Review: The Murder Complex by Lindsay Cummings

Title: The Murder Complex
Author: Lindsay Cummings
Series: Book One in the Murder Complex Series
Published By: Greenwillow Books (June 10, 2014)
Source: ARC Copy Provided by the Publisher (in exchange for an honest review)
Genre: YA Dystopian
My Rating 4.5 Stars!

Book Description:
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.

*Amazon*Barnes and Noble*

I picked this up simply for the synopsis and if I am being honest, specifically the words, “An action-packed, blood-soaked, futuristic debut thriller set in a world where the murder rate is higher than the birthrate.”

I mean come on, how could that not appeal to, well, almost everyone?

Maybe it was my darker side, or maybe just my really curious morbid side, either way, it appealed to me and I was excited to start it and jump right into a world I knew was going to be gritty and dark and unlike most in the YA genre.

From the very first page this story didn't disappoint. I got everything I was expecting and even a little more so. 

I loved Meadow. She is tough, somewhat of a brute but still loving to her family and wants what is best for them, even if that means killing others to get it. She isn't afraid to get dirty and she isn't afraid of a good fight. She truly is kick butt. 

Zephyr I had to warm up to. At first I thought he was soft and emotional, especially for a guy living in the world that they lived it, a world where murder is the norm and not only the norm but even encouraged. 

I was wrong about him, he is anything but soft. In fact he is something he doesn't even know, doesn't even understand. 

I did have to warm up to him, but warm up to him I did. It didn't take me very long before I liked him and even grew to care about him and feel for his situation.

This book was non stop action right from the beginning, jumping right into the heart of the world where seeing blood and death is an every day occurrence and nothing is held back.

My only complaint is that the whole world and The Murder Complex itself wasn't explained sooner (not until about half way through the book). We don't learn what all the terminology (like the Silent Time, Shllows, Dark Time) is until later as well. I think there would have been less confusion for these things to have been better explained right from the beginning but considering how Meadow and Zephyr both discovered exactly what the Complex is, it made sense when it finally all came together and was explained.  Having said that though, not having everything right out in the open from the beginning did not deter from the plot and it didn't make this book any less exciting. 

The romance is subtle, instead concentrating on Meadow and Zephyr's life and situations and how they were brought together and what they both end up fighting for. I liked that it wasn't the main focus of the story which so often happens in YA books these days.

This was a thrilling, wild ride unlike anything I have read and will sure to be one of the biggest hits in dystopian for 2014.  The ending left me wanting more and I really hope Cummings delivers with the sequel because I for one know, that I will be right there when it comes out, ready to pick it up and be right back in the world she created.

*All thoughts and opinions are my own and were not influenced by the author or publisher. I was not compensated for this review.*