'The Complex' – Brian Keene (Deadite Press)

I've been trying to get into 'The Lost Level' but for whatever reason, it's not working for me and I don't know why. Funnily enough, I don't think it's the book's fault, more that I'm not in the right place to read it at the moment. Sometimes that happens and when it does, you've got to put the book down (and read something else) before you go and spoil it for a 'future you' that will probably get a lot out of it. But anyway... That's why I'm all about 'The Complex' today. I wanted to read something by Brian Keene and it had been a long time since I read 'The Complex', seemed like it was a good time for a re-read.

And it was, it really was. That's about all I can say at the moment as I put the book down about an hour ago and my mind is pretty much blown by the experience. Let me try and tell you about it.

There was no warning. No chance to escape. They came suddenly. Naked. Bloodthirsty. Sadistic. They descended upon the Pine Village Apartment Complex, relentlessly torturing and killing anyone that they could find.

Fearing for their lives, the residents of the complex must band together. A young trans woman, a suicidal middle-aged writer, a lonely Vietnam vet, a newlywed couple, an elderly widow, a single mother and her son, two on-the-run criminals and the serial killer known as The Exit. Eleven strangers. The only thing they have in common is the unstoppable horde that wants to kill them. If they are to make it through the night, they must fight back.

Before I talk about the book itself, I'm going to do something I rarely do (in fact, I don't think I've ever done) and jump straight to the end because... Damn what an ending. It was the only way 'The Complex' could end and fair play to Keene for sticking with it instead taking the road signposted 'Easy Way Out'. It was all the more powerful for that approach but I'm left here feeling the way I suspect a lot people felt when they got to the end of 'The Rising' (and I'm pretty sure there won't be a sequel to 'The Complex' to fill in the gaps). Oh well, it's a payoff that I'm willing to accept as the rest of the book is as superb as that ending. Honestly, I couldn't put it down.

Which kind of leads me back to the beginning of the book and... ;o)

Sometimes you don't get to know why the horror happens because that's not the important thing. What's far more important is that you're bang in the middle of something horrendous and you've got a split second to make a decision that may well end up with you dead. What do you do?

Brian Keene takes us on a mad journey through hell where random strangers are thrown together and forced to ask themselves that very question. 'The Complex' is a read that doesn't hold back, all it takes is one slip, or otherwise careless moment, and your favourite character will die horribly under a hail of whatever the naked crazy people happen to be holding. And while that isn't happening, a background full of mutilated bodies leaves you in no doubts that the stakes are very high.It is literally hell on earth and no-one has a chance to stop and figure out why, the plot moves that fast. Once you're on board, all you can do is let the book take you wherever it wants.

It wasn't just the frantic pace that kept me going though. Keene's characters are always engaging but I believe nevermore so than they are here. For all it's gore and peril, 'The Complex' is also a very thoughtful look at how well we really know our neighbours and a slight lament that it takes something like a full on apocalypse to get us talking to them. Keene pulls this off by writing characters so rich and engaging that you end up feeling like they are your neighbours and all of a sudden, there's the extra incentive to keep reading ;o) With characters so well drawn and respectfully handled (I'm thinking Stephanie in particular) I wouldn't have it any other way. Add to all of that a villain with no back story at all (just an urge to kill these particular people) and you've got a plot that really has you cheering on the good guys.

I think I may have (re)discovered my new favourite Brian Keene book. 'The Complex' smashes its way into your head with a dizzying burst of ultra-violence (and again, fair play to Keene for keeping it going over a whole book without getting boring) and while it's there, makes you care deeply about it's main players. Turns out that was what I really needed and Keene delivered in style, I can't ask for any more than that really (apart from whether Hannibal survived or not, I really hope he did).