The Bunker Diary by Kevin Brooks
Jul. 4th, 2014 11:26 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
quippeThe Blurb On The Back:
I can’t believe I fell for it.
It was still dark when I woke up this morning. As soon as my eyes opened I knew where I was.
A low-ceilinged rectangular building made entirely of whitewashed concrete. There are six little rooms along the main corridor.
There are no windows. No doors. The list is the only way in or out. What’s he going to do to me? What am I going to do?
If I’m right, the lift will come down in five minutes.
It did.
Only this time it wasn’t empty …
Teenager Linus Weems has been living rough in London for the last five months after running away from boarding school. Estranged from his father (the rich and famous Charlie Ween, who created a hit cartoon series but has been emotionally and physically remote since the death of Linus’s mother), Charlie knows how to keep his head down. When a blind man whose arm is in a sling asks Linus to help put something in a transit van, he’s cautious but thinks the man is harmless.
He’s wrong.
Overpowered and drugged, he wakes up in a concrete bunker. The only way in or out is through a lift controlled by his kidnapper. Cameras are dotted around the bunker to keep him under observation. If he tries to escape, he’s gassed or electrocuted. But there are six rooms in the bunker and Linus’s kidnapper isn’t finished yet …
Kevin Brooks’s dark YA horror is a tense, chilling read with a stomach-churning ending that lingers long after you finish and I can see why it won the 2014 Cilip Carnegie Medal. Sparse and haunting it focuses on Linus and his thoughts about his situation, his attempts to escape and shows what can happen when a group of strangers are forced into close proximity in terrifying circumstances. If you’re looking for a happy ending then this isn’t the book for you and younger readers or those who are sensitive should probably give it a miss too. However, if you’re a Brooks fan then you know what you’re in for and I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.
The use of the diary format is a little contrived but nonetheless effective, allowing Linus to reflect on his past as well as his current situation. The introduction of Jenny, Fred, Bird, Anja and Russell helps to provide more details of what the kidnapper is doing but raises more questions as well and I must confess that I would have liked to see each developed more than they are as some (Bird, Anja and Fred in particular) are rather stock. I enjoyed the fact that so much is left unexplained but I can see that some readers would find it frustrating. The rivalries and friendships that form between the six also provide tension and emotional depth and make the ending even more heart breaking. Ultimately though, this is an effective and devastating book that deserves its plaudits.
The Verdict:
Kevin Brooks’s dark YA horror is a tense, chilling read with a stomach-churning ending that lingers long after you finish and I can see why it won the 2014 Cilip Carnegie Medal. Sparse and haunting it focuses on Linus and his thoughts about his situation, his attempts to escape and shows what can happen when a group of strangers are forced into close proximity in terrifying circumstances. If you’re looking for a happy ending then this isn’t the book for you and younger readers or those who are sensitive should probably give it a miss too. However, if you’re a Brooks fan then you know what you’re in for and I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.
It was still dark when I woke up this morning. As soon as my eyes opened I knew where I was.
A low-ceilinged rectangular building made entirely of whitewashed concrete. There are six little rooms along the main corridor.
There are no windows. No doors. The list is the only way in or out. What’s he going to do to me? What am I going to do?
It did.
Only this time it wasn’t empty …
Teenager Linus Weems has been living rough in London for the last five months after running away from boarding school. Estranged from his father (the rich and famous Charlie Ween, who created a hit cartoon series but has been emotionally and physically remote since the death of Linus’s mother), Charlie knows how to keep his head down. When a blind man whose arm is in a sling asks Linus to help put something in a transit van, he’s cautious but thinks the man is harmless.
He’s wrong.
Overpowered and drugged, he wakes up in a concrete bunker. The only way in or out is through a lift controlled by his kidnapper. Cameras are dotted around the bunker to keep him under observation. If he tries to escape, he’s gassed or electrocuted. But there are six rooms in the bunker and Linus’s kidnapper isn’t finished yet …
Kevin Brooks’s dark YA horror is a tense, chilling read with a stomach-churning ending that lingers long after you finish and I can see why it won the 2014 Cilip Carnegie Medal. Sparse and haunting it focuses on Linus and his thoughts about his situation, his attempts to escape and shows what can happen when a group of strangers are forced into close proximity in terrifying circumstances. If you’re looking for a happy ending then this isn’t the book for you and younger readers or those who are sensitive should probably give it a miss too. However, if you’re a Brooks fan then you know what you’re in for and I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.
The use of the diary format is a little contrived but nonetheless effective, allowing Linus to reflect on his past as well as his current situation. The introduction of Jenny, Fred, Bird, Anja and Russell helps to provide more details of what the kidnapper is doing but raises more questions as well and I must confess that I would have liked to see each developed more than they are as some (Bird, Anja and Fred in particular) are rather stock. I enjoyed the fact that so much is left unexplained but I can see that some readers would find it frustrating. The rivalries and friendships that form between the six also provide tension and emotional depth and make the ending even more heart breaking. Ultimately though, this is an effective and devastating book that deserves its plaudits.
The Verdict:
Kevin Brooks’s dark YA horror is a tense, chilling read with a stomach-churning ending that lingers long after you finish and I can see why it won the 2014 Cilip Carnegie Medal. Sparse and haunting it focuses on Linus and his thoughts about his situation, his attempts to escape and shows what can happen when a group of strangers are forced into close proximity in terrifying circumstances. If you’re looking for a happy ending then this isn’t the book for you and younger readers or those who are sensitive should probably give it a miss too. However, if you’re a Brooks fan then you know what you’re in for and I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.
