Book: The Ferryman

 Book: The Ferryman

Author: Justin Cronin

Pages: 538

This is my 31st read for the year

This is the story of Proctor Bennett.  Proctor is the Director of Social Contracts in a Utopia called Prospera.  The lucky citizens of this world live long lives that are constantly monitored.  Once their monitors fall below 10 percent, the citizens are retired, and sent to have their memories wiped and to start over anew.  Proctor is the Ferryman that helps these citizens get to the "Nursery" so that the people can be reborn.  Citizens of this world are not every born - they are made.  However, there is another island -the Annex.  The people here care for the Citizens of Prospera, are born into the world and die without the chance to be reborn.  When Proctor is sent to retire his own father, and his father leaves him with a cryptic message, he isn't sure what to do next.

In the meantime, the Support Staff of the Annex are starting to rebel against their place in society.  Proctor, who has been having trouble himself finds himself twisted into their world and discovers that someone very important to him from his past is part of the Annex rebelion.  As the world unravels, Proctor discovers that his world isn't all that it seems.

This is my second Cronin book.  There is no doubt that he is a talented writer.  I enjoyed his book "The Passage" very much, and was hopping for the same level out of this book.  The first half drew me in.  I loved the world building of Prospera and trying to figure out where the story was going.  The second half of the book lost me a little bit.  I KIND of saw where it was going, but it got quite convoluted in the second half almost to the point that I thought I was missing something.  This is a long book, but honestly, I could have seen him drawing out the first half of this book to a full novel and then writing a duology to proceed with the second half.  It might have given him the opportunity to develop what truly felt like two separate stories into a better picture in my opinion.

This author is talented.  No doubt.  And I am glad I read it.  I just wanted a bit more.

Stars: 4