The Compound by S. A. Godeen

The Dystopian Reading Challenge is hosted by Bart's Bookshelf
October 1, 2010 through December 19th 2010.

This is book 2/5 in the reading Dystopian challenge:
The Compound by S. A. Godeen


Summary from Amazon:
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.

The Compound is a fast paced book that keeps the suspense going making it hard to put down but it does have its flaws.

On his 15th birthday Eli suddenly gets curious and starts to inspect the compound more closely and begins to questions his father's motives - this would have read better if his suspicions grew slowly over the six years in the compound.

His father had planned for every contingency yet somehow most of the food supplies are becoming contaminated. The cows dying, the wrong light bulbs for the hydroponics, etc., but his father even has a backup plan for that with the "supplements".

What is the true purpose of the compound and what are his father's intentions and why won't he let them leave?