***Review*** Bunker by Andrea Maria Schenkel

On the Back of the Book

It had been a normal day at work.

Monika was locking up, ready to head home, when the man arrived. She didn't see his fist until it was far too late.

Bundles into a car, tied up and taken in darkness to an old mill in the thick of a forest, she has been flung into a bunker. It is only now as time passes and she sees her attacker in the light, that she notices the startling resemblance to someone from her very dark and buried past.

Someone she never wanted to see again.

Pre Read Thoughts

This book is different to what I normally read but I decided to pick it up as both me and  my mum wanted to read this. I think the cover is creepy - in a good way. It feels as though you're trapped in the forest with nowhere to go. It definitely helps the synopsis out, together they make this book feel edgy. The RRP is £7.99, normally this wouldn't bother me but the book is a mere 177 pages and I feel that knocking a couple of quid off would make the price fairer. However, I found this as part of a 3 for £5 deal at my local bookshop so I only paid £1.99. I love a bargain!

Post Read Thoughts

I really don't know what to say about this one. It's difficult to sun it up but if I don't do it now, I never will. Although it's not my number one genre I really like crime/thriller type novels. This one never really captured me though. I found the set up confusing. There was too much being told in too short an amount of time. The more I read, the more confused I got. I realise this book is a translation from German but I'm not sure that's the problem. Another thing I found was that the English was very simple. I've seen more elaborate words in YA. Maybe that is a translation issue and it sounds more adult in German. Saying that I don't want to blame everything on the translator, por woman.

I didn't really find myself relating to either of the main characters. I found their personalities quite dull. I get that they were in a difficult situation but that could have brought certain character traits to the fore. This didn't really happen though and so I felt like I was missing something with them. Especially as they had no connection with each other.

Overall I feel kind of disappointed, this book could have been awesome with Monika becoming attached to her kidnapper (yes I'm thinking Stockholm syndrome) but I think the book lacked depth like that. This book is a bit of a jumbled mess, it's confusing and it tries to cover too much in too short a time though. I will say that the cover I have ties in well with the novel, helping you to visualise the area where the story takes place. I don't think I'd recommend this book and I doubt I'll ever read anything else by this author.

My Rating

2 stars - It's not the worst book I've ever read but by no means is it anywhere near the best. I don't think this is worth a read unless you're a hardcore fan of the genre. Even then, I'm sure you could find something better.

A Final Note

There's a bit of swearing. It's the same two words over again and they aren't that major. There is some violence as well. This is an adult book and I think it should be kept that way.