Today in Jen's Library

I don't tend to read books, I listen to them. I had picked up The Passage for a long drive, the abridged version, solely because it was narrated by Edward Hermann (my favourite narrator). I then picked up the unabridged version at my local library and heard it on another long drive.

I loved the story of The Passage; loved the characters, and Peter most of all. So I looked forward to The Twelve, anticipating a great story.

I am disappointed. I expected this book to entertain me, not horrify me. There are images now in my brain that I would rather not have. Honestly, you can make a villain really, really bad without going into such utterly horrific detail. That just wasn't necessary.

Although I realise every book can't have a happy ending, I wish this had a bit more of one. Killing off some of the major characters was going to happen, obviously (it's a book about the apocalypse, after all). But killing the ones he did, paired with the disturbing, graphic images, was too much for me. It left me no one to root for, nothing to look forward to.

All in all, I Cronin is a writer that I enjoy. But this particular story, populated with characters I came to love, was just awful. I do not read so someone's imagination can take me to the blackest evil.