preface describing the story as a mix between The Stand and The Road. That is one hell of an expectation for me because both those stories are absolutely game changers—The Stand being one of my all time favorite stories—and I might have made the mistake of reaching for that comparison reading this story. Although I completely understand why this statement is made, for there are elements you'll find in both those stories in The Ferryman, the story didn't give me the same effect as those novels, which really shouldn't be surprising. It can be difficult to make comparisons without be subjective, since we all love books in many different amazing ways. For me, it's always the characters and their development across their arcs that pull me in. I've seen others dislike the boring discussions between two characters that I absolutely love. The Ferryman does have wonderful character arcs and interesting interactions along the way. For me, I'd say the story reminded me of the Wayward Pines series.

I really enjoyed the first half of the book, but I unfortunately lost interest during the last half. I don't think the story was failing at this moment, but I do think it was losing some of the mystery. Without spoiling anything, The Ferryman has different layers throughout the story that unfolds into segments that almost changes genre, which might be a little disorienting for some. At some point I started to find myself astray from the characters, which is what brought me into it from the start.

Despite all that, The Ferryman does tell an interesting story that so many others can easily enjoy.