Rating: 
Summary: A haunting, heart-pounding page-turner
Review: I simply could not put this novel down. It took me three days to read, and I resented every interference that pulled me away from it: my job, the telephone, even dinner! Willis has crafted a masterful, intricate plot featuring an engrossing theory about what happens when we die. Weaving dozens of separate, seemingly unrelated plot threads skillfully and just out of sight, she builds the suspense slowly to an astonishing crescendo that literally made my jaw drop. Despite a few minor plot elements that run on too long, this remains one of the best novels I've read all year.
Rating:
Summary: Willis is a master!
Review: Partway through this book, I found myself annoyed by all the phone messages, appointments, missed connections, long passageways, and other distractions of modern life the main characters have to go through. I should have known! When illumination came, I realized that those incomplete messages are not only an essential part of the plot, they mirror the brain processes that this book is about. This book is about the workings of the human brain, and it is structured AS a human brain. ...I found the ending perfect in its ambiguity. An ending which settled the life-after-death question one way or the other would have been less satisfactory. Death is a big issue. Facing it squarely is Willis' forte. To make great story-telling out of it is her genius. If you liked The Doomsday Book and Lincoln's Dreams, you'll like this.
Rating:
Summary: intriguing, disturbing but ultimately, perplexing
Review: I love Connie Willis' work -- except for her most admired work, Doomsday Book, which I found overly plotted -- and this is a departure from her usual fare. Its about near-death-experiences, has many of the same dealing-with-organizations theme as Bellwether and character development. This is a "idea" book in that there is a single premise behind the plot. It kept me up late reading it two nights in a row. No matter what you may think during the course of the book, you do not expect the ending. Willis continues to grow and entertain as an author.
Rating:
Summary: A captivating story
Review: I sometimes think it is unfortunate that writers cannot write as quickly as we read their works. Connie Willis is such a writer. I started with "Doomsday Book", and was enraptured. Having studied Medieval English History, I was thrilled with the picture she painted of the time. Each of her books is as well researched and accurate as another. Now with "Passage", she has me waiting for her next book. Once again, her extensive research on a topic, neuro-chemistry in this case, is extensive. The twists and turns of the plot had me staying up all night to find what would happen next. The characters are sharp and likable or unlikable and you care what is happening to them. In essence, she is a wonderful storyteller.
Rating:
Summary: Connie Willis gets better with every book
Review: Let me preface this review by saying that I've enjoyed each of Ms. Willis' books better than the last, enough so that I pre-ordered both "To Say Nothing of the Dog" and "Passage", and have no regrets. NOBODY is borrowing these babies from my library!"Passage" is genuine science fiction - a complex tale about the search for an afterlife set within a hospital's research labs. The characters are real people - warm, human, funny and fallible. Yeah, the Titanic is part of the story - but if you're a Kate & Leo addict you might be disappointed. This is the "REAL" Titanic, not the fairy tale, and thank heaven for that. When I reached the final chapters of "Passage" I canceled plans with friends to stay home and finish the book (they know me, they forgave me...) I repeat - no regrets!
Rating:
Summary: Connie Willis does it again
Review: I have been a Connie Willis fan ever since I read "The Doomsday Book." I've read that one 3 times. I was not disappointed with "Passage." As usual, she draws you in and then turns things around. Great characters, great plot, well-researched, well written. You can't go wrong.
Rating: 
Summary: What a lot of filler!
Review: Connie Willis, whom I usually trust to turn out something interesting, did indeed turn out something interesting... The idea this book puts forth is fasinating, but it shouldn't have taken six hundred pages... This is a mystery story featuring the dull. Wait for the paperback, or better yet, skip it.
Rating: 
Summary: Another Willis masterpiece
Review: I own every single one of Connie Willis' books, but do not love them all equally. My favorite is the first of hers I read, "The Doomsday Book", but this new book, "Passage," has just clearly taken a close second. I thought of this book as being like a bubble bath versus a shower. When you take a shower, you're trying to get to the end and get on with life. With a bubble bath, the pleasure is in the soaking, not leaving the tub. You're sad to realize the water is cold and the suds have fizzled. That's the way I felt when I reached page 674 all too soon, though I managed to stretch it out over two weeks by willpower. I confess I felt like this book was tailor-made for me, since it was based around two things that hold my attention -- research in a hospital, and the Titanic disaster. You don't have to love the Leonardo diCaprio movie to enjoy this book, and in fact it's probably better if you can poke fun at James Cameron's version of events. The book is filled with believable and likable characters, who you will miss when you've finished it. The only reason I give this book 4 stars instead of 5 is because of the ambitious nature of the story. Ms. Willis has attempted to take on and describe the afterlife, and as this is a big deal, open to many interpretations, it is likely to disappoint a bit in the end. But don't allow that to keep you from boarding "Passage" for the trip -- if you've ever been on a cruise, you'll know it's not the destination, but the journey that holds the magic.
Rating:
Summary: Compulsive Reading
Review: Connie Willis fans will navigate some familiar territory in this book. The obsessed hero/heroine and the infuriating secondary characters with a gift for getting in the way of their quest. Sometimes the plot bogs down under the heavy weight of it all. Despite that, this is still the most moving, unforgettable book I've read in a long time. Prior reviews have done a good job of describing the plot without spoilers. Suffice it to say that this is a story that will keep you turning the pages well past midnight. At times you will be tempted to read ahead but for God's Sake don't! Other times you will think you have figured out where this story is headed. Guess what? You probably figured wrong. The night I purchased it, I was warned by the bookseller, "Do not start the last 100 pages unless you can read them uninterrupted. Truer words have never been spoken. Heed this.
Rating:
Summary: A haunting book
Review: I have been waiting a long time for a new Connie Willis novel, and I wasn't disappointed by this latest effort. The one difficulty that I had with Passage is a problem that I've had with many of Willis' book; much of the plot hinges on characters either a) being stopped by someone else before saying something crucial, b) not being willing to say something crucial, or c) not being able to remember the one crucial thing that they are supposed to say. Her characters constantly seem to be experiencing the unpleasant feeling of having something on the tip of their tongue that they just can't quite identify or remember. Sometimes I want to shout at them in frustration. All that said, that style worked remarkably well for Passage. Since a great deal of the story revolves around the body's attempts to communicate at the point of death, as well as the human desire to communicate with the living and the dead, the constant breakdowns in communication made sense to me. Overall, this was a wonderful book with an engaging plot and characters. I picked the book up yesterday, stayed up until 2am to continue reading it, and finished reading it under my desk at work. :) I'm exhausted, but it was worth it. I think the other reason that I stayed up so late reading Passage was that I was a little afraid to stop and turn the lights out. This isn't horror in the hack and slash sense, but it's definitely scary, uncomfortable, and haunting.
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