The Compound [Audiobook, CD, Unabridged] [Audio CD]

S. A. Bodeen (Author), Christopher Lane (Reader)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 2008

Eli and his family have lived in the Compound for six years. The world they knew is gone. Eli’s father built the Compound to keep them safe. Now, they can’t get out. He won’t let them. Dad asked me if I wanted to see more of the Compound. I didn’t. We would have to wait fifteen years before it would be safe to go outside. Which left more than enough time to see the rest of the Compound. Our new world. A world I would soon hate.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. Bodeen, acclaimed as the writer of such picture books as Elizabeti's Doll, turns out a high-wire act of a first novel, a thriller that exerts an ever-tighter grip on readers. Eli, the 15-year-old son of a billionaire techno-preneur, has spent the last six years with his family in the massive underground shelter his father has built, knowing that nuclear war has destroyed the world he knows—and killed his grandmother and his twin brother, who couldn't reach the compound in time. With nine years to go before the air outside will be safe to breathe again, the food supply shows signs of running out, but Eli's father has a solution—provided they jettison all morals and ethics. Repulsed and already suspicious, Eli begins investigating his father's claims, and sets up a family death match against a man who grows increasingly irrational and sinister but no less powerful. As far-fetched as the premise may be, Bodeen keeps Eli's actions true to life and uses clues planted fairly and in plain sight. The audience will feel the pressure closing in on them as they, like the characters, race through hairpin turns in the plot toward a breathless climax. Ages 12-up. (June)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From School Library Journal

Grade 8 Up—Following a nuclear holocaust, nine-year-old Eli and his family race into the underground compound his billionaire father created in this post-apocalyptic novel (Macmillan/Feiwel & Friends, 2008) by S.A. Bodeen. The hatch is slammed shut, but without Eli's twin and their grandmother. The family must stay underground for 15 years until the radiation levels are safe. Fast forward six years and Eli is beginning to have some doubts, as do his two sisters and mother. They have trusted their father, but now he is behaving strangely. Eli believes that his father created the entire scenario as some kind of sick hoax, right down to cloning and creating human babies, The Supplements, who might actually be needed someday as a food supply. Repulsed and frightened, Eli teams with his sisters, his mother, and The Supplements in a race to discover what is really going on, what happened that fateful night, and how to escape the powerful madman who has them trapped. Suspense galore is brought to life by Christopher Lane's masterful reading, fraught with tension, anger, and a gamut of powerful emotions. The taut, fast-moving plot will grip listeners.—Jane P. Fenn, Corning-Painted Post West High School, NY
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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Product Details

• Audio CD
• Publisher: Brilliance Audio on CD Unabridged Lib Ed; Library edition (May 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1423365585
• ISBN-13: 978-1423365587
• Product Dimensions: 6.4 x 6.8 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (50 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,561,880 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Eerie Secrets, January 28, 2010

By 

P. Brown "Library Geek" (Texas) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Compound (Paperback)

I absolutely was amazed by this book. Being a librarian that's obsessed with books, I couldn't help picking this book up in the store. The cover alone got me hooked. It was well paced and packed with amazing things. The story revolving around Eli. His family is dysfunctional, living in a compound under the ground after the world went kaboom.

When the story starts out he's pretty self absorbed, but as the plot starts to thicken he isn't so absorbed and starts to wonder about a few things that are going on. One of which is their food supply is starting to run low. His mother is pregnant, his sister isn't as much of a pain as he thinks, and his father is a complete... nutcase?!

This story was so intriguing that I found myself reading till all hours of the night. I loved it! It was an exceptional story about possibilities that sometimes we ignore. I hope to add this to our library collection.

I can't wait till her next book comes out... The Gardener...

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Glad I read it :), December 27, 2008

By 

J. Terry - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Compound (Hardcover)

The way I judge if a book is good or not is whether or not I can tolerate putting it down for more than half an hour. When I started reading this book, I didn't like putting it down, and it went with me everywhere I went. I had a guess of how the ending would turn out, but that just made me want to read it more to see if I was right or not. I found myself ranting at my friends every time there was a plot twist. I loved this book :)

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Great Premise, Less Than Great Execution, April 26, 2010

By 

Warnie B. (Plano, Texas United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Compound (Paperback)

I thought the premise for this book was FANTASTIC--such a creepy, fascinating idea for a story! Sadly, the book itself didn't make anywhere near as big an impression on me as the idea of it did. I felt like things moved along a little too quickly to feel realistic, and the characters were inconsistent and...just not quite believable. Several plot points were sloppy and didn't really make sense. And it seemed like every conflict or hurdle was overcome way too easily. It had the potential to be super dark, super suspenseful, utterly riveting, but in the end it just kind of falls flat. Maybe if it was twice as long and everything was fleshed out much more than it is?

Still an entertaining read, just...disappointing, because it could have been SO much better. :(