IT HAPPENED FAST. THIRTY-TWO MINUTES FOR ONE WORLD TO DIE, ANOTHER TO BE BORN. First, the unthinkable: a security breach at a secret U.S. government facility unleashes the monstrous product of a chilling military experiment. Then, the unspeakable: a night of chaos and carnage gives way to sunrise on a nation, and ultimately a world, forever altered. All that remains for the stunned survivors is the long fight ahead and a future ruled by fear—of darkness, of death, of a fate far worse. As civilization swiftly crumbles into a primal landscape of predators and prey, two people flee in search of sanctuary. FBI agent Brad Wolgast is a good man haunted by what he's done in the line of duty. Six-year-old orphan Amy Harper Bellafonte is a refugee from the doomed scientific project that has triggered apocalypse. Wolgast is determined to protect her from the horror set loose by her captors, but for Amy, escaping the bloody fallout is only the beginning of a much longer odyssey—spanning miles and decades—toward the time and place where she must finish what should never have begun. With The Passage, award-winning author Justin Cronin has written both a relentlessly suspenseful adventure and an epic chronicle of human endurance in the face of unprecedented catastrophe and unimaginable danger. Its inventive storytelling, masterly prose, and depth of human insight mark it as a crucial and transcendent work of modern fiction.

Publicada em dois volumes, incluídos na coleção «Via Láctea», A Passagem é uma representação de um tenebroso fim da civilização atual. Uma experiência científica a que o exército dos Estados Unidos submete vários homens e uma menina, para os tornar invencíveis, resulta numa catástrofe cujos efeitos têm consequências inimagináveis. Os homens submetidos àquela experiência tornam-se detentores de extraordinários poderes, mas são monstros assassinos sedentos de sangue.

Neste segundo volume a humanidade vive uma era de trevas em que a sobrevivência dita as leis, não só em função dos ataques dos mutantes virais, mas em relação a quase tudo. Passaram entretanto noventa anos sobre a catástrofe e a Vagante, como muitos lhe chamam, regressa de uma longa e solitária jornada de décadas. Como numa viagem iniciática, durante essa obscura deriva ganhou forma dentro dela o terrível conhecimento de que ela é a Única que tem o poder de salvar o mundo destruído por aquele pesadelo.

In his internationally bestselling and critically acclaimed novel The Passage, Justin Cronin constructed an unforgettable world transformed by a government experiment gone horribly wrong. Now the scope widens and the intensity deepens as the epic story surges forward with The Twelve. In the present day, as the man-made apocalypse unfolds, three strangers navigate the chaos. Lila, a doctor and an expectant mother, is so shattered 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 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 landscape 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. One hundred years in the future, Amy and the others fight on for humankind’s salvation...unaware that the rules have changed. The enemy has evolved, and a dark new order has arisen with a vision of the future infinitely more horrifying than man’s extinction. If the Twelve are to fall, one of those united to vanquish them will have to pay the ultimate price.

不是十二也不是零號的那一個，她擁有永恆的種子，卻是影子背後的影子，夜之幕的裂縫，眾鬼心中的漣漪。 百年前，在那個難以想像的闇黑之夜後，末日降臨，殘破混亂的新世界就此開始。存活下來的人們為生存奮鬥，一路躲避瘋狂的感染者，飽受死亡的威脅與摧殘，面對內心的孤獨與對明天的不信任，各自選擇生命的結局。 百年後，人類最後占據地德州殖民地一夕空城，羅斯威爾營區慘遭大屠殺，人們依舊活在毫無希望的世界之中。不知來歷的女孩艾美與她的遠征隊同伴彼德、艾莉希亞、邁可和霍里斯在眾鬼之首巴柏寇克消滅後，各懷傷痛與祕密，就此分崩離析，四散他方。 然而，眾鬼之首的殞滅讓那十二個再也不完整，他們是永恆的一體，分享黑色夢境和鮮紅血流的手足，於是他們決心填補空缺，完整自我；他們齊心呼喊，召喚不是十二也不是零號的那個血脈，是其他的那一個，他們的血親姐妹──名叫艾美的那一個。

Cronini “Teekonnast” ja “Kaheteistkümne” I osast tuntud kangelaste seiklused jätkuvad ning välja ilmuvad mitmed esimestes osades esinenud tegelaskujud. Me satume uutesse ümbruskondadesse ja saame teada, et sugugi mitte kõik inimesed ei võitle inimeste poolel. Kangelased teevad läbi mitmesuguseid muutusi, kusjuures mitte üksnes sisemisi – “igavene tütarlaps” Amy asub näiteks naiseks saamise teele. Raamatu kulminatsiooniosas kohtuvad peaaegu kõik varasemast tuntud tegelased,et halastamatus lõpuheitluses arveid klaarida. Tõelised inimesed on kõhklematult valmis ennast ohverdama, et teistele saaks osaks vabadus ja väärikus, viiruskite abimehed aga näitavad üles kirjeldamatut alatust ja julmust. Cronin demonstreerib, et tema leidlikkus üha uute keskkondade, arengute ja suhete mängutoomisel ning nende seostamisel eelnenuga on sisuliselt ammendamatu. Ja ehkki suurem osa tekkinud küsimusi saab raamatu lõpuks vastuse ja enamus otsi tõmmatakse kokku, jäävad nii mõnedki neist lahtiseks ja me ei tea kindlalt öelda, mida tulevik toob …

The world we knew is gone. What world will rise in its place? The Twelve have been destroyed and the terrifying hundred-year reign of darkness that descended upon the world has ended. The survivors are stepping outside their walls, determined to build society anew—and daring to dream of a hopeful future. But far from them, in a dead metropolis, he waits: Zero. The First. Father of the Twelve. The anguish that shattered his human life haunts him, and the hatred spawned by his transformation burns bright. His fury will be quenched only when he destroys Amy—humanity’s only hope, the Girl from Nowhere who grew up to rise against him. One last time light and dark will clash, and at last Amy and her friends will know their fate.

„Peeglite linn” jätkub sealt, kus viiruskite triloogia teine osa „Kaksteist” pooleli jäi. Kuivõrd viiruskite juhid on tapetud ja nende järeltulija hävinud, võivad inimesed hakata eeldama, et Maa on nüüd sellest nuhtlusest vabanenud ja nad võivad taas endistviisi elama hakata. Kahjuks need lootused nurjuvad. Esimene ja eriline viirusk, kõikvõimas Null ei saa üle inimesena elatud ajal kogetud vimmadest ja kibestumistest ning on otsustanud uimarditest reservväe abil nüüd kogu maailma hävitada. Tema plaanid on ääretult salakavalad ja võimalused tohutud. Ta püüab kaasata oma ettevõtmistesse ka Aliciat. Inimeste maailmas aimavad Michael ja Lucius Greer, et kõik ei ole nii rahulik nagu pealtnäha paistab. Nad taipavad, et viimane ja kõige rängem heitlus seisab alles ees. Seetõttu hakkavad nad valmistuma laevatäie inimeste toimetamiseks kaugete merede taha, kohta, kus inimsugu saaks end lõpuks turvaliselt tunda. Kuidas see kõik välja kukub? Ees ootavad rasked ajad ning kõikide tegelaste ees seisavad keerulised valikud.