Justin Cronin; The Passage

Has anyone read The Passage by Justin Cronin? Is it at all worth the hype?

yes, and yes.

Very succinct.

Yes and no, in my opinion.

I was very suprised I enjoyed it as much as I did.

I just finished it. I found it very uneven, both in quality of writing, characterization, wrapping up loose ends... I didn't know know it is the first of a trilogy; perhaps my questions will get answered then, but I don't know if I spend the time to read more of a story that I found so frustrating. So much shallowness, it felt like, even at almost 800 pages; there was so much of the story that was not thought through, not developed well enough, or just left me shaking my head with too many whats and whys. I liked parts of it, which kept me slogging through to the end, which is definitely a setup for numbers 2 and 3.
All a shame because it as a good premise for a possibly great story, which it could be under the skill of a better writer. I love Michael Crichton, Steven King, et al, so it was not the story matter.
Very disappointed.

I've not finished yet, but in the first section did anyone else get the impression of how derivative this book is of King's The Stand? The way the story was building and then especially the "dream communication" reminded me so much of King's masterpiece. (Not that I mind that much--I love the Stand--) I'm enjoying this novel quite a lot!

I just started it, and the most outrageous thing I've come across is Gov. Jenna Bush (of Texas).

I won it through the ER program and liked it very much. And I went into it skeptical because of the 'vampire' theme...

I'm liking it, but I have to deal with the more supernatural elements. I'm very rational and I have to work to suspend my disbelief. Other than that, no major problems.

Yeah, the whole almost vampires approach confused me a bit. Was that explained by the emails sent out from Peru (I think) early in the novel? Did the expedition encounter some sort of infected bats? I thought the description of the virals was brilliant, however-- the teeth similar in size to cocktail swords and their necks described as pilloried (or did he say gibbeted? whichever--brought to mind the Puritanical torture devices).

It was Bolivia. They saw a statue that looked like a "viral", and there was mention of seeing similar statues in other parts of the world. I think the bats (an unknown species) were the original carrier. I like the idea of it being simply a ancient virus. Like the zombie virus in World War Z; nothing supernatural. And I like the way knowledge becomes lost in such a situation, especially cultural knowledge.