The Passage

This is a great book and a great setup to what should be a quality trilogy. It's an improvement on The Stand, which Cronin has said directly inspired it. It's also a rehash of The Stand, with repeated archetypes and events (beyond just the viral apocalypse). I docked it a star because while I thought the ending was appropriate, it frustrated me because the whole ~800 pages are really just setup. Kind of like reading the Fellowship of the Ring then having to just wait an unknown amount of time for the rest of the story.