The Death Code (The Murder Complex #2) | Book Review

I’m one of those readers who really enjoy binge reading book series. I think I enjoy them a lot better when I do it that way. When we went After Christmas shopping, I was close to finishing The Murder Complex so I decided to go ahead and get the next book in the series. And, I’m happy that I did that. I really enjoyed the first book in the series but this one really didn’t live up to the first one. Just beware of spoilers!

Title: The Death Code

Author: Lindsay Cummings

Publisher: Greenwillow Publishing

Released: May 26, 2015

Pages: 496 (Hardback)

With short, fast-paced, alternating point-of-view chapters, The Death Code starts several weeks after The Murder Complex ended. Zephyr keeps the secret about Meadow close—that if she dies, The Murder Complex will be destroyed, too. Meadow, desperate to find her brother, father, and little sister, is determined to fearlessly fight to the end, even if it means sacrificing herself and her friends, new and old. The Death Code introduces a memorable cast of secondary characters and delivers a vivid and scary thrill ride read.

About the Author: Lindsay Cummings is the #1 NYT Bestselling co-author of ZENITH. She writes Science Fiction and Fantasy novels for HarperCollins. She lives in the woods in North Texas, where she writes full time. She is represented by Peter Knapp at New Leaf Literary. As someone who came to writing through years dealing with Chronic Fatigue, Lindsay is a big advocate for those who deal with health issues, both physical and mental. If you are struggling with either of these things, Lindsay encourages you to keep your chin up, and remember how important you are to this world—even when it may not seem so. If you or someone you know or love is struggling, please reach out. Lindsay does not write Christian Fiction, but she is a big believer in Jesus Christ, and believes He is the reason for all her success!

My Review:

I gave the first book in the series a pretty good number, I think like a 4.75 or something but this book, it will be totally different. I have to give book a 3 out of 5 because of several things. But, I still liked reading the book.

I don’t know if it was just me or what but Zephyr reminded me a lot over Dorian in the first two books from Throne of Glass. Zephyr killed Meadow’s mom and she hates his guts. Meadow has all the rights to be made at him. Her mom did do some terrible things like creating The Murder Complex but Meadow still loved her. Zephyr NEVER WANTED TO GIVE UP HIS LOVE FOR HER. Dorian and Zephyr are like the same crazy obsessive ex-boyfriend, even though Zephyr and Meadow still end up together. Zephyr also seemed to be a little annoying through the book. He had no reason to follow Meadow and he didn’t even understand why he was doing it. Yes, he was in love with her but he didn’t have to go with her everywhere. Zephyr was basically in love with the word love, not actual true love.

I was sort of waiting to see Meadow die in the book but I would have never guessed that she was going to kill herself to get her friends and family back to the New Milita. Meadow has known this plan the whole entire book and we had no idea what it was until the end of the book. I was thinking that the plan was going to be something like hijack a train and burst through the gates or something but kill herself. Meadow’s cuffs would fluctuate through the whole entire book from “C” to numbers like 91-98. Even though I wasn’t in love with Meadow as a person in this book, or the relationship between Zephyr and her, I still felt bad for all of them. Meadow was risking her life for her friends and family. Meadow was going to be joining her dad on the other side. Meadow was going to leave the world happy since Koi and Peri were together. Zephyr’s reaction through the whole thing was just heartbreaking because he did everything for her and she was gone. He basically had no idea what he would do without her. BUT… MEADOW NEVER DIED. In the first book, Zephyr tried to take his life and Meadow gave him her blood. Well, Zephyr saved Meadow by doing the same to her. Now that is real love.

I was really fond of Meadow’s dad in the first book and the feeling remained the same through the second book. Meadow’s dad was safe but he was slowly dying. He had blood in his eyes and he was weak. He was going to die in this book and sadly he did, shortly before Meadow sends the signal. Meadow’s dad just wanted to see his family back together and he got just that. But there was one thing in the way. The person who he calls Patient Zero – Zephyr. Meadow’s dad and ‘Patient Zero’ didn’t have a good relationship at all. Right before he died, Meadow’s dad gave ‘Patient Zero’ a look of approval and I really liked that.

Something I really liked about both of the books that I have not talked about yet is the fact that Lindsay Cumming took the time to come up with her own ‘swear words’. Instead of using the f-word, she would use flux. I really enjoyed that part of the book. But, her book still includes to strong language at times if you are worried about that.

One thing I also really liked about the book is how easy it is to read and understand. I loved the fact that I could start a chapter and automatically know who was telling the chapter without looking at the top, even though I wished that Meadow’s dad had a few chapters and Sketch. The book had such a great flow and I really wasn’t lost at all.

There were times that I didn’t like events, and characters that really didn’t play a big part in the story. I don’t understand why they even tried to fix Meadow up as her mom. I don’t like the fact that Meadow changed personalities through the whole book, but that really wasn’t her fault. I didn’t like the fact that Peri was being tortured the way that she was. I didn’t like the whole chapter where Zephyr went blind and when he was able to see again. I didn’t like how fussy these characters were. Yes, the characters seemed really fussy through the whole book. Meadow was being fussy about the Regulator that they put on her neck. Zephyr was fussy basically about everything that happened to him, which got on my last nerves. It was just all way too much fussing for me.

I did enjoy reading the second book in the series to get some closure from the first book. The first book had some interesting ending – Zephyr leaving Meadow in the Capital of the whole place. The book leave me happy knowing that Meadow is left with her family. I highly recommend you read this book if you read the first book.

Have you read this book? Do you like Lindsay Cummings books? What is your favorite genre of book? Let me know your thoughts in the comments!

Happy Reading,