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Bunker 12 #1
Contain
They thought they were safe. They were wrong.
CONTAIN (BUNKER 12 series pilot)
Three years. That's how long Finnian Bolles has been hiding inside the impregnable walls of the hydroelectric complex known as Bunker 8. Three years, with enough resources to last him and the other thirty survivors three more.
But then a series of disturbing events culminates in the sudden appearance of a stranger at their door. Before he too falls victim to the mysterious sickness known as the Flense, he warns them of a fate more horrific than the one they've been avoiding. But to prevent it, they must leave and seek a place many insist doesn't exist, a mythical twelfth bunker.
BUNKER 12 SERIES DESCRIPTION
Requiring no more than the slightest skin-to-skin contact, the Flense spreads with ruthless speed and stealth, decimating mankind before it's even aware of it. The infected are turned into soulless creatures, Wraiths, which wreak destruction upon anyone and anything in their path.
Secure inside ten isolated bunkers are Humanity's tattered remains, each working tirelessly to unravel the mystery of the scourge. But the bunkers were never meant to protect forever. In fact, they were never meant to protect at all.
CONTAIN is the first book in the new thriller cyberpunk series BUNKER 12.
THE FLENSE SERIES DESCRIPTION
(BUNKER 12 companion series)
Hundreds die in a fiery train crash in northern China. A cargo ship smuggling refugees is lost to calm seas off Libya. Entire villages in Ghana are abandoned overnight.
Contracted by a prepper group to investigate a series of seemingly disconnected global tragedies, a young freelance reporter, Angelique d'Enfantine, uncovers a disturbing pattern: each event is preceded by the sudden spread of a mysterious ailment and is followed by the appearance of a man dressed in black and silver who witnesses claim is the devil himself.
Each event is more grisly than the last. As the risk to her life grows, Angel begins to doubt that the tragedies are harbingers of an impending biblical catastrophe, but rather practice runs conducted by a fanatical organization bent on global annihilation. Could her sponsors be using her to advance their own paranoid agenda?
CONTAIN (BUNKER 12 series pilot)
Three years. That's how long Finnian Bolles has been hiding inside the impregnable walls of the hydroelectric complex known as Bunker 8. Three years, with enough resources to last him and the other thirty survivors three more.
But then a series of disturbing events culminates in the sudden appearance of a stranger at their door. Before he too falls victim to the mysterious sickness known as the Flense, he warns them of a fate more horrific than the one they've been avoiding. But to prevent it, they must leave and seek a place many insist doesn't exist, a mythical twelfth bunker.
BUNKER 12 SERIES DESCRIPTION
Requiring no more than the slightest skin-to-skin contact, the Flense spreads with ruthless speed and stealth, decimating mankind before it's even aware of it. The infected are turned into soulless creatures, Wraiths, which wreak destruction upon anyone and anything in their path.
Secure inside ten isolated bunkers are Humanity's tattered remains, each working tirelessly to unravel the mystery of the scourge. But the bunkers were never meant to protect forever. In fact, they were never meant to protect at all.
CONTAIN is the first book in the new thriller cyberpunk series BUNKER 12.
THE FLENSE SERIES DESCRIPTION
(BUNKER 12 companion series)
Hundreds die in a fiery train crash in northern China. A cargo ship smuggling refugees is lost to calm seas off Libya. Entire villages in Ghana are abandoned overnight.
Contracted by a prepper group to investigate a series of seemingly disconnected global tragedies, a young freelance reporter, Angelique d'Enfantine, uncovers a disturbing pattern: each event is preceded by the sudden spread of a mysterious ailment and is followed by the appearance of a man dressed in black and silver who witnesses claim is the devil himself.
Each event is more grisly than the last. As the risk to her life grows, Angel begins to doubt that the tragedies are harbingers of an impending biblical catastrophe, but rather practice runs conducted by a fanatical organization bent on global annihilation. Could her sponsors be using her to advance their own paranoid agenda?
330 pages, Paperback
First published April 26, 2015
1100 people are currently reading
1387 people want to read
About the author
Saul W. Tanpepper
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Saul is the specfic pen name of author Ken J. Howe, who writes in a variety of genres. He is a retired biotech entrepreneur with a PhD in molecular genetics and is a former combat medic.
Got a Kindle? Find me at http://viewauthor.at/SaulTanpepper
Got a Nook? I'm here http://bit.ly/VpgXlh
iTunes? Click this http://bit.ly/QnMoJp
Google Play? http://bit.ly/2jVLtVL
Kobo? http://bit.ly/TNIWZX
Do you Smashwords? http://bit.ly/P4SEWi
Wattpad: http://wattpad.com/SaulTanpepper
Saul is the specfic pen name of author Ken J. Howe, who writes in a variety of genres. He is a retired biotech entrepreneur with a PhD in molecular genetics and is a former combat medic.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 99 reviews
September 23, 2024
The extra story at the end was way more my speed than the rest of the book.
I didn't particularly like Finn, he's a teen and his obsession about the fact that his parents loved his brother more than him/that his brother was a better person than him was quite repetitive and annoying, I understand where he came from I just needed the story to move along. I'll probably pick up the next book at some point as the story was picking up steam at the end. The take on the zombie genre is quite unique too even though the type of "zombies" isn't that special in terms of behavior.
Points for using one of my favorite words: flense.
3.5 rounded up (3 for the main story and 4.5 for the extra story)
I didn't particularly like Finn, he's a teen and his obsession about the fact that his parents loved his brother more than him/that his brother was a better person than him was quite repetitive and annoying, I understand where he came from I just needed the story to move along. I'll probably pick up the next book at some point as the story was picking up steam at the end. The take on the zombie genre is quite unique too even though the type of "zombies" isn't that special in terms of behavior.
Points for using one of my favorite words: flense.
3.5 rounded up (3 for the main story and 4.5 for the extra story)
May 13, 2015
What an interesting story.
As a fan of post-apocalyptic tales and of the Fallout 3 computer game, I was instantly intrigued by the idea of bunkers.
What could have been fairly dull, the barely changing routines inside a shelter as those within wait out the danger without was anything but.
The intrigue of what may or may not have been done to these survivors and what it will mean makes me want to read the next volume already.
The characters are developed and relatable and the plot imaginative.
Definitely recommended.
As a fan of post-apocalyptic tales and of the Fallout 3 computer game, I was instantly intrigued by the idea of bunkers.
What could have been fairly dull, the barely changing routines inside a shelter as those within wait out the danger without was anything but.
The intrigue of what may or may not have been done to these survivors and what it will mean makes me want to read the next volume already.
The characters are developed and relatable and the plot imaginative.
Definitely recommended.
March 11, 2022
This is an unusual take on zombie apocalypse, and we don't really see the Wraights (the local version of zombies) per se, because the protagonist has been living in a bunker, isolated from the outside world, for over 3 years. All we know of the monsters is through flashbacks and nightmares of a protagonist who had been a teenager at the time when the outbreak started. But I must admit that the few flashbacks we are privy to are deeply disturbing and rather horrifying. No wonder Finn is traumatized by them.
As far as the story goes, the survivors have been living in this bunker for three years and are more then reluctant to come out into the outside world. Considering that the Flense is transmitted by simple skin to skin contact, I don't blame them. They have a routine, they have a shaky hierarchy, and things have been more or less okay so far. Only some of them are getting restless, and strange accidents start to happen.
I mean, a close quarters mystery is fun if done right. What put me off this book a bit is how inconsistent and illogical the characters act. They all seem like a pack of ostriches who are more than content to stick their heads in the dirt and pretend that nothing is happening rather than do an actual investigation. The pipe was sabotaged? You better not tell anyone. The food is missing? Keep that to yourself. So on and so forth...
It doesn't help that we only see what's happening through Finn's eyes, and as far as protagonists go, he is as flawed as they get. He is young, he is traumatized by the event, he has severe social anxiety and, as he says himself, "his brain doesn't work quite right." Plus, like all typical teenagers, he is extremely self-centered and prone to snap judgements. So maybe the other residents in the bunker behave irrationally because we only see or hear snippets that Finn is privy to, and we only have his conclusions to base our own conclusions from.
It is an interesting device and I understand that it is supposed to add mystery, but I admit that it started getting old around mid-point of the book. Especially when characters kept getting sidetracked or never really answering direct questions for no other reason than the author wanted to keep the mystery going. And we still have no explanation why the people in the bunker had to be "contained" or why the other group wasn't allowed inside. The explanation was because it wouldn't be safe for them... but why? We have this huge mystery that's been hinted at throughout the book, and then we never get an answer to it.
Also, the couple plot twists in the end felt rather shoe-horned and the main villain is at the level of Austin Powers Dr Doom ridiculous. Not to mention, I still have no clue what his motivation behind all this was.
But even despite all these flaws, Contain is still one of the better offerings of the zombie apocalypse genre. I have read much worse, since zombies are my guilty pleasure that I come back to no matter how many times I've been burned.
As far as the story goes, the survivors have been living in this bunker for three years and are more then reluctant to come out into the outside world. Considering that the Flense is transmitted by simple skin to skin contact, I don't blame them. They have a routine, they have a shaky hierarchy, and things have been more or less okay so far. Only some of them are getting restless, and strange accidents start to happen.
I mean, a close quarters mystery is fun if done right. What put me off this book a bit is how inconsistent and illogical the characters act. They all seem like a pack of ostriches who are more than content to stick their heads in the dirt and pretend that nothing is happening rather than do an actual investigation. The pipe was sabotaged? You better not tell anyone. The food is missing? Keep that to yourself. So on and so forth...
It doesn't help that we only see what's happening through Finn's eyes, and as far as protagonists go, he is as flawed as they get. He is young, he is traumatized by the event, he has severe social anxiety and, as he says himself, "his brain doesn't work quite right." Plus, like all typical teenagers, he is extremely self-centered and prone to snap judgements. So maybe the other residents in the bunker behave irrationally because we only see or hear snippets that Finn is privy to, and we only have his conclusions to base our own conclusions from.
It is an interesting device and I understand that it is supposed to add mystery, but I admit that it started getting old around mid-point of the book. Especially when characters kept getting sidetracked or never really answering direct questions for no other reason than the author wanted to keep the mystery going. And we still have no explanation why the people in the bunker had to be "contained" or why the other group wasn't allowed inside. The explanation was because it wouldn't be safe for them... but why? We have this huge mystery that's been hinted at throughout the book, and then we never get an answer to it.
Also, the couple plot twists in the end felt rather shoe-horned and the main villain is at the level of Austin Powers Dr Doom ridiculous. Not to mention, I still have no clue what his motivation behind all this was.
But even despite all these flaws, Contain is still one of the better offerings of the zombie apocalypse genre. I have read much worse, since zombies are my guilty pleasure that I come back to no matter how many times I've been burned.
January 9, 2021
I blew through this book. What an interesting take on a pandemic fueled dystopia. I can’t wait to read the next book in this series.
February 28, 2021
When a zombie-like disease sweeps the world, some remnants of society take refuge in an underground bunker.
This reads like a hodge-podge of ideas. Take the tech and the bunker from Hugh Howey's Silo series, throw in a bit of the vampire-like creature of Justin Cronin's The Passage and mix him with your basic shady-government bio-engineered super-soldier and then sprinkle with some teenage angst, and you've basically got this story. Tanpepper tries very hard to keep the tension going, but his descriptions of the "Wraiths" are so vague that I felt I never really knew what I was supposed to be scared of. We're told that they are people who become almost instantly infected. They turn grey. Their eyes turn black. Their 'soul' is drained. They die but are still animate. A single touch will turn you into one of them (no biting here.) But then they are described as drifting from the trees, as though they were camouflaged in them, like smoke or shadow. They seem to float, not walk or stumble. They didn't strike me with fear because I couldn't even picture what they were.
And in the bunker, everyone is just so damned serious all the time. The structure is disjointed, almost as though there are passages missing between chapters. The big revelations come out of left field, decisions are made based on nonsensical leaps of illogic, and the result is more over-the-top and campy than shocking. Lastly, I knew this was the first of a series, but I still expected a better wrap-up of this story with some enticements of what was to come to encourage me to continue. Nope, there's still a lot of plot threads left dangling, so don't pick up this one unless you intend to continue with the rest of the series.
This reads like a hodge-podge of ideas. Take the tech and the bunker from Hugh Howey's Silo series, throw in a bit of the vampire-like creature of Justin Cronin's The Passage and mix him with your basic shady-government bio-engineered super-soldier and then sprinkle with some teenage angst, and you've basically got this story. Tanpepper tries very hard to keep the tension going, but his descriptions of the "Wraiths" are so vague that I felt I never really knew what I was supposed to be scared of. We're told that they are people who become almost instantly infected. They turn grey. Their eyes turn black. Their 'soul' is drained. They die but are still animate. A single touch will turn you into one of them (no biting here.) But then they are described as drifting from the trees, as though they were camouflaged in them, like smoke or shadow. They seem to float, not walk or stumble. They didn't strike me with fear because I couldn't even picture what they were.
And in the bunker, everyone is just so damned serious all the time. The structure is disjointed, almost as though there are passages missing between chapters. The big revelations come out of left field, decisions are made based on nonsensical leaps of illogic, and the result is more over-the-top and campy than shocking. Lastly, I knew this was the first of a series, but I still expected a better wrap-up of this story with some enticements of what was to come to encourage me to continue. Nope, there's still a lot of plot threads left dangling, so don't pick up this one unless you intend to continue with the rest of the series.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 27, 2021
I had a blast reading this!
I stumbled over this series by pure luck and after I started reading I just couldn't stop.
Plot:
Finn and his father are stuck in a bunker with some other survivers. The Flense took the world by surprise: People started to shuffle through the streets but when touching others turned them into mindless creatures, too. If you run, they turn rabid and might even kill you on the spot.
By means unknown Finn and his father got lucky and spent the last three years in a hidden bunker with other survivers. Finn has a hard time because he's sure his father would be happier if Finn's twin brother Harper was there instead of himself... or even his little sister Leah. But Finn's siblings and his mother never arrived at the designated meeting point and are dead for sure, or worse.
Life in the bunker is not easy but it all turns into a dark trap when a pipe explodes almost killing one of the survivers. To make matters worse a guy appears outside the main door who warns them all that the bunker might become a deathtrap! What does he know? And why is he looking for "bunker 12" which shouldn't exist?
Finn and the other survivers need to make a choice before it's too late!
I stumbled over this series by pure luck and after I started reading I just couldn't stop.
Plot:
Finn and his father are stuck in a bunker with some other survivers. The Flense took the world by surprise: People started to shuffle through the streets but when touching others turned them into mindless creatures, too. If you run, they turn rabid and might even kill you on the spot.
By means unknown Finn and his father got lucky and spent the last three years in a hidden bunker with other survivers. Finn has a hard time because he's sure his father would be happier if Finn's twin brother Harper was there instead of himself... or even his little sister Leah. But Finn's siblings and his mother never arrived at the designated meeting point and are dead for sure, or worse.
Life in the bunker is not easy but it all turns into a dark trap when a pipe explodes almost killing one of the survivers. To make matters worse a guy appears outside the main door who warns them all that the bunker might become a deathtrap! What does he know? And why is he looking for "bunker 12" which shouldn't exist?
Finn and the other survivers need to make a choice before it's too late!
Read
August 17, 2017Received a free copy from InstaFreebies.
Not interested in the writing, characters, or story. DNF at chapter 4.
Not interested in the writing, characters, or story. DNF at chapter 4.
January 16, 2022
Why do they call it, "#1 in a series", when it's really only Part 1 of a 4-part story? I find it SO frustrating to get to the 'end' of a book, only to find out that it's just the stopping point until the next part. The book had an interesting concept, but I will not be reading any more of them.
A highly infectious disease has broken out which turns people into flesh-eating zombies (or something similar - it wasn't really clear). Finn and his father were lucky enough to make it to a bunker with a small group, where they have been for three years, waiting for it to be safe enough to return to the world outside.
I did not notice if this was a YA novel, but it should be because the main character Finn was a whiny, self-centered teenager that will annoy anyone over the age of 30. He is rather aggressive, which is surprising becasue he is such a baby and cannot win any fight he starts. Everything is about him, and it gets old fast.
Character development was very sketchy. This was told in first person by Finn, and he has been in this bunker with only 30 people for three years, so you would think, even as a teenager, that he would get to know them. But he is so wrapped up in his own world that no one else really matters.
There is so much you don't know as you are reading this first section. I have a sneaking suspicion that a lot of my questions will never be answered, but I don't really care enough to find out.
A highly infectious disease has broken out which turns people into flesh-eating zombies (or something similar - it wasn't really clear). Finn and his father were lucky enough to make it to a bunker with a small group, where they have been for three years, waiting for it to be safe enough to return to the world outside.
I did not notice if this was a YA novel, but it should be because the main character Finn was a whiny, self-centered teenager that will annoy anyone over the age of 30. He is rather aggressive, which is surprising becasue he is such a baby and cannot win any fight he starts. Everything is about him, and it gets old fast.
Character development was very sketchy. This was told in first person by Finn, and he has been in this bunker with only 30 people for three years, so you would think, even as a teenager, that he would get to know them. But he is so wrapped up in his own world that no one else really matters.
There is so much you don't know as you are reading this first section. I have a sneaking suspicion that a lot of my questions will never be answered, but I don't really care enough to find out.
January 8, 2022
I need to start by pointing out that this is NOT a zombie book, because the Flensed are (at least, as far as I can tell, not undead). So this is not one of my despised “fast zombie” books, but something closer to the 28 Days/Weeks Later infected.
I say this because a lot of zombie genre fans hate “fast zombies” as much as I do, and will avoid anything that seems like it’s going in that direction. I don’t want anyone to miss out on this because they think that the undead don’t have blood flow but did somehow turn into Olympic sprinters.
I really enjoyed the way that this flipped the usual post-apocalyptic story of trying desperately to get to safety and shelter. In this case, the characters are already inside shelter and appear to be safe. Their problems comes from the consequences of being confined for 3 years, cut off from all knowledge of the outside world, and eventually triggering something in the survivors that should have stayed secret.
I’m honestly a little surprised that it took 3 years for those in the shelter to start to turn on each other and vie for power. I would have placed it at 6 months, but I have my suspicions about what might have been going on that Finn wasn’t aware of, that could explain the long-lasting stalemate.
This is one of the greatest strengths of the book, in my opinion—Finn is only now 18, has some sort of mental health or developmental issue (he says his brains doesn’t “make connections” properly, but he doesn’t ever give a diagnosis), and has not been a decision maker in any of this. He is only now starting to pay attention to more than what’s directly in front of him, which makes his view of the situation invariably skewed. This provides us with another unusual twist, in that our main character is does not have power or much agency for the majority of the book. Even when Finn starts to be more involved, he is privy to only snatches of overheard conversation and pieces of information, so we are dependent on his interpretation of events. I’m eager to read the rest of the series to see what we find out as events unfold and Finn not only gets more information, but grows up and starts dealing with it.
I say this because a lot of zombie genre fans hate “fast zombies” as much as I do, and will avoid anything that seems like it’s going in that direction. I don’t want anyone to miss out on this because they think that the undead don’t have blood flow but did somehow turn into Olympic sprinters.
I really enjoyed the way that this flipped the usual post-apocalyptic story of trying desperately to get to safety and shelter. In this case, the characters are already inside shelter and appear to be safe. Their problems comes from the consequences of being confined for 3 years, cut off from all knowledge of the outside world, and eventually triggering something in the survivors that should have stayed secret.
I’m honestly a little surprised that it took 3 years for those in the shelter to start to turn on each other and vie for power. I would have placed it at 6 months, but I have my suspicions about what might have been going on that Finn wasn’t aware of, that could explain the long-lasting stalemate.
This is one of the greatest strengths of the book, in my opinion—Finn is only now 18, has some sort of mental health or developmental issue (he says his brains doesn’t “make connections” properly, but he doesn’t ever give a diagnosis), and has not been a decision maker in any of this. He is only now starting to pay attention to more than what’s directly in front of him, which makes his view of the situation invariably skewed. This provides us with another unusual twist, in that our main character is does not have power or much agency for the majority of the book. Even when Finn starts to be more involved, he is privy to only snatches of overheard conversation and pieces of information, so we are dependent on his interpretation of events. I’m eager to read the rest of the series to see what we find out as events unfold and Finn not only gets more information, but grows up and starts dealing with it.
February 26, 2025
Saul Tanpepper is a prolific writer. He has over thirty books and can proclaim best-selling status. As a fellow author, I think that's awesome. He's found his niche and it's working for him. I congratulate him for that.
But now I have to be real. Not everyone's writing style appeals to every reader and what I have to say for Tanpepper is I'm unlikely to read any more of his books based on my slog through "Contain."
I love the idea of the story. A post-apocalyptic, zombie-like virus is exactly my jam. I love stories about survivors in bunkers and how they manage to make it work when the world has fallen apart around them. I will never get tired of this type of story. Unfortunately, this is where my love for this novel ends.
The characters are either one-note or completely inconsistent. There is very little rhyme or reason as to why characters make the choices they do. The author seemingly changes his mind at random, leaving the reader to wonder what happened. Example: At the end of one chapter, two of the characters (Abe and Mr Abramson) explain to Finn that he can't help them search the bunker and then leave him behind. Then, at the beginning of the next chapter, Finn is helping Mr Abramson search the bunker. These kinds of things happen throughout the book, which I find annoying.
Probably the thing I like the least about this book is that it's part of a series, which means there are unanswered questions. I'm sure this is meant to encourage people to read the next book, but in order for a book like this to be really good, it should function as both part of a series and as a standalone. This one does not. Unfortunately, I'll never know or or or because I am definitely not reading the follow-up.
But now I have to be real. Not everyone's writing style appeals to every reader and what I have to say for Tanpepper is I'm unlikely to read any more of his books based on my slog through "Contain."
I love the idea of the story. A post-apocalyptic, zombie-like virus is exactly my jam. I love stories about survivors in bunkers and how they manage to make it work when the world has fallen apart around them. I will never get tired of this type of story. Unfortunately, this is where my love for this novel ends.
The characters are either one-note or completely inconsistent. There is very little rhyme or reason as to why characters make the choices they do. The author seemingly changes his mind at random, leaving the reader to wonder what happened. Example: At the end of one chapter, two of the characters (Abe and Mr Abramson) explain to Finn that he can't help them search the bunker and then leave him behind. Then, at the beginning of the next chapter, Finn is helping Mr Abramson search the bunker. These kinds of things happen throughout the book, which I find annoying.
Probably the thing I like the least about this book is that it's part of a series, which means there are unanswered questions. I'm sure this is meant to encourage people to read the next book, but in order for a book like this to be really good, it should function as both part of a series and as a standalone. This one does not. Unfortunately, I'll never know or or or because I am definitely not reading the follow-up.
May 14, 2015
I have read a lot of this guy's work and I can honestly say that I have never been disappointed. Anyone who had read the Gameland series (and if you haven't then do it now!) will feel on familiar ground. Not because it is similar because it definitely isn't. The characters are well fleshed out and the story moves along at nice pace. The style is like an old joke told by a friend. If I had to choose, I would say that this has the potential to be even better than Gameland (Seriously. Go read it now!). I can't wait for episode 2 and the first of the companion series The Flense.
January 21, 2021
i got to page 127 because i was trying to give it a chance but i actually got bored around page 22. i got this book as a gift and i thought it would be really good but the book is a brag on it talks about the same things 6 different times which gets pretty boring there was never a chapter that made me never want to stop reading and i will admit i didn't make it through the full book so it could get better by the end which i totally thought but i would recommend. (and to tell the truth giving it 2 stars was being generous)
January 12, 2022
I liked the book, and I will be reading the other ones in this series. My only thing is I like to be pulled in by books, and this one didn’t really do that. There wasn’t really a time I felt like “I can’t put this down!” I read a few chapters, then went to bed w/o thinking of it. Yes, we got a good knowledge of the characters, but nothing exciting happened until about half way through the book. Plots good, story is now starting to unravel, so I’m hoping the next books do more for me.
December 24, 2021
Not a bad story...
But as terrifying as the nightmare is, my mother's absence from it has always bothered me equally as much. The guilt of that betrayal is as bad as the horror. I shudder and force the vision away, though the reality that replaces it isn't much of an improvement.
But as terrifying as the nightmare is, my mother's absence from it has always bothered me equally as much. The guilt of that betrayal is as bad as the horror. I shudder and force the vision away, though the reality that replaces it isn't much of an improvement.
Read
May 17, 2015Excellent, characters are so real they feel like your best friends and enemys.
May 31, 2015
Saul Tanpepper has done it again!
Looking for a great dystopian/apocalyptic story safe for all ages? Then look no further as this promises to be another awesome series!
Looking for a great dystopian/apocalyptic story safe for all ages? Then look no further as this promises to be another awesome series!
September 19, 2024
Not a big fan of this book , I couldn't get into it
September 24, 2025
It’s now 5am, and after spending the last 4 hours finishing this book i just sat on my bed and felt.. confusion? For some reason I had confused myself that this hook was thirty pages longer, so the ending felt so abrupt and I was just left with so many questions.
The first 50-60% of this book was sooo slow, like literally nothing seemed to happen that entire time. It was just power struggles and paranoia tied together with hatred between the leading family and the ones who wanted to lead.
For a zombie book, there was a distinct lack of actual zombies/ apocalypse factor for like 90% of the story— i understand that the whole basis is they’re locked in the bunker, but i figured there’d still be more of a factor to it.
From basically chapter one I clocked Finn as likely being autistic or neurodivergent to some degree, but the writing style just made him feel a little bland; and not a very good friend.
A lot of the writing towards the later half of the book felt disjointed. Things seemed to happen but there would be no explanation as to what was actually happening? Chapters would start with the assumption that we already had the information, as if things were chopped and changed but details weren’t added back. There were at least three times where I just could not figure out what the hell was happening or who was speaking because the writing was just so unclear.
The end of the book simultaneously lost me and hooked me. I will be reading the next book because I want answers to my questions, is Finn’s twin Harper really alive? What is Jonah’s big secret- I thought at first he was maybe gay and secretly crushing on Finn, but that doesn’t seem like a big enough secret that he’d choose to be locked up with his dads murderer when he wants the freedom of the outside world, just to keep it secret?
And who did Finns dad want him to kill? surely not his mum like he assumed— and if it is her, then why? And also why did the stranger tell them the bunkers weren’t safe— and what happened to bunker 2??
So many questions— just enough to keep me reading in search of answers.
The first 50-60% of this book was sooo slow, like literally nothing seemed to happen that entire time. It was just power struggles and paranoia tied together with hatred between the leading family and the ones who wanted to lead.
For a zombie book, there was a distinct lack of actual zombies/ apocalypse factor for like 90% of the story— i understand that the whole basis is they’re locked in the bunker, but i figured there’d still be more of a factor to it.
From basically chapter one I clocked Finn as likely being autistic or neurodivergent to some degree, but the writing style just made him feel a little bland; and not a very good friend.
A lot of the writing towards the later half of the book felt disjointed. Things seemed to happen but there would be no explanation as to what was actually happening? Chapters would start with the assumption that we already had the information, as if things were chopped and changed but details weren’t added back. There were at least three times where I just could not figure out what the hell was happening or who was speaking because the writing was just so unclear.
The end of the book simultaneously lost me and hooked me. I will be reading the next book because I want answers to my questions, is Finn’s twin Harper really alive? What is Jonah’s big secret- I thought at first he was maybe gay and secretly crushing on Finn, but that doesn’t seem like a big enough secret that he’d choose to be locked up with his dads murderer when he wants the freedom of the outside world, just to keep it secret?
And who did Finns dad want him to kill? surely not his mum like he assumed— and if it is her, then why? And also why did the stranger tell them the bunkers weren’t safe— and what happened to bunker 2??
So many questions— just enough to keep me reading in search of answers.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 18, 2021
Seldom do I give 5 stars - but this book earned it. This book is not another Zombie book. Sure there are zombies (Flense infected) but that is in the first couple of chapters. This is a bit of a coming-of-age story about an 18-year-old name Finn who, with his father, is on the side that it is too soon to leave the bunker for fear of the Raith (aka Zombies). Of course, there is another side that thinks it is time - particularly because the place appears to be falling apart.
As I read this book, I could not help feel like this was a game of clue (it was the butler, in the library with the candlestick) - but in a good way. This is not a zombie slasher book, but instead a mystery whodunit. The story provides clues as we go with a big reveal at the end. While many of the questions are answered, there are still some unanswered questions, like who was dad talking to on the phone in the monitoring room? Naturally, this leads to two more books, and given that they live in bunker 8 and the series is called Bunker 12, you can probably guess what the next two books are about.
The character development seems pretty good to me, particularly with our main character and we see him mature from a hotheaded (wimpy) kid to a strong adult. He also learns some difficult things about how his mom and dad (preppers) had originally planned for the worst-case scenario, . His love interest, Brenn (nothing sappy) is of course conflicted on standing by her man or her family. She grows up too, to discover some truths about her family that are not very good.
A very fast read, and a great story.
As I read this book, I could not help feel like this was a game of clue (it was the butler, in the library with the candlestick) - but in a good way. This is not a zombie slasher book, but instead a mystery whodunit. The story provides clues as we go with a big reveal at the end. While many of the questions are answered, there are still some unanswered questions, like who was dad talking to on the phone in the monitoring room? Naturally, this leads to two more books, and given that they live in bunker 8 and the series is called Bunker 12, you can probably guess what the next two books are about.
The character development seems pretty good to me, particularly with our main character and we see him mature from a hotheaded (wimpy) kid to a strong adult. He also learns some difficult things about how his mom and dad (preppers) had originally planned for the worst-case scenario, . His love interest, Brenn (nothing sappy) is of course conflicted on standing by her man or her family. She grows up too, to discover some truths about her family that are not very good.
A very fast read, and a great story.
December 10, 2023
I put this one to one side a couple of years ago, but decided to give it another go and this time read through to the end.
This zombie apocalypse story is different. The zombies are distinctive and the narration tries to be introspective with complex father/son relationship issues mixed in with survivor choices and guilt. The bunker refuge is well done and there’s a good try to show the isolation and paranoia of the occupants.
But the author tries to tie too many elements in. There’s good guy / bad guy power dynamics, food theft, sabotage, weird human experimentation, confinement breaches, murder mysteries, and global tech conspiracy … which becomes too many threads for this author to handle. The storytelling becomes increasingly muddled and it becomes difficult to determine who says what or who does what and who is in which group at the end. The final chapters are a frantic mess, trying to set up two different strands to follow at least.
The narrator is a whiny unsympathetic self-pitying teen, who’s frankly not good company. His dream sequences are intriguing at first then irritatingly repetitive and not plot relevant. He tends to zone out at crucial moments, muddling the action. These are not good POV choices.
Overall this thriller needs a good edit to make it the smart, high brow effort it aspires to be.
Nevertheless, for all its faults, this is an entertaining read and one of the better zombie books in this overpopulated genre I’ve read so far. I might read on in the series, but it’s not a priority. Three stars.
This zombie apocalypse story is different. The zombies are distinctive and the narration tries to be introspective with complex father/son relationship issues mixed in with survivor choices and guilt. The bunker refuge is well done and there’s a good try to show the isolation and paranoia of the occupants.
But the author tries to tie too many elements in. There’s good guy / bad guy power dynamics, food theft, sabotage, weird human experimentation, confinement breaches, murder mysteries, and global tech conspiracy … which becomes too many threads for this author to handle. The storytelling becomes increasingly muddled and it becomes difficult to determine who says what or who does what and who is in which group at the end. The final chapters are a frantic mess, trying to set up two different strands to follow at least.
The narrator is a whiny unsympathetic self-pitying teen, who’s frankly not good company. His dream sequences are intriguing at first then irritatingly repetitive and not plot relevant. He tends to zone out at crucial moments, muddling the action. These are not good POV choices.
Overall this thriller needs a good edit to make it the smart, high brow effort it aspires to be.
Nevertheless, for all its faults, this is an entertaining read and one of the better zombie books in this overpopulated genre I’ve read so far. I might read on in the series, but it’s not a priority. Three stars.
June 11, 2025
Ok. I read all 4 books. They are ok. I was annoyed with cheap writing (similar to the laziest cheap tricks used in tv to artificially create suspense in place of strong writing when a dhow is in a ratings spiral). Stuff like "no time to explain" plus many dropped plot lines. Overall the writing was average, was not impressed but also was not disappointed. I would say its mediocre, maybe 75%. Nothing that takes much brains to follow but solid enough to not throw it out. I was sure it was a young adult book when reading it since its geared down a lot for less active readers on par with the writing of hunger games. A lot was predictable generic stuff for the genre but had a few unique twists.
That said i would still recommend it in its genre. Nothing impressive but also not something for the outhouse.
I ended up here creating a gr account after a web search to see if anyone knew if the unanswered/dropped plot lines were addressed elsewhere, as far as i can tell they are not. Despite my annoyance i got the flense books recently but they are for winter. Im off grid and spend weeks at a time without power and snowed in. A stack of books and plenty of oil is all i have for long periods.
That said i would still recommend it in its genre. Nothing impressive but also not something for the outhouse.
I ended up here creating a gr account after a web search to see if anyone knew if the unanswered/dropped plot lines were addressed elsewhere, as far as i can tell they are not. Despite my annoyance i got the flense books recently but they are for winter. Im off grid and spend weeks at a time without power and snowed in. A stack of books and plenty of oil is all i have for long periods.
January 23, 2024
This is an okay book. It’s a zombie story, told from the perspective of a teenager living in a bunker inside a dam. It’s at times very gripping, but has its pitfalls, and is strong enough that I’ll keep reading the series.
The core concept of the wraiths is pretty eye roll worthy. I think I would have appreciated something that feels a bit more based in reality, rather than straying into a fantasy novel.
The pacing is terrible. I found myself having to go back to the start of a chapter a couple of times because of the author’s obsession with starting in media res, and then giving the “five minutes ago” explanation afterwards. I guess every chapter had to start with a bang, for some reason? It was more confusing than anything.
Kind of wish that Eddie was the main character though. The teenagers are just kind of boring, and often obnoxious - Finn is dramatic, Bix is a tryhard, Bren just doesn’t have much to her aside from being the love interest. The adults are much better written and have better motivations in general.
The core concept of the wraiths is pretty eye roll worthy. I think I would have appreciated something that feels a bit more based in reality, rather than straying into a fantasy novel.
The pacing is terrible. I found myself having to go back to the start of a chapter a couple of times because of the author’s obsession with starting in media res, and then giving the “five minutes ago” explanation afterwards. I guess every chapter had to start with a bang, for some reason? It was more confusing than anything.
Kind of wish that Eddie was the main character though. The teenagers are just kind of boring, and often obnoxious - Finn is dramatic, Bix is a tryhard, Bren just doesn’t have much to her aside from being the love interest. The adults are much better written and have better motivations in general.
May 22, 2021
This was a great start to this apocalypse series. Fleeing to an underground bunker when the Flense takes hold of the world, Finn and his Dad struggle to maintain the machinery with assistance from the other survivors. Their daily lives are pretty routine until an accident reveals that their blood is hiding a secret. When violence ensues to keep that secret quiet, it becomes clear that the threats aremorr real inside then out. How deep this secret goes and what it means is the journey that Finn has to discover for himself. The survivors all have secrets and reasons for their behavior and this is a great start to laying the ground work for more in the series.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 28, 2022
This is the first book in the : Flense Book Series .
This was a good start to this post apocalyptic infection Book Series . I enjoy this first book although the main character kind of gave we whip lash with his almost chaotic narrative . Plus the young adult vide was tiring at times to much drama but this book did surprise me with the nanites in the blood . I'm thinking that all the bunkers are an controlled experiment I could be wrong but yeah that's what I think . Anywho I'm looking forward to finding out more about this virus and who's responsible for it's release on the world . Plus I want to know how Harper got to bunker two .
This was a good start to this post apocalyptic infection Book Series . I enjoy this first book although the main character kind of gave we whip lash with his almost chaotic narrative . Plus the young adult vide was tiring at times to much drama but this book did surprise me with the nanites in the blood . I'm thinking that all the bunkers are an controlled experiment I could be wrong but yeah that's what I think . Anywho I'm looking forward to finding out more about this virus and who's responsible for it's release on the world . Plus I want to know how Harper got to bunker two .
December 25, 2021
Enjoyed reading until the end. After discovering who killed 4 people, the son of each murdered father decided to just walk away from the murderer and let him live. They basically walked away from a shelter with more than enough food to feed a malnourished group of people they were taking with them, and let a madman control the bunker. And the people staying in the bunker were ok being led by a madman murderer who even killed the only doctor they had.
I get there could be some stupid people left over in an apocalypse, but odds are incredible that the only people left are all idiots.
I get there could be some stupid people left over in an apocalypse, but odds are incredible that the only people left are all idiots.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 23, 2023
Our main character is eighteen-year-old, Finn who has lived in an underground bunker for three years with his father, hoping to survive a plague called the Flense. It is spread through touch and the outcome isn't very pretty. There are 31 survivors living in the bunker but the feeling of unrest hits. They haven't seen any of the Wraiths (what they call the diseased ones) and a few want to explore.
Where once thought they were safe; they discover that isn't the case.
I love post-apocalyptic and this story did not disappoint. I didn't want to put it down. I will definitely be reading more from this author!
Where once thought they were safe; they discover that isn't the case.
I love post-apocalyptic and this story did not disappoint. I didn't want to put it down. I will definitely be reading more from this author!
January 18, 2025
Something a little different for me in the 'zombie' genre. It was an engaging story and kept me wondering about what was going to happen even as it dribbled out information and backstory. Some of the teen/young adult characters were a little annoying at times - but everyone has their psycho-emotional baggage, so I guess that is okay too. I didn't think I was going to like this book and was pleasantly surprised with the quality that was delivered. The extra prequel story was excellent too (maybe better than the main the story). I will need to see how the future story unfolds.
February 6, 2025
No matter what the correct decision is, the main character will do the opposite. The only suspense in this book is the suspense of common sense. The characters are childish, and have very little personality. The main character is the worst, he keeps stumbling across incredibly pertinent information that could save lives, but never tells anyone because… he is sad. This is basically a teen drama, not a horror, not a thriller, and not a suspense.
The only reason it gets two stars is because the zombies sound really interesting, even though they are hardly part of the story.
The only reason it gets two stars is because the zombies sound really interesting, even though they are hardly part of the story.
February 8, 2025
2.5 stars- definitely not my usual type of book, as I’m not big into zombie/outbreak type media in the first place. I was able to get into it in the last 100 pages or so, but it felt relatively disjointed at parts. The main character was unlikable, and this is not to say you can’t have a main character with personality flaws (I mean, we all do irl), but his dialogue and thoughts were hard to read. This being said, I still found myself surprised at the plot twists and enjoyed the main storyline, especially for something that’s out of my comfort zone.
Bookbub recommendation
Bookbub recommendation
May 10, 2018
Loved it! Contain (Bunker 12, #1) is my first Saul W. Tanpepper read and I was blown away by the Great story, exceptional writing and in depth Characters.
The story was an easy read with much excitement, it was hard to put this book down. I can't wait to continue with this series and read more of my new favorite Authors books.
I give Contain 5 stars for its all consuming read.
I would recommend this book to everyone.
The story was an easy read with much excitement, it was hard to put this book down. I can't wait to continue with this series and read more of my new favorite Authors books.
I give Contain 5 stars for its all consuming read.
I would recommend this book to everyone.
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