The Twelve cover art

The Twelve

‘Will stand as one of the great achievements in American fantasy fiction’ Stephen King

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The Twelve

By: Justin Cronin
Narrated by: Scott Brick
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About this listen

 'A literary superthriller' NEW YORK TIMES - and major TV series

THE TWELVE

Death-row prisoners with nightmare pasts and no future.

THE TWELVE

Until they were selected for a secret experiment.

THE TWELVE

To create something more than human.

THE TWELVE

Now they are the future and humanity's worst nightmare has begun.

THE TWELVE

The epic sequel to

THE PASSAGE

(p) 2012 Penguin Random House LLC©2012 Justin Cronin Fiction Horror Science Fiction Supernatural Technothrillers Thriller & Suspense Fantasy Exciting Scary

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Critic reviews

As exhilarating as The Passage, with people variously trapped in hideous bleak labour camps, engaging in cage fights with virals (Cronin's name for vampires) or chained up for decades.
For fans of apocalyptic thrillers who aren't afraid of the dark
[The Passage was] smart, well-crafted and entertaining ...The Twelve delivers much of the same vitality and vision. Like it's predecessor, it is a strange new creature for the 21st century: The literary superthriller, driven at once by character and plot
The follow-up to the much-lauded The Passage deepens and darkens the apocalyptic events of the first book
[A] literary superthriller.
A compulsive read.
All stars
Most relevant
read these books when they first came out, loved the audio narration. about to start the third book, doing it directly on audio because of how much I've enjoyed

even better the second time

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Unputdownable! So to speak. A gripping read by only Justin Cronin narrated effortlessly by Scott Brick. I struggled a little in some areas trying to keep up with who was who, but managed to work things out. The story is unique and thoroughly enjoyable.
I recommend it, but read 'The passage' first. Not for the faint hearted.

Brilliant, brilliant sequel to 'The passage'

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I found this book harder and the 1st, it started off better but I got a bit lost with the amount of characters and lost my way a little. Now it was still good and I finished it in a week, but I'm not as excited to start the last book... after investing 60hours of life I feel I have to! Although I have other books in my list I would prefer to start, so this isn't a good sign. Onward regardless...

Got a bit lost

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Please see my review for The Passage, as this will simply build on that. Again with a large cast of characters, the story develops from the events described in The Passage. Amy is helping to raise younger members of the community, Peter has joined the Expedition having worked his way up to the rank of Lieutenant. His desire to quest to find a way to rid the world of the "Fliers/Jumpers". With Babcock already dealt with, his sights are set on the remaining 12. This book is a masterpiece, the only problem with it is that there are more instalments still to come, and I don't want to wait!!!!

A fitting successor to The Passage

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Having thoroughly enjoyed 'The Passage', I was eagerly awaiting the sequel. After struggling to listen to the first part of the story, and wondering where it was leading to, I became hooked. Sure there are new chararcters, but as the story unfolds, Justin Cronin has neatly fitted them into the storyline and one can see what has happened. Many a late night has occurred as I have listened entranced to this story. Can't wait for the final one!

The Twelve

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