Helpful Score: 1
Reviewed by Hayes aka Haute Librarian
The future has arrived, and teen gangs are ruling the streets. Due to major carnage during the "Summer of Slaughter," authorities have cracked down and opened Furnace Penitentiary, a prison set deep underground for the worst teen offenders, where they will never see the light of day again.
Alex Sawyer is sentenced to Furnace after being convicted of murdering his best friend, Toby. Alex says over and over again that he did not kill Toby, but his protests fall on deaf ears, even though it's the truth.
Alex descends into Furnace, a prison hewn out of rough rock. He immediately notices the weak are prey and the strong will live, as the prison gang threatens his life and his new cellmate, Donovan, educates him on how to survive.
There is more to fear than the prison gangs, or the slop called food served in the cafeteria. There are the black suits - enormous, hulking men with silvery-sheened eyes and shark-like grins who guard the prison. There are the wheezers - twisted, malformed creatures in leather overcoats, their faces obscured by gas masks literally stitched to their skin. And there is the bloodwatch - an eerie red light that will suddenly wash over the prison cells in the dead of night, letting the inmates know the wheezers are coming for one of them.
Alex struggles to hold on to his humanity, his sanity, and his hope that he will survive Furnace, even if survival means hatching an impossible scheme that could kill him.
LOCKDOWN is one of the best books I have read this year! Smith's debut of the ESCAPE FROM FURNACE series keeps the reader fascinated from the first page; this is the first of a fantastic series!
The future has arrived, and teen gangs are ruling the streets. Due to major carnage during the "Summer of Slaughter," authorities have cracked down and opened Furnace Penitentiary, a prison set deep underground for the worst teen offenders, where they will never see the light of day again.
Alex Sawyer is sentenced to Furnace after being convicted of murdering his best friend, Toby. Alex says over and over again that he did not kill Toby, but his protests fall on deaf ears, even though it's the truth.
Alex descends into Furnace, a prison hewn out of rough rock. He immediately notices the weak are prey and the strong will live, as the prison gang threatens his life and his new cellmate, Donovan, educates him on how to survive.
There is more to fear than the prison gangs, or the slop called food served in the cafeteria. There are the black suits - enormous, hulking men with silvery-sheened eyes and shark-like grins who guard the prison. There are the wheezers - twisted, malformed creatures in leather overcoats, their faces obscured by gas masks literally stitched to their skin. And there is the bloodwatch - an eerie red light that will suddenly wash over the prison cells in the dead of night, letting the inmates know the wheezers are coming for one of them.
Alex struggles to hold on to his humanity, his sanity, and his hope that he will survive Furnace, even if survival means hatching an impossible scheme that could kill him.
LOCKDOWN is one of the best books I have read this year! Smith's debut of the ESCAPE FROM FURNACE series keeps the reader fascinated from the first page; this is the first of a fantastic series!
This book opens at some undefined point in the future. After a summer full of juveniles murdering a lot of people, a new maximum security prison has been created and any boy convicted of murder is sent there for life with no parole.
The book opens with the main character being framed for murdering his best friend and sent to Furnace. There we get treated to half a book of "this place is so horrible and scary and weird things happen for no reason!". Unfortunately, to me it read as if the author was trying really hard to convince me how horrible and crazy this place was, and it wound up being ridiculous instead of horrifying. I giggled a few times during the kitchen scene. By the time the plot seemed ready to start moving forward again I wasn't interested in reading any further.
The book opens with the main character being framed for murdering his best friend and sent to Furnace. There we get treated to half a book of "this place is so horrible and scary and weird things happen for no reason!". Unfortunately, to me it read as if the author was trying really hard to convince me how horrible and crazy this place was, and it wound up being ridiculous instead of horrifying. I giggled a few times during the kitchen scene. By the time the plot seemed ready to start moving forward again I wasn't interested in reading any further.
My 13 year old son is into Zombie books, but tried this title on the recommendation of the librarian. He enjoys this book and it is on grade level reading ability for him. I hope this might help other parents who are having issues finding books that young boys would like to read.
I loved this book, I read it in one sitting (with a couple of bathroom breaks plus a meal). Though it is YA, adults will love it too......... reminds me of the show Prison Break, except without a sympathetic hot MD and creepier prison personnel. I am going to start the sequel immediately!
I flew through this book....started and finished within 24 hours. It's a fast paced and completely gripping story about a boy named Alex who gets framed for murder and sent to Furnace, an underground prison. A prison that is filled with horrible creatures and no way of escaping, that is until Alex plans a grand scheme to do just that. It reminded me a bit of the prison scenes in The Chronicles of Riddick.
From page one, I was pulled in, hook, line and sinker. By page 10 I was totally immersed into the story and DID NOT want to stop. Throughout the book, I found myself holding my breath, wondering what in the world would happen next.
HEADS UP:: This is a FANTASTIC book. Its a book one in a set of 5 or so.
By the time you are finished reading this one you'll feel as though you've been, punched, strung up, flipped down, chewed all of your nails off and then start chewing on a friends nails. lol Ok, perhaps not that ridiculous but close to it. This is the best horror/YA book Ive read this year.
The author weaves the descriptions of Furnace "the prison", the characters and all of its designs into a web so perfect, I just sat and had to admire his writing abilities. Its as though this place of fiction were a living, breathing, true, real place and Alexander Gordon Smith has truly been there and is telling it from memory.
If you love horror with a YA twist, then give this genius of an author a go. GRADE A, 5 STARS! On to book 2, "Solitary".
HEADS UP:: This is a FANTASTIC book. Its a book one in a set of 5 or so.
By the time you are finished reading this one you'll feel as though you've been, punched, strung up, flipped down, chewed all of your nails off and then start chewing on a friends nails. lol Ok, perhaps not that ridiculous but close to it. This is the best horror/YA book Ive read this year.
The author weaves the descriptions of Furnace "the prison", the characters and all of its designs into a web so perfect, I just sat and had to admire his writing abilities. Its as though this place of fiction were a living, breathing, true, real place and Alexander Gordon Smith has truly been there and is telling it from memory.
If you love horror with a YA twist, then give this genius of an author a go. GRADE A, 5 STARS! On to book 2, "Solitary".
