The Compound

In a war-torn future, Lily signs up for a reality show. The set is a house with no windows or doors, dropped onto an oasis in the middle of the desert.

The show invited ten men and ten women, but only nine men turn up, and the math works against the women. The main rule is harsh: every morning, anyone who didn't share a bed with someone of the opposite sex is out. A shared screen hands out tasks. Group tasks, like voting someone out, earn supplies for everyone. Personal tasks pay in luxuries. No one can talk about life outside, and the faceless producers only step in when someone's life is at risk.

As the weeks go by, the contestants get obsessed with tasks and prizes, and Lily changes along with the house. The book plays with the logic of lock-in reality TV and asks how far someone will go for a prize.

It's the debut novel from Irish writer Aisling Rawle, mixing dystopia with TV satire.