Book Review: "The Ferryman" by Justin Cronin

 

From the New York Times bestselling author of The Passage comes a riveting standalone novel about a group of survivors on a hidden island utopia—where the truth isn't what it seems.

Founded by the mysterious genius known as the Designer, the archipelago of Prospera lies hidden from the horrors of a deteriorating outside world. In this island paradise, Prospera’s lucky citizens enjoy long, fulfilling lives until the monitors embedded in their forearms, meant to measure their physical health and psychological well-being, fall below 10 percent. Then they retire themselves, embarking on a ferry ride to the island known as the Nursery, where their failing bodies are renewed, their memories are wiped clean, and they are readied to restart life afresh. 

Proctor Bennett, of the Department of Social Contracts, has a satisfying career as a ferryman, gently shepherding people through the retirement process—and, when necessary, enforcing it. But all is not well with Proctor. For one thing, he’s been dreaming—which is supposed to be impossible in Prospera. For another, his monitor percentage has begun to drop alarmingly fast. And then comes the day he is summoned to retire his own father, who gives him a disturbing and cryptic message before being wrestled onto the ferry.

Meanwhile, something is stirring. The Support Staff, ordinary men and women who provide the labor to keep Prospera running, have begun to question their place in the social order. Unrest is building, and there are rumors spreading of a resistance group—known as “Arrivalists”—who may be fomenting revolution. 

Soon Proctor finds himself questioning everything he once believed, entangled with a much bigger cause than he realized—and on a desperate mission to uncover the truth. - from Netgalley.com

This ARC was received from Netgalley.com at no cost, and I am providing an unbiased review.

I became a fan of Justin Cronin after reading his series "The Passage" and after reading the description here, thought this novel might end up being a series as well. Thankfully, it is not and is a complete story in itself.

The story feels a little slow at the start, as Cronin builds in the character and world settings, but action kicks in shortly, and just continues. World building was interesting, as the concepts of a perfect utopian environment that renews itself, made me cringe a bit as I am not a fan of science induced stories. Add in that everyone has a personal arm-mounted monitor that makes me feel like a bit of '1984', and I started becoming leary of where the story was leading.

Our main character does become more self-aware, and learns he must place his faith in something he never thought existed. While on the route of personal change, actions come into play that he loses pretty much everything, and becomes a fugitive of those that keep order in this world. While being pursued, he escapes the utopia, and discovers something that really thorws the story into a new light. 

Though a bit more 'science-y' than I like in my stories, this was still a very fine read. Technical aspects were easy to understand. The reasons for many of the world events happening whilst the story is unraveling were nice surprises once you reach the near-end to 'wrap it all together'. Truly another good work from Cronin I would happily invite friends to read.