The Complex

Brian Keene has always been one of my favorite authors from my first reading of The Rising. After The Rising I have read almost all of the Keene’s works and he still remains one of the top authors in the genre. Some my favorites by Keene are The Rising, Ghoul, Earthworm Gods, Dark Hollow and Kill Whitey. So, how does The Complex stack up?The first thing I noticed is that The Complex by Brian Keene is a throwback to the time in his career that I’d call his “prime” at this point which I think is 2003-2010 where he uncorked some his best works including The Rising, Ghoul, Earthworm Gods, Kill Whitey, Dark Hallow….ect. It seems that sometime around 2010 Keene’s work, in my eyes, took a bit of a step back. Not that they weren’t good, they were, but they were not the stuff of greatness that his earlier novels were. If you are a Keene fan and listen to his awesome podcast, you will probably know this timeframe fell in some tough personal times which may have affected the work. The Complex is an emphatic strike of the gavel, stating Keene is back.Now, to The Complex! Whether one loves or hates zombies or even consider this a zombie book, everyone should agree that is survival horror and in this Keene is King. It is fast, brutal, and colorful all at the same time and a new take on the zombie-like genre. A housing complex is suddenly at siege by crazed lunatic killers, worse, the survivors know them because they live right next door! Perhaps more terrifying is that the crazies will pick up anything and kill you with it in colorful action. The cast of characters is a mishmash of social classes , races and gender identities, not to mention personalities and personality disorders. Also, an interesting fact is that The Complex takes place in a fictionalized version of the apartment complex Keene lived in at the time, even features the “Meth heads” he talks about on the podcast.While the book is vintage Keene, it is not without its faults. First, there is little plot and subplot. The story moves too fast for there really to be much plot and the timeframe of the book seems to be a matter of 24 hours or so. Perhaps the shallow plot is necessary in order to portray the frantic attempt to survive. The second problem I had with it is a lot of the characters were also shallow, almost cookie cutter types. There was the “thug”, the “mom”….ect but it wasn’t all bad, they each has small quirks that worked well enough to keep you interested in them.Overall, I believe that while The Complex may not be quite up to the level of some of my favorite Keene novels it is much more on that level than his more recent novels. If you are a fan of survival horror, you should certainly read The Complex.This review was originally published at Real Dead Reviews. For more great reviews please visit [...]

Just got done reading The Complex by BK. I was riveted to the book like never before. Brian put such love into placing your imagination of what was going on. You can't help but feel the pain and anguish of each character, including Hannibal.Once you read through this, you kinda wonder. Is the event happening elsewhere? This world is so open and expansive, that if BK allows other writers to expand on this lore, would just be awesome.I even smell a series or movie out of this book. The visuals would be sick. All I'm gonna say is times up for Hollywood to start looking at BK's books for some really great suspense thrillers.TICK TOCK! TICK TOCK! TICK TOCK!

I'm glad to finally read a full length piece from Keene. I've been held over with shorts, novellas, and non-fiction, all of which I enjoyed, but I've been waiting for something with more meat. Enter The Complex. Such a simple idea of people going crazy with no conscious or thought, just raw animal instinct at an apartment complex. Each character has their own story, backgrounds that are honest and not too far-fetched (well with the exception of The Exit). The story sucks you in pretty quick and moves at a fast pace, not giving you a chance to take a breath. It's about survival and having to put your faith and trust in people you don't completely know. That in itself is tough enough but in an insane environment....that's where the deep horror aspect comes in. That fear is there if you dig just a bit deeper into the story but there is blood and gore to paint the scenery as well, plenty of it.As a long-time fan it was nice to see some familiar faces and hear some familiar names...most notably the mysterious The Exit. This is the first real glimpse into the man and I'm hungry for more. Make no mistake, for all you complaining that his character wasn't fleshed out completely....he has a lot more to tell. There is so much more to this character and if you think this is his only tale...then you need to read more of Keene's work. Of course I want more of his story too, but all in good time. This is just the tip...and we all know you don't stop at that. Sorry had to throw that in this review. The Exit has his fans and is a huge character in the grand scheme of things and it needed to be addressed.I feel like there's so much more to this story and that it's not entirely finished. I personally think more will be revealed later on. I can't help but think of J.F. Gonzalez' Primitive when I read this one and it just makes me wonder. I'll leave it at that. The ending will divide people for sure but it is what it is...or is it? Either way, deal with it. I honestly enjoy the ride every time new fiction comes from Brian... However dark or bleak, there is always hope for humanity if you look for it. But you have to want to look at the same time. As long as he keeps writing em', I'll keep reading em'.

Four-and-a-half stars.Confessional: I have spent much time listening to Brian Keene on his excellent The Horror Show podcast, but I haven't actually read all that much of his work. That needs to change!The Complex is a grabbed by-the-balls, slapped-in-the-face-with-a-torn-off-arm roller-coaster ride of gore, violence and frenzied desperation.Welcome to The Pine Village Apartment Complex, it's a bit of a s***-pit but plenty of good folk call it 'home.'We're introduced to various residents via their apartment numbers, and offered swift but fulfilling glimpses into each character's backstory. While this is happening we are hearing occasional bumps, bangs and screams which alert us to the fact that all is not well in the surrounding areas.Outside in the car park, a single mother, her young son, and a male friend unload their possessions from the back of a rental truck. They see a grossly over-sized man ambling toward them. He is naked. His head Tick-Tocks side to side as he walks, and flesh ripples on his bare frame.Violence is about to descend on the residents of Pine Village, and different character types are forced to work together as they attempt to avoid hordes of naked berserkers!If you're looking for slow build literary horror, then this ain't the kiddy for you. But if you want a superbly written dose of frenetic mayhem that'll make you keep reading, and have you willing these various individuals to survive, then this is good stuff!I've docked half a point because the ending was entirely predictable but overall this was a fun read. In the afterword Brian mentions that the character called The Exit has appeared in a number of his other works, I'll be searching these out, as he was a fascinating individual.

I really loved this, it was such a nail biting reading experience. I was so engrossed in finding out what happened to the rag tag group of the complex that I literally finished the book in two days. For a fake made up person Tick tock was scary AF, I would have given this five stars but I was so mad at the author for not telling us why everyone was going mad? What was the cause? Was it human or supernatural doing? I was pissed that we never found out more about why the crazies had become that way, other than that it was an wicked read.

Once again mr keene lets fly with another gore filled shocker, no whys no reasons for the savage outbreak just people thrown together and dying together. Oh and killing together. This book will bring in new readers to his mad bad world and us old readers will sit smugly and say we have been here from the start so Mr Keene thank you for being Mr Keene.

A great story by Mr Keene with lots of similarities to the Crossed Comics by Garth Ennis. An interesting mix of Characters. And as a long time Keene Reader it was cool to find out more about The Exit. Would have given it 5 Stars, But I found the ending a little frustrating...

A bit like David Moody's dog haters.was a bloody book,a complex residents fight the naked crazies,you get to know the characters and feel for them ,there is a couple of twists in it.you could kind of guess the end,it is a good read