Compliance by Maureen McGowan – a Review

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Description:
Haven Equals Safety.

The slogan is emblazoned on the minds of every Haven employee. But for Glory, life inside the domed city is anything but safe.

After rescuing her brother, Glory returns to Haven as a double agent to locate and save fellow Deviants. Far from her family and from Burn, Glory faces danger at every turn as she trains to be a Compliance Officer–to track and subdue her own kind–while she works undercover to rescue as many Deviants as she can.

When people she trusts turn against her and a powerful member of Management takes her under her wing, Glory questions everything she believes and can no longer tell her allies from her enemies. A Deviant, a member of the secret police, a double agent–Glory fights to save others, but can she save herself?

Review:

Compliance by Maureen McGowan is her second book in her Dust Chronicles series.  When we last left off in Deviants (first book), Glory was going to be sent back to Haven; this time as a spy for the Freedom Army.  To refresh your memory, Haven is a city under a dome, that protects everyone from the dangerous outside world of Shredders, Deviants, etc. But Haven hides the truth inside that dome.

Compliance picks up about three months later, with Glory back to training with The Comp.  She was accepted back, as they thought she escaped her captor, who had kidnapped her. As described above in the book description, Glory is working undercover, finding and saving Deviants (hidden powers).  When she meets her new contact from the FA, who tells her she is to stop until further notice, since the last one she thought was saved, was killed by shredders.  Despondent, Glory tries to get more information, so that she can convince the FA to allow her to continue.   

Glory is also working with one of Haven’s management leaders to find a mole inside the Comp.  During all of this, she has to be careful not to reveal that she is a Deviant (she can kill just with her eyes), which will cause her to be expunged (sent outside to face the crazed Shredders), and die. Glory is still with her boyfriend Cal, but tries hard to not to allow herself to trust anyone.  Her friends from the first book, Jayma, and Scout are still there, though not as much. 

The story concentrates on Glory finding the deviants inside Haven & saving them, finding the mole; but the major arc in this story is the introduction of a new character, Mrs. Kalin, who is one of Haven’s top management.  She takes a liking to Glory, and Glory finds herself becoming very close to her. Over time they become like mother and daughter, but something isn’t right.  As her friends and Cal fall into danger, Glory must fight her feelings for the woman who claims her as her adopted mother, and control her Deviant powers to rise up to save her friends, as well as herself.  Without giving spoilers, I’ll just throw out some questions we faced heading towards the climatic ending.  Will Glory be able to save her friends? Why is Glory concerned about her feelings for Mrs. Kalin?  Will Glory act on her feelings for Cal, or is Burn still the one?  Will Glory survive?   The last half of this book was extremely exciting, with many twists that McGowan seems to throw at us in this series.  If you have read Deviants, then you must read this book.  If you have not, then start with Deviants.  I love this series, and Maureen McGowan does a fantastic job continuing the flow from Deviants to Compliance flawlessly.  With most things resolved at the end, McGowan does leave it somewhat open for book 3, Glory.  Can’t wait.

Reviewed by Barb

Copy provided by Author