Lockdown

One of the best novels in the young adult novels that I have read in a long time. Sometimes simply a string of bad or just so-so novels will cause me to just LOVE the next good one I pick up. Even so, "Lockdown: Escape from Furnace" was absolutely amazing! I only put this book down to work and picked it up afterwards and read till 4 a.m.! I devoured this book as it was full of thrills.

Alex is just a kid, framed for a crime he didn't commit. Only now, after a summer of heinous murders committed by a group of teens, the juvenile system has cracked down. Now you do the crime and you definitely do the time -life, no possibility of parole in a prison buried deep underground in natural rock; no way out. No visitors, no letters from home, no show more one but the other prisoners. Only Alex didn't do the crime, he and a few other prisoners have all been wrongly convicted.

Not only is the claustrophobia of the Furnace maddening, but there are also violent prison gangs to contend with, evil dog creations that hunt and tear their victim limb from limb, the black suited super strong prison guards, the crazy inhuman mask faces, and the mysteriously evil prison warden. But Alex has a plan, he doesn't plan on rotting his life away in the hell hole, he is going to escape.

I have so many good things to say about this novel it is ridiculous! Wow, this was enthralling, energetic, and even spine tingling. I was on the edge of my seat glued to every word... all the time. Alexander Gordon Smith did the perfect job of balancing, giving enough detail to feel trapped inside Furnace myself but not overkilling the plot with boring detail. I loved his writing style, and I thought the plot was perfectly executed.

The only thing I'm confused about is the country where the novel is set. At the beginning, pounds are mentioned as currency so I assumed Great Britain, but then the judicial system seemed very American and the slang did not seem British at all. I don't think the novel is set in the very distant future either. While this detail was slightly muddy, it didn't much affect the story and I did not find it at all distracting.

One of my favorite details is knowing all the crimes Alex has committed but still seeing through to his innocence once he reaches Furnace. I loved seeing this bully become the savior and I really enjoyed Alex's character development in the story.

What a cliff hanger! I will undoubtedly be picking up the next book in this series and, WOW, I cannot wait to read it! I definitely recommend this read and I think it would be perfect for a teenage boy, no romance, a touch of violence, and raw emotion. show less

This is a roller coaster ride from start to finish, a world where young men and boys are routinely sent to an underground prison called Furnace for crimes of violence. Alex Sawyer was framed for murder by the "black suits" -superhuman vigilantes with silver eyes who stalk the night, watching for teenagers out at night who can become new inmates. In spite of his petty crimes and robberies, Alex had never murdered anyone - but he was convicted of murdering his friend Toby, and soon enough he finds himself riding an elevator down to a life sentence in Furnace - a secretive, multileveled prison carved out of the bedrock itself. Some boys go crazy just from the claustrophobia; but there are many, many other horrors Alex discovers to drive show more one mad. When the gross details become a bit overwhelming, the author also provides Alex with some camaraderie and everyday teenage joking through the characters of Donovan, his experienced cell mate, and Zee, a newcomer like Alex. Alex's authentic voice, and his genuine struggle to remain loyal to friends instead of only his own survival draw readers in. Through his authentic voice, we also experience this "hell" of a prison and his attempts to remain sane, including coming up with a plan for escape. But no one escapes from Furnace, the evil man/creature who is the warden guarantees that. A fast paced, horror filled action thriller. show less

Lockdown, the first book in the Escape from Furnace series was a fast-exciting novel grabbing the reader right from the start and never letting go until the very end. Alex is a typical bully who escalates into a thief. During his last robbery his best friend is killed by strange men in black, some with odd looking masks on their faces. Alex is framed for his friend's death and is thrown into a prison for violent young offenders called Furnace. What a great beginning for a series of books. Reminds me a little of the television show, Prison Break, as well as the book series, I Am Number Four.

**No spoilers.




Well, that was a good time. For me, anyway. Not for Alex, the MC. Dude inadvertently landed himself in the WORST PRISON IN THE HISTORY OF PRISONS. Seriously. Sign me up for death if my only other option is to go into Furnace.


With a name like Furnace and with its description of being buried 1 mile beneath the earth’s surface, my mind immediately went to “hell”. While Furnace is a hellish place, it’s not hell. It’s more like a fucked up science project funhouse gone awry. It’s fucking cray cray. The conditions of the place, the disgustingly putrid slop they have to eat, the daily beatings/humiliations at the hands of other inmates, and the backbreaking work they have to do is enough to make you welcome death. Oh, show more but there’s more.


As the synopsis says, inhuman creatures in gas masks stalk the corridors at night. YEAH. Whatever that crazy shit means. And the guards? They wear suits. Like, WTF. I didn’t even have time to ponder all of this, because the intensity of the story had me riveted. The visuals alone were enough to give me the creeps and Smith did a great job making this place come to life. I have my own version of Furnace planted firmly in my mind. The place is dirty, dank, gritty, and terrifying. There was never a time that I couldn’t visualize what I was reading, which really made for a heightened reading experience.


Only one thing prevented me from rating this five stars – Alex. I found Alex likable, but he continuously made TSTL mistake after TSTL mistake. Even when his friends would yell at him and say “Alex, don’t!”, Alex would. Over and over. I still rooted for him, but he pissed me off with his behavior. It's important to remember that he's only 14. It was easy to forget that while reading, because the book is so brutal and dark. Typically, a TSTL MC is a deal breaker for me. In this case, the story, the setting, the other characters and the intensity of my beating heart through most of it were able to offset my misgivings.


Lastly, look at that cover. Stuff of nightmares, I tell you.



WARNING: This book ends on a brutal cliffhanger, so try to have the sequel on hand, lest your brain explode.



I have other book-reading obligations scheduled for today, but... **eyes sequel.






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Alex is a bully and a small-time criminal (some theft, a bit of breaking and entering), so he's not entirely surprised when he's caught mid-burglary. He is surprised when the men who catch him immediately shoot his friend/accomplice in the head, and then frame Alex for the murder. The judge sentences him to life in prison... and not just any prison. Alex is sent to Furnace, a vast underground prison for juvenile offenders where the guards are the same menacing black-suited giants who framed him, and the warden occasionally unleashes giant monstrous, skinless guard dogs on the inmates. It's a place of forced labor, unidentifiable ground-up slop at each meal, and vicious gangs. He lucks out when he gets Donovan as a cellmate, though even show more he won't protect Alex when he crosses the prison gangs. The only thing worse than the gangs are the blood raids, when inmates are randomly dragged out of their cells at night, and sometimes return as mutilated and surgically altered killers. There's something horrifying going on behind the giant door where the guards and the warden enter and exit, and Alex decides to do whatever it takes to escape. With the help of Donovan and a few others, he comes up with a plan... but they have no advantages and the prison guards and warden have many. Horror, suspense, and amazingly (for a prison full of teenage boys) the language focuses on the action and violence without swearing. Gripping writing, tense plotting, and LOTS of blood and guts. 8th grade and up. show less

In the probably not so distant future, Alex is a teen from a rough neighbourhood; he and his best friend Toby are thieves, stealing from other kids at school and breaking and entering into houses. It’s during one such B&E that everything goes wrong for Alex and he finds himself sentenced to life without parole to Furnace Penitientiary, a prison built after the Summer of Slaughter to house offenders under the 18.Alexander Gordon Smith’s writing pulled me in from the very beginning. Told in first person, I was immediately sucked into Alex’s head-space. Everything was immediate, raw, gritty and harsh. Life in Furnace is brutal and starkly terrifying – there is no death penalty, but no one cares if the inmates kill each other off. show more Some of the writing gave me chills while reading descriptions of life in Furnace.The personalities of the secondary characters shone through the first-person narration quite well. Donovon, who’s been in Furance from the very beginning, is tough, but has an almost mother-hen quality about him. He’s resigned to his fate, but underneath he still has hope that someday he’ll leave this escape-proof supermax prison. Zee arrives in Furnace the same day as Alex and is the funny-guy of the little group. He’s optimistic that his stay in Furnace isn’t permanent and likes to joke around. The villians (the guards and warden) remained the mystery they were meant to be and left me wondering just what is going on in this prison.LOCKDOWN never lacked for action and I was quite happy with the pace of the book – quick, but not so fast I felt the plot was rushed. There were moments in the story that were so full of tension, terror or disbelief that, like Alex, I just wanted the next part to begin (in a good way), because surely Furnace couldn’t get any worse. Being the first book in a series, there are obviously still many things left unanswered, though we recieve enough details to know that something really freaky is going on at Furnace prison, but hardly any major explanations. The conclusion of the story (a great, big, massive cliffhanger!) had me heart-broken and teary-eyed, yet happy and hopeful at the same time. show less

Fast paced and bloody brilliant.

“Don't go looking for snakes, you might find them..
Don't send your eyes to the sun, you might blind them,
Haven't I seen you here before?
There ain't no heroes here....”



This is a shit-meet-fan kind of book. There are no sugary bits glossing over events because of the main character's age. It's actually adds to the horror, when you are forced to see kids as adults and surviving trough ordeals you are certain most adults wouldn't survive trough.

It has it all. Underground prison from hell, gangs and turf war. Fights, murder, mad science experiments and a band of unlikely friends.

I have been reading quite a lot of dystopia lately and can safely say that I still have the taste for it. I like the fact that show more it's a rich genre. This particular spin is very engaging, it doesn't leave you with two minutes to catch your breath. It keeps you on your toes all the time. It's not something for the fans of insta justice, and evil vs. good.

This book will give you chills.... show less