Title: The Bunker Diary
Author: Kevin Brooks
Standalone
Number of
Pages: 260
Date Read: 7/5/15
Genre: Realistic Fiction, Suspense, Thriller, Contemporary, Mystery, Survival
Synopsis
(Found on Goodreads.com)
Room meets Lord of the Flies, The Bunker Diary is
award-winning, young adult writer Kevin Brooks's pulse-pounding exploration of
what happens when your worst nightmare comes true - and how will you survive?
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 lift 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 . . .
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 lift 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 . . .
My Review:
This book was ok. It wasn't as great as I thought it would
be.
Basically six people get taken by an unknown man and are put inside an underground bunker where he has control of everything. He controls their food, their supplies, their actions (through rewards and punishments) and he watches/listens to them all the time via cameras and audio bugs. The book is the main character, Linus, account of his and the others day to day life in the bunker and what the unknown man puts them through.
I liked Linus. He is a sixteen year old boy who got caught by this guy because Linus was trying to help him. The man was disguised as a blind man who needed help and Linus stopped to help him. Linus is a nice guy, who never felt like he belonged anywhere; not in his boarding school, not with his rich dad and not on the streets when he ran away. He is also very caring and protective and it shows when he takes Jenny, the little girl who was put in the bunker as well, under his wing.
Linus is the first to arrive at the bunker. Then Jenny comes and I love her. She is a nine year old girl who is spunky and grows up very fast in the bunker. She is very smart and usually has good ideas that even the adults don't think of. She grows tough and is a very strong little girl, mentally and some what emotionally. Then there is Anja who is in her late twenties and is in the "property" career. She is very weak, complains a lot, is very irritable and doesn't contribute any real help or ideas to the group. She basically wallows in her misery waiting to be saved by someone who will never come. I didn't really care about her one way or the other. Then there is Fred who is a hulk of a man with tattoos and who is very strong. I also liked him a lot. He is a heroine addict but he really is a nice guy. He can be scary, rough, intimidating and mean at some points but he really isn't out to hurt anyone. He is smart in his own way, more so in the common sense department. He is also very good with Jenny and with saving the other when they need it. Next is Bird who is a fat man in the banking business or something. He is a real jerk who thinks he's smarter than everyone and who has an infatuation with Anja. He just gave me the creeps and I really didn't like him. Lastly is Russell an elderly african american gay man, with a glass eye and who is an author and a physicists. Linus had read his book. He is very smart, intelligent, nice and extremely knowledgable. I liked him a lot too.
The diary is all of Linus' musings, thoughts, conversations with the others and plans for escape. It is really horrifying to see what these people had to deal with everyday, all for the entertainment of a creep. Anytime the group tried to rebel or escape, the man would do horrible things to them like starve them, gas them and other things. He would try to pit them against each other just to see what happened. It was really heartbreaking as well especially with Jenny who was so young.
The one thing that this book left me wanting was an explanation on who the guy was who put them there. We don't see him at all in the book except for the character's descriptions of him when they encountered him. The group never gets a chance to talk or confront him. The reader know and learns absolutely zero about him which annoyed me. I wanted to know what kind of sick asshole he was and I wanted at least one of the group members to kill or hurt him. It was very frustrating.
I'm not even going to talk about the ending.
So all in all the book was ok but I wanted some more from it, especially more information about the sick creep who did all this.
Basically six people get taken by an unknown man and are put inside an underground bunker where he has control of everything. He controls their food, their supplies, their actions (through rewards and punishments) and he watches/listens to them all the time via cameras and audio bugs. The book is the main character, Linus, account of his and the others day to day life in the bunker and what the unknown man puts them through.
I liked Linus. He is a sixteen year old boy who got caught by this guy because Linus was trying to help him. The man was disguised as a blind man who needed help and Linus stopped to help him. Linus is a nice guy, who never felt like he belonged anywhere; not in his boarding school, not with his rich dad and not on the streets when he ran away. He is also very caring and protective and it shows when he takes Jenny, the little girl who was put in the bunker as well, under his wing.
Linus is the first to arrive at the bunker. Then Jenny comes and I love her. She is a nine year old girl who is spunky and grows up very fast in the bunker. She is very smart and usually has good ideas that even the adults don't think of. She grows tough and is a very strong little girl, mentally and some what emotionally. Then there is Anja who is in her late twenties and is in the "property" career. She is very weak, complains a lot, is very irritable and doesn't contribute any real help or ideas to the group. She basically wallows in her misery waiting to be saved by someone who will never come. I didn't really care about her one way or the other. Then there is Fred who is a hulk of a man with tattoos and who is very strong. I also liked him a lot. He is a heroine addict but he really is a nice guy. He can be scary, rough, intimidating and mean at some points but he really isn't out to hurt anyone. He is smart in his own way, more so in the common sense department. He is also very good with Jenny and with saving the other when they need it. Next is Bird who is a fat man in the banking business or something. He is a real jerk who thinks he's smarter than everyone and who has an infatuation with Anja. He just gave me the creeps and I really didn't like him. Lastly is Russell an elderly african american gay man, with a glass eye and who is an author and a physicists. Linus had read his book. He is very smart, intelligent, nice and extremely knowledgable. I liked him a lot too.
The diary is all of Linus' musings, thoughts, conversations with the others and plans for escape. It is really horrifying to see what these people had to deal with everyday, all for the entertainment of a creep. Anytime the group tried to rebel or escape, the man would do horrible things to them like starve them, gas them and other things. He would try to pit them against each other just to see what happened. It was really heartbreaking as well especially with Jenny who was so young.
The one thing that this book left me wanting was an explanation on who the guy was who put them there. We don't see him at all in the book except for the character's descriptions of him when they encountered him. The group never gets a chance to talk or confront him. The reader know and learns absolutely zero about him which annoyed me. I wanted to know what kind of sick asshole he was and I wanted at least one of the group members to kill or hurt him. It was very frustrating.
I am extremely
upset about the dog. What that bastard (the guy who put them there) did to the
dog makes me want to kill him even more.
I'm not even going to talk about the ending.
So all in all the book was ok but I wanted some more from it, especially more information about the sick creep who did all this.
Rating: B
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