The Passage: ‘Will stand as one of the great achievements in American fantasy fiction’ Stephen King

Vampires almost destroy the world! Things I liked: that we create our own prisons from our expectations, fears, pain and disappointments; that we are all searching for redemption; that we all struggle to forgive others and most especially ourselves. Things I didn't like: the messianic tone; the bad guys are one-dimensional (I'm not talking about the mindless flesh-devouring vampire-victims). First book was free. I liked it well enough to buy the sequels because I wanted to read the whole story.

The virus at the core of this premise makes no sense when kne thinks about it for longer than ten seconds. The best word to describe it is inconsistent. Whatever the author needs, the virus does. The infected are nothing short of magical creatures, sticking out like a sore thumbs in a mostly grounded setting and theme. The author stacked every powerful trait there is without any drawbacks that come with them. Their only weakness comes into play sporadically, whenever the plot requires it. Undoubtedly the book is enjoyable to read, infact I binged the first act in two sessions. The characters, their personalities and relationships are captivating and well developed. But the infected/virus design hovers over the whole story like a radioactive cloud, dissolving immersion.

Entertaining second half but I can't help but feel that the first half was too long and seemed to drag. It is, however, an interesting concept but takes to long to get to where we all want to be.