Monday, May 5, 2014

Review: The Murder Complex by Lindsay Cummings



Title: The Murder Complex (The Murder Complex #1)
Author:
Lindsay Cummings
Publisher: Greenwillow Books (HarperCollins)
Acquired Via: Around the World ARC Tours
Release Date: June 6, 2014

The Murder Complex is an action-soaked, futuristic debut thriller set in a world where the murder rate is higher than the birthrate.

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 is it part of a terrifying strategy? And will Zephyr keep Meadow from discovering the haunting truth about her family? This is a dark and compelling debut novel that will appeal to fans of Moira Young's
Dust Lands series, La Femme Nikita, and the movie Hanna.

My Review

I'll be honest - I've put off reading The Murder Complex for a long time. I toyed with the idea of reading the ebook, but I kept telling myself no. Lindsay Cummings seems like a very sweet girl, and I had no fucking clue how the world in this book could ever possibly work. You know what? It kind of did. And I liked it.

The world-building in The Murder Complex is sneaky. I spent a lot of time early in the book wondering what the freakin' crap was going on, and saying, "NO, THAT WON'T WORK." The death rate higher than the birth rate? People killing each other every day and the government only cleaning up the bodies? No sir, that's not how my 'Merica looks, thankyouverymuch. But wait, impatient Kayla! There's a bigger picture. A reason why this can work in theory.

I understand.

What I don't get is the relationship with Meadow and Zephyr. It just didn't work for me. They were suddenly in love with each other after meeting. Then they wanted to kill each other. Love. Kill. Love. What? Kids, that's just not healthy. It also confuses me and throws me off from the story and the evil Institution. In fact, I don't think I ever really understood Meadow's need to fight the machine, so to speak.

The Murder Complex was a good enough book, and I'll probably check out the next installment. Cummings certainly has an imagination, and I'm interested in seeing what she comes up with next.

- 3/5 Stars -

Buy Links
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository | Fishpond



To satisfy FTC guidelines, I am disclosing that I received an advance copy of the book briefly for reviewing purposes through Around the World ARC Tours in exchange for an honest review. The book was likely provided to the tour by the publisher or author, which has in no way affected the outcome of my review. All opinions expressed are rambling, honest, and completely my own.

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You are going to put words in my box?! *squeezes you* Now I shall stalk YOUR blog!