Lockdown: Escape from Furnace Review

Title: Lockdown: Escape from Furnace
Author: Alexander Gordon Smith
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux

Publication Date: October 27, 2009
Pages: 273
My Edition: ARC Paperback
Reading Level: Young Adult
Where I got it: Henry Holt InGroup 

Summary from Amazon:

Furnace Penitentiary: the world’s most secure prison for young offenders, buried a mile beneath the earth’s surface. Convicted of a murder he didn’t commit, sentenced to life without parole, “new fish” Alex Sawyer knows he has two choices: find a way out, or resign himself to a death behind bars, in the darkness at the bottom of the world. Except in Furnace, death is the least of his worries. Soon Alex discovers that the prison is a place of pure evil, where inhuman creatures in gas masks stalk the corridors at night, where giants in black suits drag screaming inmates into the shadows, where deformed beasts can be heard howling from the blood-drenched tunnels below. And behind everything is the mysterious, all-powerful warden, a man as cruel and dangerous as the devil himself, whose unthinkable acts have consequences that stretch far beyond the walls of the prison. 

Together with a bunch of inmates—some innocent kids who have been framed, others cold-blooded killers—Alex plans an escape. But as he starts to uncover the truth about Furnace’s deeper, darker purpose, Alex’s actions grow ever more dangerous, and he must risk everything to expose this nightmare that’s hidden from the eyes of the world.

  
Review:
Wow everything was amazing about this book! I loved it because of the compelling plot, and the characters with whom I could really relate with. The cover is really disturbing but in a good way. I really like it, and it goes perfectly with the story.  I loved every part of this book, and I was engaged the entire time while reading. The first sentence automatically captures your interest and will make you totally engrossed in the story. 

It was very well written, gruesome, and kept me wanting to keep reading and reading.  There are so many parts that are so well written that I was cringing from the disturbing image I saw in my head. I can’t wait to read the sequel because it left off with a total cliffhanger. I would definitely recommend this book because it is one of the best, gripping books of this year. I would caution younger readers because it is very gruesome and horrific, so I would say anyone under 13 probably shouldn't read this unless you feel you up for it. This is the author's first book which is pretty incredible since it's so good, and the sequel Solitary comes out Fall 2010 in the U.S. which is too far away.

   

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