The vampire genre doesn't always have to suck if it's done right. It's always cool when an author you would define as a "literary" one goes the genre route. Similar to how Zone One by Colson Whitehead was one of the best zombie stories I've come across, The Passage is my favorite vampire story yet. And still two more books await us. 
 Cronin is really talented and can write some really beautiful prose. The book is also a tremendous page turner as this mysterious, apocalyptic world unfolds for us. Great writing, suspense, emotions, two universes, etc. - The Passage kind of has a little bit of everything. It's long but that's never really a detriment. There are tons of characters and you get to know them alarmingly well. 
 Good luck putting this down as you get near the end. I stayed up until 4 AM just to finish it last night loving every page while also regretting that it wouldn't keep going. 
 I can't wait for Ridley Scott to completely ruin everything with his movie version! Also book 2 comes out in October which is pretty cool.