In the present day, as the man-made apocalypse unfolds, three strangers navigate the chaos. Lila, a doctor and an expectant mother, is so shattered by the spread of violence and infection that she continues to plan for her child’s arrival even as society dissolves around her.
Kittridge, known to the world as “Last Stand in Denver,” has been forced to flee his stronghold and is now on the road, dodging the infected, armed but alone and well aware that a tank of gas will get him only so far. April is a teenager fighting to guide her little brother safely through a landscape of death and ruin. These three will learn that they have not been fully abandoned—and that in connection lies hope, even on the darkest of nights.
One hundred years in the future, Amy and the others fight on for humankind’s salvation . . . unaware that the rules have changed. The enemy has evolved, and a dark new order has arisen with a vision of the future infinitely more horrifying than man’s extinction. If the Twelve are to fall, one of those united to vanquish them will have to pay the ultimate price.
A heart-stopping thriller rendered with masterful literary skill, The Twelve is a grand and gripping tale of sacrifice and survival.
Detailed Plot Summary - Contains Spoilers
The story returns to the beginning—to the terrifying origins of the vampire apocalypse. Virals are on the rise, humans are on the run, and everything we know is under attack. Amid the widening chaos, four strangers set out on a desperate search—to connect with other survivors and find a way to survive in a world gone mad.
Lila is an expectant mother, her mind broken by the violence she’s seen. Heedless...
Read an Excerpt
Bernard Kittridge, known to the world as “Last Stand in Denver,” realized it was time to leave the morning the power went out.
He wondered what had taken so long. You couldn’t keep a municipal electrical grid running without people to man it, and as far as Kittridge could tell from the nineteenth floor, not a single human soul was left alive in the city of Denver.
Which was not to say he was alone.
He had passed the early hours of the morning—a bright, clear morning in the first week of June, temperatures in the mid-seventies with a chance of blood-sucking monsters moving in toward dusk—sunning on the balcony of the penthouse he had occupied since the second week of the crisis. It was a gigantic place, like an airborne palace; the kitchen alone was the size of Kittridge’s whole apartment. The owner’s taste ran in an austere direction: sleek leather seating groups that were better to look at than sit on, floors of twinkling travertine, small furry rugs, glass tables that appeared to float in space. Breaking in had been surprisingly simple. By the time Kittridge had made his decision, half the city was dead, or fled, or missing.
The cops...
Praise
“[A] literary superthriller.” —The New York Times Book Review
“An undeniable and compelling epic...a complex narrative of flight and forgiveness, of great suffering and staggering loss, of terrible betrayals and incredible hope.” —Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
“The Twelve is even better than The Passage.” —The Plain Dealer
“A compulsive read.” —San Francisco Chronicle
“Gripping...Cronin [introduces] eerie new elements to his masterful mythology.... Enthralling, emotional and entertaining.” —The San Diego Union-Tribune
“Fine storytelling.” —Associated Press
“Cronin is one of those rare authors who works on two different levels, blending elegantly crafted literary fiction with cliff-hanging thrills.” —Fort Worth Star-Telegram
