Linus is the runaway son of a famous and wealthy man. The streets haven't yet stolen his kind heart and so when a blind man needs some help Linus is happy to lend a hand. This is a big mistake! He wakes up to find himself alone in a lift that has opened out into what appears to be some kind of underground bunker with room for six people. There are no windows and no food. The lights and heating are out of his control. There is no way out. At first Linus thinks he's been kidnapped in the hope that his father will pay a ransom for him but one day the lift opens to reveal a nine-year old girl and Linus begins to suspect something more sinister and hopeless is going on. As more people begin to appear, he holds onto the hope that he can find a way out until just staying alive becomes his biggest challenge.
Warning: potential spoiler alert!
I'm not entirely sure how I feel about this book. It's dark, haunting and traumatic yet addictive. I started reading it on my lunch break as I hadn't brought a book with me and then found myself desperate to carry on when I got home that evening. Like Linus you hold onto hope that surely things will work out in the end - they always do in teen books, right? I'm not sure if this was done deliberately or is just in the advanced reading copy but when I got to the end I found myself desperately flicking through the blank pages at the end for just one more sign of life from Linus. All of the next day all I could think about was his dad never finding out the truth or Jenny's family forever experiencing the hole she's left in their world or what would happen if someone stumbled across the bunker one day and discovered what had gone on there. It felt quite upsetting even though I knew this is a work of fiction and so ultimately there is nothing to worry about. Brooks creates the feeling of hopelessness and lack of control well and you become very involved in this novel and the kidnapper's mind games as if you really are reading Linus' notebook. I have to say though that I didn't like the use of swearing. It seems to fall too easily into teenage fiction these days but doesn't necessarily add anything to the book and in fact often becomes ineffective.
Would I recommend this book? I'm not sure. If you were looking for something similar to Room by Emma Donoghue, Lord of the Flies by William Golding or Nothing by Janne Teller then yes. If you're looking for something potentially powerful and dark then yes. If you're looking for something to enjoy, pass a few hours or for a younger teenager then no. It's kind of wrong to like this book in the same way that it's wrong to enjoy The Hunger Games because it's about children killing each other (or in this case kidnap, murder and starvation).
I give it 7/10 because as much as it's wrong to say I enjoyed it, it has definitely stuck with me even though it's now two days since I finished it.
Title: The Bunker Diary
Author: Kevin Brooks
Publisher: Penguin
Teenage Fiction
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