In The Twelve we find a dizzying number of characters and plots that keep the reader turning the pages as fast as they possibly can.
Peter Jaxon is sent on an unsanctioned mission to Iowa to find out what is happening there with a rumored city of slaves.
Unbeknownst to him, Alicia is sent on a sanctioned mission to Iowa to find out the same thing.
Meanwhile Lawrence Grey who was an attendant to the Twelve when they were being experimented on is now part viral himself having been given blood to drink. Locked in chains, his blood in turn is being drained by humans to keep them young and beautiful over a hundred year time span.
Sara, Peter Jaxon's sister is a slave in Iowa, turned insurgent. She is working to free other slaves and her daughter from years of hard labor, subsistence-level food and sometimes daily beatings by the collaborators.
Amy, our miraculous girl-child who was a 100 years old in the first book, still looks 14 years old in the 2nd book. She is living in a nunnery and working in an orphanage. She is waiting for the right time to leave and conquer the Twelve.
These are just a few of the plots and characters that are in Cronin's new book. It is exciting to read and even though I read the first book two years ago, I dug into this book without re-reading the first one. I don't think that it caused me much of a problem to not have re-read the first book. Oh sure, there were a few things I was confused about - but I worked them out in the long run. If you loved Cronin's fist book The Passage, you will definitely love this one too!
Rating: 9 / 10
ISBN: 9780345504982
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Edition: 1st Edition