Search - The Compound

Reviewed by Karin Librarian for TeensReadToo.com

Eli has been living with his parents in The Compound for six years. The Compound is an elaborate nuclear bomb shelter his father spent an enormous amount of money to build in order to keep his family safe from nuclear fallout. The plan is to stay underground for fifteen years until the radiation danger has passed.

Eli has had the hardest time adjusting to life in The Compound. In his six years there he has steadily distanced himself from everyone in the family. He maintains a strict schedule of exercise, studying, chores, and reading.

His loneliness comes from the fact that not everyone made it to The Compound. During the nuclear attack that led his family there, Eddy, his identical twin, was accidentally left behind. Eddy snuck away with their Grandma without his parents knowing when their father chose to take the family underground. Their father had already locked the door when he realized Eddy and Grandma didn't make it.

The locks were set for fifteen years and there wasn't any way to go back for them. Eli feels a hole in his life that no one or nothing can fill.

Eli starts to take a hard look at what is going on in The Compound - and he doesn't have a good feeling. Food is running low, supplies are being depleted, and his father's behavior is changing. Eli suspects there is more going on than his father leads them to believe.

Shocking surprises are about to be uncovered. Secrets never meant to be revealed are exposed. Eli is left with the job of saving his family. He will have to break the shell he has created around himself and build connections with the people he has tried to keep away in order to find the truth and survive.

THE COMPOUND will remind you of the movie Blast from the Past, just without all the quirky, fun-loving humor.