The Passage: The original post-apocalyptic virus thriller: chosen as Time Magazine's one of the best books to read during self-isolation in the Coronavirus outbreak (The Passage trilogy, 1) - Tapa blanda

Enthralling ... Read 15 pages, and you will find yourself captivated; read 30 and you will find yourself taken prisoner and reading late into the night. It had the vividness that only epic works of fantasy and imagination can achieve. What else can I say? This: read this book and the ordinary world disappears (Stephen King)

Cronin's massive novel transcends its clichés and delivers a feverishly readable post-apocalyptic-cum-vampire chiller. It's not only a brilliantly told story, with thrilling plot twists and graphic action sequences, but a moving psychological portrait of survivors facing up to the poignant fact of a lost past and a horrifically uncertain future (GUARDIAN)

Enthralling ... richly imagined. Above all, Amy is a superb creation, believably human yet beguilingly enigmatic (SUNDAY TIMES)

If you only take one book away with you this summer, make it The Passage. It's an absorbing, nightmarish dream of a book, a terrifying apocalyptic thriller, populated by believable, sympathetic characters. Once you start reading it, you won't want it to end (THE TIMES)

Epic, apocalyptic, heart-wrenching, catastrophic, mesmerisizing... (DAILY MIRROR)

An exhilarating epic ... the breathtaking plot eventually circles back around, and the conclusion will leave you gasping. A modern classic in the making (SFX)

Dense stuff with intriguing characters, Cronin's story of a supernatural government experiment that gets out of hand is surprisingly gripping. Full of plot twists, action and vampires. It's a dark epic that matches the best of Stephen King (HEAT)

An epic thriller, the story hinges around Amy, a six-year-old girl used as a test case by the government for a covert mission involving a deadly virus. And yes, she manages to escape... We loved it (STYLIST)

Cronin is a skilled writer. Most of the characters are well drawn and he tackles the philosophical issue of gaining eternal life at the cost of your soul in between the throat-ripping battle scenes. I turned The Passage's pages feverishly to find out what happened next (OBSERVER)

A gripping story and a richly drawn cast. This is an epic that often bears comparison with Stephen King (DAILY MAIL)