The Compound

     This six weeks I read The Compound by S. A. Bodeen.  It is a fiction book written in 2008.  It is about a teenager named Eli who is trapped in a nuclear bunker (dubbed The Compound) with his family, made by his father, who is the rich owner of a computer company.  Eli soon learns that there was never a nuclear attack and that his father trapped them in the bunker as a test to see how far their family would go to survive.  Eli must find a way to get his family out of The Compound before it's too late.  I think the theme is that everyone has their secrets- and sometimes they turn deadly.

     The story is told in first person from the point of Eli. The book starts six years after Eli and his family god locked in the Compound. Eli recalls that in a camping trip, his father received a message that a nuclear attack has been launched on America, and quickly leads his family to the Compound, which was nearby their campsite.   Eli's mother, father, and his sisters Terese and Lexie.  His Gram (grandmother), twin brother Eddy, and puppy Cocoa did not make it in.  Their family has hardly survived due to the low food supply, which results in an emergency measure dubbed "The Supplements", which are three children named Lucas, Quinn, and Cara, whom are intended to be eaten if  the family runs out of food.  One night, Eli receives an IM from Eddy, who says that there was no nuclear attack and that he thought the family died in an RV fire.  He then must then solve a series of riddles to acquire the door password which will open the bunker door.  Eventually Eli and Lucas make it out, but Phil arrives, who is Eli's father's coworker.  He accidentally activates the self-destruct sequence on the Compound.  Everyone makes it out safely, except for Eli's father.  However, it is hinted that his father may be alive.  I think this book is science fiction and is intended for age groups 10-13.  Every time the book began to wear a little dull, Bodeen added a little thing that kept you on the edge of your seat, such as Eddy's IM or Lucas' "Secret" (This was a french riddle carved on the bottom of his Russian dolls that eventually led to the door password).  Bodeen made the book seem very tense, since Eli was basically trapped in a nuclear compound with his psycho dad.

     The book was a very good read the first time I read it.  It certainly did affect how I view life, and now I think I should cherish it, should I be locked in a nuclear bunker with only Peyton, Mason, and Steven, and choose who I should eat to survive.  It also made me think how cruel it is that Rex (Eli's father) could imprison his own family for six years because of a fake nuclear attack, then threaten to kill one if his own children when Eli got the door code.When the Supplements are introduced, we learn that they live a 100% carefree life, with no worries (since they have never left their parent's bedroom, dubbed "The Yellow Room").  The first time Lucas meets Eli, he asks him if he wants to play Chutes and Ladders, totally unaware that he is trapped in a nuclear bunker.  I think this kind of life is really creepy and somewhat saddening.  This book doesn't bring any other authors or books to mind.

     All in all, this book was a fantastic read.  It really makes you appreciate how wonderful your life really is.  This is the only book that makes me feel that way.  However, there are some things throughout the book that are never explained, such as the hydroponic light bulbs being mostly non-fluorescent and useless, and the rat poison that seeped in to the cow's water supplies (these were both early in the book).  It's just as if Bodeen completely forgot about these things.  I would recommend this book to anyone between the age of  10 to 20, but mostly teenagers.

Kyle Randal
11/5/2013
RATING: 4.666666667/5