The Twelve by Justin Cronin

This is the middle book in the trilogy and while it wasn’t my favorite, it sure was good. The Passage remains my favorite of the three. This story needed to be told so it all could come together at the end. What a writer. Cronin is so descriptive.

First off, for anyone who isn’t familiar with Justin Cronin’s trilogy, this apocalyptic literature is not told in a linear fashion. Saying that, you have to read The Passage first and this one will make sense.

In the previous book you read about life before the virus. It’s life as we know it with stores, shopping, farms, social life, going to school and….everyday life. A virus which is mishandled by the government (what do you know, the government and military had a hand in this apocalyptic catastrophe) leading to a virtual wipe-out of our civilization.

Some survive – fast forward 100 years and you have read about the First Colony in California where people are secured in a compound. It’s a back-to-basics way of life, the sort we read about for our ancestors with them making tools by hand, growing their own food – a life devoid of television, or phones, cars and office life. People have jobs such as teachers, soldiers and farmers. It begins with the year 97 A.V. (after virus).

New characters are introduced but you’ll revisit some favorites such as Peter, Amy, Michael, Alicia and many others. If you read The Passage do you remember the cliff hangers at the end? The Twelve picks 5 years after The Passage and we are introduced to communities in Iowa, Kerrville Texas and one called “The Homeland” which is pure evil.

As with the first book and the last (I have already finished City of Mirrors) this story is about survivors and the lengths they will go to protecting their loved ones and keep the human race from being eliminated.

Not too much food mentioned in The Twelve.  As you can see from my Paperwhite a bowl of soup was mentioned and it was a comfort food.  Soup is certainly a comfort food, anytime.

 

So a black bean and vegetable soup is going to be the representative meal for this book.  Lots of tomatoes, corn, onions, black beans, green bell peppers and broth.  We had a fresh loaf of bread too.

For what it’s worth the recipe may be found at Squirrel Head Manor. This is a toss-what-you-want-in sort of soup. Those are the best.

Happy Reading!