The Bunker Diary
My expectations and first reaction
I decided to read ‘the Bunker Diary, because the subject really appealed to me. I thought it would be
really interesting to read about someone, who is locked up for months. I wanted to find out what it
does to a person. I expected that I could look into the head of the main character and really
empathize with him, because the book is written like a diary.
In the beginning of the book, I was very confused, because a person starts talking about a place
where he is locked up. I didn’t know who this person was, where he was and why he was there. Later
in the book, I started to get answers to my questions.
Summary
This story is about Linus, a 16-year-old boy, who wakes up in a bunker. The special thing is that the
entire space is equipped for six persons. There are six bedrooms, a bathroom, a kitchen, a dining
table, an elevator and several microphones and cameras so the man who kidnapped him can see
everything. Linus finds a notebook and starts writing about how he got into the bunker. He lived on
the streets and one day, he saw a blind man near a van. Linus wanted to help the man with his
suitcase, but the man pushed him into the van and the next moment he wakes up in the bunker.
The next day, the lift comes up. Linus sees a unconscious girl. Later, the little girl named Jenny wakes
up. Linus and Jenny get along well and talk a lot to each other. After Jenny, four other people appear
in the elevator: Anja, a beautiful woman who is 20 years old, Bird, an old businessman, Fred, a sturdy
man who is addicted and finally Russell, an old and wise writer.
After a couple of days, it becomes clear that the elevator comes down every morning at nine o’clock.
If they behave well, they get good and other things they ask for. If they try to escape, he punishes
them. For example, one day a dog comes down the elevator after the group tried to escape and bites
Bird, causing him to act weird. The others are also getting worse over time. Anja doesn’t come out of
her room anymore and Russell is getting sicker of his brain tumour.
One day, Linus finds a note in the elevator from the kidnapper. It says that if someone kills another,
he or she will be released. The next morning, they find Anja dead on her bed. Everyone suspects Bird,
because he hasn’t been himself since the dog bit him. A couple days later, they find Russell dead and
Jenny is attacked by Bird. Fred saves her and kills Bird.
After all these murders, it seems like the kidnapper isn’t controlling them anymore. All the lights are
off, they get no food and there is no electricity. Eventually, Bird kills himself by drinking bleach and
Jenny and Linus die from lack of water and food.
Facts
- Title: ‘The Bunker Diary’
- Author: Kevin Brooks
- Editor: Penguin Group
- Year of publication: 2013
- Total number of pages: 259