The Twelve by Justin Cronin

The Twelve by Justin Cronin

2012, The Random House Publishing Group

Series: Book 2 of The Passage

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Rating

Synopsis: At the end of The Passage, the great viral plague had left a small group of survivors clinging to life amidst a world transformed into a nightmare. In the second volume of this epic trilogy, this same group of survivors, led by the mysterious, charismatic Amy, go on the attack, leading an insurrection against the virals: the first offensives of the Second Viral War.

To do this, they must infiltrate a dozen hives, each presided over by one of the original Twelve. Their secret weapon: Alicia, transformed at the end of book one into a half human, half viral—but whose side, in the end, is she really on?

The Good: Once the book got going, it really sucked me in. It took a while, especially with the vast amount of characters involved. Had I realized there was an entire cast of characters list at the end of the book for reference sake, I would have fared much better. This is a huge, all-encompassing story that is written in a way that puts you right into that world.

The Bad: The Twelve dragged on a lot more than The Passage did. It felt more scattered as well. I just didn't love this book nearly as much at The Twelve. While it does suffer a bit from middle book syndrome, it has a good grasp of what it is trying to be and expresses that better than most middle books.