Book Review: The Compound

Review by: Kelly
Circulation Staff

Title: The Compound
Author: S. A. Bodeen

Eli's father is rich. So rich, he could afford to build a state-of-the art underground bunker to house his family in the event of a nuclear war. Nuclear war has come, and the family (or most of it) is now locked away safely underground for the next fifteen years. As the isolation takes a toll, family members turn on each other and no one can be trusted. When food supplies run low, Eli's father devises a horrific plan to keep them alive.

This is Bodeen's first novel and I think you can tell. The plot is intriguing and full of suspense, but the writing is weak and the characters are two-dimensional. Despite the shortcomings, the book is a real page-turner and worth a read.

"The Compound" has been nominated for a 2010-2011 Truman Reader Award. The Truman Awards will be given out by MASL (Missouri Association of School Librarians) on Monday, April 18th, so it will be interesting to see if it wins. Personally, I doubt it-- there are much stronger books on the list.