Author: Justin Cronin
Release Date: 16th October 2012
Publisher: Hachette NZ (Orion Books)
Source: Received from the publisher via Booksellers NZ
With The Twelve, the story continues.
In the present day: As a man-made apocalypse unfolds, three strangers navigate the chaos, desperate to find others, to survive, to witness the dawn on the other side of disaster. Lila, a doctor and an expectant mother, has been so broken by the spread of violence and infection that she continues to plan for her child’s arrival even as society dissolves around her.
Kittridge, known to the world as “Last Stand in Denver,” has been forced by loss of electrical power to flee his stronghold and is now on the road, dodging the infected, armed but alone and well aware that a tank of gas will get him only so far.
April is a teenager fighting to guide her little brother safely through a minefield of death and ruin. These three will learn that they have not been fully abandoned—and that in connection lies hope, even on the darkest of nights.
A hundred years in the future: Amy, Peter, Alicia, and the others introduced in The Passage work with a cast of new characters to hunt the original twelve virals . . . unaware that the rules of the game have changed, and that one of them will have to sacrifice everything to bring the Twelve down.
The scope widens and the intensity deepens as the epic tale of sacrifice and survival begun in The Passage surges forward in its breathtaking sequel—The Twelve.
My Thoughts
Although I found The Twelve slow to start, it is (as stated above) an epic read. Not only by it's sheer volume, but the journey in which Justin Cronin has crafted for his characters.
We are once again thrown into this haphazard, tumultuous world of death, destruction, and vampires - where the strongest, greediest, and more often than not, most brutal members of the population thrive.
We follow the crazy, somewhat dismal and demanding lives of our hero's as they again fight for survival in a quest to rid (whats left of) their world of The Twelve. Only this time they are not just fighting virals, they find themselves fighting a so-called system too.
The Twelve is an enthralling story that took me around four days to read as I found myself, at times overwhelmed. There is just so much going on; from different time periods, to the differing points of view of a growing cast of characters. This does however, allow the reader an insight into the backgrounds of the cast and history surrounding the situation with which they are now faced - if you can get past the feeling of information overload.
There was plenty of creepiness and gore to keep the most avid horror fans happy, and the individual stories of each character were perfectly told, emotionally draining and heartfelt. I was very happy to see Amy grow, both emotionally and physically, and it was great to again get inside her head; to try and decipher what on earth was going on. My only complaint would be that I really would have loved for the growing attraction between Amy and Peter to have progressed further.
Author Justin Cronin has again left the reader with unanswered questions, unresolved plot twists, and a great cliffhanger that has left me aching for more. It's going to be an impatient wait until the third book, The City Of Mirrors comes out in 2014!
I was enthralled, creeped out, and I really, really liked it - a 4.5 (almost 5) Star read ~<;]
I haven't read this yet either but I do have copy floating around somewhere. Maybe I'll have to try the audio to get to it sooner!
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