Tuesday, June 10, 2014

BOOK REVIEW: THE MURDER COMPLEX by Lindsay Cummings

Title: THE MURDER COMPLEX
Author: Lindsay Cummings (Website | Twitter
Publication Date: June 10, 2014
Publisher: Greenwillow Books

SYNOPSIS

An action-packed, blood-soaked, futuristic debut thriller set in a world where the murder rate is higher than the birthrate. For fans of Moira Young’s Dust Lands series, La Femme Nikita, and the movie Hanna.

Meadow Woodson, a fifteen-year-old girl who has been trained by her father to fight, to kill, and to survive in any situation, lives with her family on a houseboat in Florida. The state is controlled by The Murder Complex, an organization that tracks the population with precision.


The plot starts to thicken when Meadow meets Zephyr James, who is—although he doesn’t know it—one of the MC’s programmed assassins. Is their meeting a coincidence? Destiny? Or part of a terrifying strategy? And will Zephyr keep Meadow from discovering the haunting truth about her family?



Action-packed, blood-soaked, and chilling, this is a dark and compelling debut novel by Lindsay Cummings.


Add THE MURDER COMPLEX on your TBR list in Goodreads using this link

The Murder Complex belongs to my “most anticipated 2014 releases” list and when HarperCollins emailed me the titles that are up for reviews, I immediately clicked on the request button for this one! I’ve been waiting for this book since last year, even before its book cover was revealed. So, I was really giddy to get my hands on that ARC. This book captured my attention because of its synopsis for it sounds really cool and interesting, An action-packed, blood-soaked, futuristic debut thriller set in a world where the murder rate is higher than the birth rate.”  Well, I’m sure your curiosity easily spiked up once you’ve read that line. Now you add the book’s tagline which is, “She’s trained to survive. He’s programmed to kill.” and its book cover! Thumbs up and total win, right? But …

Okay, here we go. Better hold on tight ‘cause this review is going to be quite rocky. I agree with the action-packed, blood-soaked” because there’s really a LOT of BLOOD involved in this book! The Murder Complex starts slow which is the normal pacing for the first books of the series. It slowly eases us in in its world and introduces us to the terminologies that we needed to know. Really, it was quite easy to follow and to grasp. Though, the narration could use a lil bit more punch so that it will really leave marks on the reader’s minds.


We have vague information here and there about stuff and it wasn’t until we reach almost 35-50% of the book that we get to be introduced with the Murder Complex concept. What’s The Murder Complex then? Well, you better read the book now and know what this book offers! But I can tell you that, the whole The Murder Complex concept is really insane, filled with creepy/weird and icky stuff. I hope the next book will give us more back story during the time when TMC just started.

This book consists of (if I’m not mistaken) 99 short chapters in alternating dual POVs, which I’m not actually a fan of. You ask me why. Yes, it makes me read the book in a faster pace but there were moments wherein the gap between chapters is only a page away. And I don’t know but I think instead of cutting the chapters in this short manner, the author could’ve chosen like a longer narration period before switching to the other character. It could’ve paved way for more things to be discussed. It also gave me the feel that there’s only one person narrating the story when in reality we have Meadow and Zephyr talking to us. It could be because of the main characters were lacking a BIT of personality and I ended up not being able to find a distinction between them.

Another thing that I didn’t like in this book, huff that insta-love between Meadow and Zephyr. I know that there were factors for Zephyr to have those feelings over Meadow already because of his dreams and all that but just no. Everything was rushed in this department of the book that I ended up not liking and believing it. I really prefer if they weren’t couple-y towards each other. Though, I know that the existence of their relationship will only set some of conflicts of this series to arise.

Now, this is the part where I talk about what I like the most! There were a number of  REVELATIONS that happened in this book and WHOA, just WHOA! Yes, you’ll have that reaction especially that revelation TOWARDS the ending! *jaw drops* Purely INSANE stuff right there! And THAT ending, I’m going crazy over here! *runs around the house and screaming HELP* I will definitely read the sequel of this book because of my NEED to know what happens next to these characters! Plus, this is just the first book of the trilogy? series? … I’m sure it is bound to get better as it progresses!

If you’re feeling adventurous today and would like to read a book with lots and lots of fights and blood, go pick this one up! Goooo! x

Thank you so much HarperCollins Publishers and HarperTeen for granting my request and graciously sending me an ARC of The Murder Complex!



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