"The Passage" by Justin Cronin
So, before I went to Japan last year, I found a book coupon in one of my drawers that was weeks from expiration. How I could have missed that is beyond my imagination, but there it was: a book coupon just waiting to be used. So I went to the book store. And had no idea at all what to buy. So I looked at advertisings.
Around September 2010, there were huge ads for "The Passage" by Justin Cronin. The cover looked nice and the description sounded very mystical, but first and foremost it was HUGE. By HUGE I mean 700+ pages. I like huge books, so I figured can't be wrong buying it. (Of course it didn't fit into my luggage any more, so I had to leave it at home.)
I started reading some days ago; I'm on page 187 right now (goodness, SO SLOW it's embarrassing |'D but then I've been studying too, so... perhaps that's an excuse? |'D) and so far, it's really interesting.
I didn't get anything at all for the first 100 pages; I knew the different storylines are sort of related to each other, but because my brain is slow, I didn't realize how at first.
Anyway, as soon as there was a kid able to somehow, sort of talk to animals, I was hooked because kids who talk to animals have always fascinated me.
Apparently, there's this huge governmental/army mystery conspiracy about a branch of the FBI making vampires. Uh, actually, some plotlines take place directly inside the facility where the vampires are being made: death-row inmates with nothing to lose are 'freed' and exposed to some sort of virus that makes them turn into vampires who talk gibberish, eat nine out of ten rabbits, have superhuman speed and strength and a sort of shell-skin that does have an Achilles heel, but I've forgotten where it is. The rest of the skin is not penetrable. The virus kinda sorta makes them heal whatever illness/wounds they had beforehand (or something), so it's of HUGE importance to the military because yay, soldiers who don't die!
Yay.
But somehow, the scientists find out that the outcome might be even better with people who haven't had the experience the death-row inmates have had, so the two agents who usually get the inmates are told to kidnap a six-year-old girl who has been abandoned by her mother (because the mother was in a situation and the girl would have been in great danger had it remained with the mother). This girl is special in some way and incredibly cute; where I am right now, she's about to die from a fever or something.
The other storylines are pretty interesting, too; there's this one death-row inmate who supposedly killed his employer, but it turns out she used him to commit suicide (it's rather fucked up) and the people who watched interpreted it as murder, alas. He turns into a vampire and promptly kills a guard, stating he's never felt so good. Niiiiiice.
One of the higher ups at the facility is also rather fucked up in the brain because he has this sort of by-the-way kind of way killing random people and totally doesn't get why people don't like him requesting a six-year-old girl for the experiments.
Apparently, the world is going to end rather quickly, and I hope it'll be interesting. "The Passage" is supposed to be the first novel in a trilogy; right now, I think I might buy the other books, too (once they're out, that is), unless the rest of book 1 turns out to be a clusterfuck after all.
Around September 2010, there were huge ads for "The Passage" by Justin Cronin. The cover looked nice and the description sounded very mystical, but first and foremost it was HUGE. By HUGE I mean 700+ pages. I like huge books, so I figured can't be wrong buying it. (Of course it didn't fit into my luggage any more, so I had to leave it at home.)
I started reading some days ago; I'm on page 187 right now (goodness, SO SLOW it's embarrassing |'D but then I've been studying too, so... perhaps that's an excuse? |'D) and so far, it's really interesting.
I didn't get anything at all for the first 100 pages; I knew the different storylines are sort of related to each other, but because my brain is slow, I didn't realize how at first.
Anyway, as soon as there was a kid able to somehow, sort of talk to animals, I was hooked because kids who talk to animals have always fascinated me.
Apparently, there's this huge governmental/army mystery conspiracy about a branch of the FBI making vampires. Uh, actually, some plotlines take place directly inside the facility where the vampires are being made: death-row inmates with nothing to lose are 'freed' and exposed to some sort of virus that makes them turn into vampires who talk gibberish, eat nine out of ten rabbits, have superhuman speed and strength and a sort of shell-skin that does have an Achilles heel, but I've forgotten where it is. The rest of the skin is not penetrable. The virus kinda sorta makes them heal whatever illness/wounds they had beforehand (or something), so it's of HUGE importance to the military because yay, soldiers who don't die!
Yay.
But somehow, the scientists find out that the outcome might be even better with people who haven't had the experience the death-row inmates have had, so the two agents who usually get the inmates are told to kidnap a six-year-old girl who has been abandoned by her mother (because the mother was in a situation and the girl would have been in great danger had it remained with the mother). This girl is special in some way and incredibly cute; where I am right now, she's about to die from a fever or something.
The other storylines are pretty interesting, too; there's this one death-row inmate who supposedly killed his employer, but it turns out she used him to commit suicide (it's rather fucked up) and the people who watched interpreted it as murder, alas. He turns into a vampire and promptly kills a guard, stating he's never felt so good. Niiiiiice.
One of the higher ups at the facility is also rather fucked up in the brain because he has this sort of by-the-way kind of way killing random people and totally doesn't get why people don't like him requesting a six-year-old girl for the experiments.
Apparently, the world is going to end rather quickly, and I hope it'll be interesting. "The Passage" is supposed to be the first novel in a trilogy; right now, I think I might buy the other books, too (once they're out, that is), unless the rest of book 1 turns out to be a clusterfuck after all.