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Lockdown (Escape From Furnace #1)

4.09 of 5 stars 4.09 · rating details · 5,773 ratings · 868 reviews

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 l...more

ebook, 212 pages

Published October 27th 2009 by Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR) (first published March 5th 2009)

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Feb 08, 2012 Brandi rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites

I think I'm going to bump this to 4.5 stars because I can't stop thinking about it! In fact, when I went to sleep I was picturing the wheezers and literally had to remind myself that it was just a story...it's not real Brandi...it's ok...you're a big girl....ok fine, just cuddle up to the mister..he's asleep so he won't know how big of a baby you're being... That was me at 1 in the morning. True story, haha.

I don't typically read books that have a horror element to them because of the fact that...more

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Mar 06, 2012 Skyla rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Skyla by: Anna

Shelves: creepy, dark-subject-matter, dystopia, ghost, paranormal, sci-fi-fantasy, ya, prison, brit-lit

These books have kind of haunted me for years. I constantly had them pop up in my Amazon recommendations on amazon.co.uk and my friend J and his boyfriend are always talking about them, so I'd heard about them for a long time before I actually got my hands on them.

It wasn't until my GR friend Anna started to read them that I was reminded of them and decided to put them on my Xmas list, luckily I pretty much have J wrapped around my little finger so he ordered the first 4 books for me (the first...more

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Jan 12, 2012 1JuneO rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

THIS IS A SPOILER!!!!!!

Lockdown escape from furnace is an amazing thriller by Alexander Gordon Smith; I love this book so far. In this story a boy named Alex Sawyer and how he was framed for the murder of his best friend Toby.Alex is a complex individual he was a good kid until one day he stoled money from a kid his friends were bulling . After that day he felt consumed by guilt but motivated by greed. He is a teenager and considers himself a criminal.
All he had to do was "one last job." Toby...more THIS IS A SPOILER!!!!!!

Lockdown escape from furnace is an amazing thriller by Alexander Gordon Smith; I love this book so far. In this story a boy named Alex Sawyer and how he was framed for the murder of his best friend Toby.Alex is a complex individual he was a good kid until one day he stoled money from a kid his friends were bulling . After that day he felt consumed by guilt but motivated by greed. He is a teenager and considers himself a criminal.
All he had to do was "one last job." Toby had heard from one of his friends that one house had a bunch of things they could steal and that the owner of the houses had left the house for a week,so he told alex.Alex decied they should hit the place and loot up.Once they got there they tried opening a window to get inside the house.It was easy.Too easy Alex and Toby both got a bad feeling about the job after that but they kept going.They began to load up on electronics and cash, when out of nowhere men began to appear they grabbed Toby.One of the men began to speak to alex ; he was shocked and confused he didn't know how to respond.The man who had Toby shot him cold blooded in the head another man told Alex he could run be it would be useless they would find him.Alex was found by the police then came a short trail he was found guilty of the murder of this friend :Toby.He was framed but due to that he was sent to furnace penitentiary where his should stay for the rest of his life. Alex knew he has to find a way out and he has to find out why those men killled his friend and blamed him.
I belive that Alexander Gordon Smith is trying to hack into the minds of juveniles .He is talking to younger readers because in todays societies it is easy to fall into the wrong hands.The auther thinks that it would be easier for a fifteen year old to relate to this book then a fifty year old.He might be try to say if you can save today then the future is saved.
He is taking a different approach than many authers ; by daring teenager to believe in a "hell-hole" like furnace he may get his reader to think about the life style choices they make .In every page he pokes at the readers emotions and forces them to think twice about cause and effect . Alexander Gordon Smith is tying to the greed is powerful but fear is more.
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May 15, 2013 John Reinke rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Lockdown is an amazing book. Alexander Gordon Smith does a great job of making sure that I understand what Alex is thinking, feeling, and sensing in his environment. The descriptions of the setting were so detailed, I felt like I was actually in the prison, following Alex's every step, from the slow walking to the chipping room, to the hurried jogging to the cafeteria, to the terrified running from the Skulls (one of the prison gangs) or the warden's dogs. In fact, Smith describes it so well, I'...more Lockdown is an amazing book. Alexander Gordon Smith does a great job of making sure that I understand what Alex is thinking, feeling, and sensing in his environment. The descriptions of the setting were so detailed, I felt like I was actually in the prison, following Alex's every step, from the slow walking to the chipping room, to the hurried jogging to the cafeteria, to the terrified running from the Skulls (one of the prison gangs) or the warden's dogs. In fact, Smith describes it so well, I'm unable to visualize the prison in any other way, such as in his initial description of the main cell block, "The elevator had taken us to the very depths of the prison-a stretch of bare stone that was easily the size of a soccer field-and above us for as far as we could see lay its tortured, twisted interior. Furnace certainly deserved its name. The walls were made from the very rock of the earth, their surfaces rough and red, and the half-light of the room made them flicker as if they were on fire. The sunless yard was vast and circular, and arranged in rings around the outside were countless cells, the gray metal platforms and jagged staircases resembling a rib cage against the fleshy walls"(52-53). In case you were wondering, Lockdown is split into chapters, but instead of numbers, they have names. Some examples are "Settling In" or "Hard Labor". Smith most likely does this so that the reader knows what the subject of the chapter is, such as "Hard Labor" being about Alex's first time doing one of the prison jobs. Perhaps the best part is reading about Alex's own imagination. Just hearing the way he reacts mentally to the hellish world around him makes the entire rest of the book pale in comparison. It's like he's right next to you, telling you about everything he went through in the prison. And what he went through is so incredible and terrifying, I refuse to talk any further, for fear of spoilers. In short, Lockdown is one of the best books I've ever read, and I think that anyone who reads it will agree.(less)

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Oct 10, 2012 Melanie rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: kindle

I quite enjoyed this; it wasn't a particularly difficult read, though not as creepy as I was expecting based on the blurb, and the descriptions of the emotions of the main character - Alex - were very well done. Other descriptions weren't so good, unfortunately, and they often felt caricature-ish. Over-exaggerated architecture and characters were unbelievable, with the Judge who sentences Alex and the description of the outside of the prison particularly standing out in my mind in this respect.

I...more

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Sep 27, 2009 Haley Mathiot rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

My summary: Alex was like any other boy. Go to school, hang out with his group, and control the monkey bars. But when he started stealing, his life changed for the worse. Out of nowhere, his best friend is murdered, and he is framed for it. he is sent to the child prison: a Hell hole. Worse than Hell. Furnace. When he’s there, he is disgusted with the way people live. Kids do hard labor like chipping rock. Gangs kill kids. and he isn’t the only innocent person who was framed. But there’s no ho...more My summary: Alex was like any other boy. Go to school, hang out with his group, and control the monkey bars. But when he started stealing, his life changed for the worse. Out of nowhere, his best friend is murdered, and he is framed for it. he is sent to the child prison: a Hell hole. Worse than Hell. Furnace. When he’s there, he is disgusted with the way people live. Kids do hard labor like chipping rock. Gangs kill kids. and he isn’t the only innocent person who was framed. But there’s no hope of escape. Nobody can escape furnace. Or at least, that’s what they all say. But that’s only because nobody ever has…

What I felt: Personally, the first time I looked at the cover, I found it just a little disturbing. I thought “eh, I doubt very seriously I’ll like that book. But hey—they want to send me a free book? I’ll take a free book.” So no, I didn’t really like the cover. They could have done much better, either artistically or graphically or even with the colors. But that’s just me as an artist and a girl :D so I did judge it. boy was that a mistake.
The first sentence of this book seemed to grab me by the neck: “If I stopped running, I was dead.” From there, the entire book held me and wouldn’t let me go, from that first sentence to the very end. In fact, it held me after the end, too. I distinctly remember my blood racing, heart beating, sweating, adrenalin searing through my veins while I read this book! It was breathtaking and riveting to the last word. And even after the last word. I sat there, staring at the blank page, gasping and panting like a dog from lack of oxygen from reading a book. (that doesn’t happen very often, people.)

Characters: The characters in this book were very relatable. They weren’t super people, they were real. They handled the horrific experiences of Furnace the same way I would have—screaming in their sleep, crying, throwing up from the horrors.

Writing: the writing was very good—not one of those books where the author just says what he wants to say. Alexander Gordon Smith followed my creative writing teachers’ first rule: Show, don’t tell. It was an amazing thing to read, the language was very full in vocabulary, and it had good prose. There wasn’t any really bad foul language either, like some of the other teen books I’ve been reading lately.
Recommendation: this book is a thriller, not a horror book, even though it’s mildly graphic (mildly. Not really that bad. Descriptive enough to be kinda gross at times… but hey, it could be just because I’m a girl.). It’s not the most horrific book I’ve ever read, but it’s certainly not for an eight-year-old. Personally I’d recommend it for anyone fourteen and up (but that’s just me).

Here is a link for a giveaway for this book! http://haleymathiot.blogspot.com/2009...

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Oct 31, 2012 Laura rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: just-no

Lock down was absolutely dreadful, and not the kind Mr. Smith was aiming for. The main character Alex is framed for murder in the killing of his best friend, so he is sent to Furnace to face a life of imprisonment with other troubled youths. first thing I did not like was the fact that all of the characters are so young, which makes the plot even more unreasonable. This kid spends a couple days in Furnace but acts like it's been a few years? The way the author describes the surroundings and vill...more

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May 13, 2013 Shirley Hu rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Lockdown(Escape From Furnace)Square Fish,2009,273 pp.,$8.11
Alexander Gordon Smith ISBN 0312611935

Main character, Alex Sawyer was a bully at school along with his friends. He could have changed his life from being a bully if he hadn't taken the poor bullied kid's money but he did. Then he got into doing robbery with his friend. In result, from the suspicious and horrifying robbery that goes all wrong from plan, he is framed as his friend's murder. Then convicted to the Furnace Penitentiary, the u...more

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Mar 15, 2013 Joe Bergquist rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

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Mar 15, 2013 Jesse Mashak added it · review of another edition

The book Lockdwon by Alexander Smith, tells the story of a young boy who was framed for the murder of his best friend and sentenced to life sentence in the worst prison on earth, Furnace. With demented creatures tormenting the boys and critically insane prison guards waiting to torture you at any possible moment. This book takes you to the depths of the world into the prison known as Furnace to feel the fear that these prisoners go through on a daily basis.
When reading the book Lockdown, I fel...more

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Mar 14, 2013 Ethan rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I stumbled across Lockdown by Alexander Gordon Smith while in the library one day and almost instantly fell in love with this book. Which is an odd term to use, love, because this book is one that lacks love and any forms of inherent compassion and does nothing but incite fear, and make you not want to turn off the lights in fear of being plunged into the descriptive hell that is known as furnace Penitentiary. This piece of gothic fiction s particularly interesting because it was my first dive i...more I stumbled across Lockdown by Alexander Gordon Smith while in the library one day and almost instantly fell in love with this book. Which is an odd term to use, love, because this book is one that lacks love and any forms of inherent compassion and does nothing but incite fear, and make you not want to turn off the lights in fear of being plunged into the descriptive hell that is known as furnace Penitentiary. This piece of gothic fiction s particularly interesting because it was my first dive into that type of book and I absolutely loved it along with the four sequels that were released as well.
This book is not for the faint of heart and even the strong will be shaken, a normal high school cat burglar named Alex Sawyer hears of a house that him and his friend Tobi can hit and get a good payoff but while in the house he is cornered by mysterious men one of whom has a gas mask stitched to his face and the kill his friend Tobi and frame him for the murder. Beneath heaven is hell, beneath hell is furnace. This is the maximum security prison that is located a mile underground in nothing but solid rock that Alex is sent to rot for the rest of his days. But when he gets there he finds that the same inhuman men that framed him are also the guards at the prison and as he makes his desperate bid for freedom he’ll learn the horrible secrets that lurk within furnace.
It was a shocking story to say the least filled with twists turns and a very much unexpected ending that leads right up to the sequel. This book also incited a lot of fear for it was very descriptive and always kept a dark tone. So be careful you might lose yourself down in furnace. I think the greatest part of the story is when Alex gets in a fight with a gang in prison to help one of the kids he promised to get out. It just showed that he wasn’t going to just blend into the crowd and let himself conform to what the warden or society wanted. It truly showed a bright light in his character that was otherwise almost obsolete.
It is a weird comparison to say that if you liked the Eragon series you’ll also like these books because they are such different works. But they fit together in one aspect that I love the descriptiveness, both these books made me feel like I was in the story and I was a part of what was going on. What the characters felt I felt, and I believe that to be an unparalleled affect of a book. I would give this book a 9/10 because it has a great plot a lot of description and appealed to my darker side.
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Mar 05, 2013 Alyssa rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is the first of a five book series all entitled "Escape From Furnace" by:Alexander Gordon Smith. I wouldn't normally gravitate towards this book just by looking at the cover I was a little nervous for what I was getting myself into, but it did have a darkness about it and every book I enjoy reading has a darkness to it so I decided to give it a chance. As I read this book I found myself unable to put the book down. at the beginning of the story the readers were introduced to the main charac...more This is the first of a five book series all entitled "Escape From Furnace" by:Alexander Gordon Smith. I wouldn't normally gravitate towards this book just by looking at the cover I was a little nervous for what I was getting myself into, but it did have a darkness about it and every book I enjoy reading has a darkness to it so I decided to give it a chance. As I read this book I found myself unable to put the book down. at the beginning of the story the readers were introduced to the main character Alex. Alex and his friend Toby did everything together but they weren't like the ordinary teenagers. They would rob houses together and that is how everything had all started. They were caught when robbing the house and Toby was killed but Alex wasn't that lucky. Alex was caught and was sent to Furnace. Many time in the book they referenced that there was "Heaven then Earth then Hell then Furnace". I believe that by saying that the author was opening up the idea of what Furnace was really like. Alex was ordered to serve his sentence in Furnace. His life as he knew it was going to change forever. As he entered Furnace there were many other teenage boys going down to Furnace with him and one of them was a boy named Zee. He and Zee stay friends throughout the remainder of the novel. Alex had met many other boys on the trip down to Furnace, but Zee is the most important of them as the story continues on. Alex was finally put into his cell and he met his cell mate. His name is Donovan. Donovan taught Alex and Zee the ways of Furnace. He taught them what was right and what was wrong and what chores to choose. He started off being kind of cold to Alex but he slowly started to warm up to him. He warned Alex mainly of the Skulls and 49'ers. The Skulls and 49's were the gangs that were blamed for the Summer Slaughter, murders of teens in rival gangs, and because they did that Furnace was created. Let's just say that the Skulls and Alex had a few too many run ins. In order to leave you wondering about the book I can only say a few more things. Alex wanted out, not just out for freedom but out to see his family again. Because of this he began to try to create an escape route out of Furnace. Donovan was not convinced that it was ever going to happen. But Alex got him to believe that it was possible. Now I will leave you to wonder what is going to happen. Will they escape? Will they ever be free again? Aside from the novel I would recommend this book to everyone who loves a great action novel! I know that I will most definitely be finishing off the book series! (less)

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Jan 17, 2013 Joe rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Beneath Heaven is Hell, beneath Hell is Furnace. Lockdown by Alexander Gordon Smith starts in an everyday life…of a delinquent. He and his friend have taken several of items from several of houses; each and every time getting away with and most times getting a pretty penny for it too. They hear about this one house where two seniors live and are very wealthy and went off for a week hiatus. It sparks the interest of Alex, the main character, and he grabs his buddy and breaks into the house. Not...more Beneath Heaven is Hell, beneath Hell is Furnace. Lockdown by Alexander Gordon Smith starts in an everyday life…of a delinquent. He and his friend have taken several of items from several of houses; each and every time getting away with and most times getting a pretty penny for it too. They hear about this one house where two seniors live and are very wealthy and went off for a week hiatus. It sparks the interest of Alex, the main character, and he grabs his buddy and breaks into the house. Not soon after that life as he knew it went from middle grounds (between Heaven and Hell) to Hell. These ginormous men come in wearing black suits and kill Alex’s buddy and then takes Alex into this wonderful place called the Furnace. The Furnace is where a bunch of mutant dogs and creatures are amok and kill who they please if the prisoners of Furnace aren’t in the safe zone by the time the alarms go off. It was originally made to hold juveniles for the rest of their lives and be no more than that, but once you get sent to the Furnace no one cares about you, and no one knows what happens. Since no one knows what happens, so the Warden, the big boss man, can do whatever he pleases. Alex needs to get out; he can’t stay in his Hellish home any longer. He meets friends along the way and they form a plot, so they think. A lot of hell breaks loose in the Furnace and Hell doesn't like letting people go, ever.

This book is fast paced in some parts then slow in others, but in the end it’s worth it. An age range for this book probably be appointed more towards teens or those that like a light thrill. Towards the middle of the book I found things to be a bit repetitive; right when you want to pick the book down, it catches you and pulls you back in. This book is obviously being the base of the rest of the series so yes, it is a tad boring in some parts and in some cases is painfully descriptive. I am now on the second book of the series and can say personally that, you have to read this book to the fullest because it makes the next book so much better. If I didn't read the first book the second one would like a bunch a freaks and make NO SENSE. I would recommend this book to those that are teens, enjoy a thrill, have a very vivid imagination, and can handle some gruesome events that occur. Read this book so you can read the others!!!
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Jan 12, 2013 Ellie rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Another book that I bought on a whim and was immidietly hooked to.

I was half expecting this to be another teenage boys book - full of action and not much emotional depth. I really used to go for books like that, but have recently grown out of them, but this one surprised me. It is as good for adults as it is for younger readers and the characters are very well written.

The atmosphere and setting of the book are very well done. You get a good idea of what Furnace is about and what it is like very...more

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Jan 10, 2013 Jack Manning rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The Book Lock-down, written by Alexander Smith, was one of the best books I have read for the past year. It is a faced paced book with intense and frightening scenes. If you don't like thrill seeking and scary stories I highly disagree with you reading it. The story starts when Alex is explaining his criminal life of how he would steal from wealthy houses and they would make bank on every house they hit. On the last job he did before getting framed " Then the black shadow moved, sweeping downwar...more

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Dec 21, 2012 Alexis Cain rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

At first, I wasn't sure I was going to like this book, simply because I was on the fifth chapter and still didn't have a clear picture of what Alex looked like. I gathered he wasn't fat, but was he super skinny or regular sized? Blonde? Brunette? Redhead? It was descriptive up to a point, but anything passed that and I had to use my own imagination. For Alex's appearance, I just used the boy on the cover since it kind of resembled how he was written.
Also, I had already found several grammatica...more At first, I wasn't sure I was going to like this book, simply because I was on the fifth chapter and still didn't have a clear picture of what Alex looked like. I gathered he wasn't fat, but was he super skinny or regular sized? Blonde? Brunette? Redhead? It was descriptive up to a point, but anything passed that and I had to use my own imagination. For Alex's appearance, I just used the boy on the cover since it kind of resembled how he was written.
Also, I had already found several grammatical errors both from punctuation, misspelled words, and words missing from some of the sentences. I was not happy with my first night reading this, but as I continued on, I found the descriptions got a little clearer. They still didn't cover everything I wish they had, but after he described the important parts, I was only really left with little extras to fill in. Definitely not as bad as in the beginning, which led me to believe the first few chapters weren't looked over before being published.
I found no structural errors, the flow was well written, and the quality of emotion injected into this story caused me to feel as the characters did. Admittedly, the most impressive aspect of this book was the sheer creativeness in the ideas it is made of. The grotesque and unsettling attributes of the monstrosities in Furnace was enough to fill me with fear, even if it hadn't inspired that effect in Alex as well. It seems not all of these creatures are what they seem to be, and I'm very curious to discover what they were and how they came to be what they are now. Namely, I'd love to know more about the blacksuits and about the Warden.
Alex was realistically written, I thought. He was a criminal, though ultimately a good kid framed for murder. He was a bully, but when thrown into Furnace and witnessing a kid being wailed on ,can't help but come to the rescue against a dangerous gang known as the Skulls. He's scared out of his mind most of his time spent in the dangerous prison filled with killers and not quite human captors, but he finds bravery enough to risk worse than death and escape under their noses.
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Dec 05, 2012 Ryan Conley rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

1b. A kid named Alex starts stealing in Elementary school. He stole every once awhile, but after about 1 or 2 years he started stealing from houses. Alex & Toby went on this gig that it would last them about 6 months. When they went into the house, there were these guys in black suits that were in there that killed Toby. And after the accident they had framed Alex for the murder and he was sent to prison without parole.

1c. At about 60 pages into the book there is this very suspenseful even...more

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Oct 16, 2012 Donnie rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

this book was a really good book because it kept me reading when usually want to put a book down. I found it hard to stop reading and put the book down. the book was about an innocent(not all that innocent) teen who was framed for his friends murder. Alex has to fight to survive in furnace, an underground prison described as hell on the inside by the prisoners. not only does furnace have guards but they have surgery mutated guards and dogs at night they have blacksuits which are the mutated guar...more

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Sep 20, 2012 Matt rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: eye-catching-cover, read-in-2011-or-2012

3/5 is fair. 12-14 year old boys will dig this, but little of any other age group. Maybe older boy teens, but if your over 18, you're on to bigger and better stuff.

it's plotted enough to keep you reading, but the middle of this thing is just a wandering pile of "ohhs" and "ahhs" and scenes of atmosphere building as nausem. A "by-the-book" situational-thrill ride, which, once you're done, you've forgotten most of the middle. You also wonder why it was as long as it was, which was the same problem...more

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Aug 26, 2012 Jasmin rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is a depressing story that is full of suspense. It is the story of how a teenage boy, Alex Sawyer, was caught in a crime and accused of murdering his best friend Toby. Alex is sent to Furnace Penitentiary, a juvenile detention center that is buried thousands of feet underground. Once there, Alex meets other prisoners.During his time at Furnace he is tortured brutally by the guards. His life is continuously put in danger. Then his friends and him make up a plan to escape when they find out t...more

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Aug 14, 2012 Riolu Dawson rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is probably one of the Creepeist books I have ever had the pleasure of reading. The stuff in this book is so awful, so twisted...so frightening...and I mean that in the best way possible.

I am a HUGE FAN of Michael Grant's gone series and this series had me thinking of Gone as I read it. Like GONE, Lockdown's characters face a frightening and unknown situation that gets worse and worse as the book progresses.

Let's start with characters....

My favorite has to be Zee<3 He is just so awesome....more

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Aug 08, 2012 Annette rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

While Lockdown: Escape from Furnace made me squirm in discomfort, it does require a great deal of suspension of disbelief.

It is hard to believe that the country has become so afraid of teen gangs that they have built an underground, maximum security prison, which offers no hope of release or parole. No opportunity for rehabilitation. OK. Let's all get past that now, because Lockdown: Escape from Furnace is definitely a page turner, and will appeal to a very large number of teens, in particular b...more While Lockdown: Escape from Furnace made me squirm in discomfort, it does require a great deal of suspension of disbelief.

It is hard to believe that the country has become so afraid of teen gangs that they have built an underground, maximum security prison, which offers no hope of release or parole. No opportunity for rehabilitation. OK. Let's all get past that now, because Lockdown: Escape from Furnace is definitely a page turner, and will appeal to a very large number of teens, in particular boys.

Alex has been framed for the murder of his friend. No one believes he didn't do it. Alex isn't a perfect kid, he's been burglarizing and bullying, but he's no murderer. He is quickly convicted and is sent to Furnace Penitentiary for life without the possibility of parole. He's 14 years old. As Alex is taken to prison, he realizes that many of the inmates have been framed. And they figure out they've been framed by the people who run this private prison.

I was grossed out much of the time as Alex experiences the horrors of Furnace. There is no supervision -- inmates beat on each other and can pretty much do what they want. There are horrible dogs with no skin that are let loose to kill the boys who don't make it to their cells in time. In the middle of the night, horrible creatures with gas masks stitched to their faces randomly chose boys to be taken away, never to be seen again. The food is horrible mush, made from mostly rotten ingredients. I'm sure young boys will enjoy all of these horrible descriptions of this dark, dirty, and dangerous place.

I'm a mom. Along with being sick to my stomach, I felt such heartbreak for these babies. To think that their parents believed the courts and didn't fight for their innocence. That the government had no control or supervision of how these youth were treated. Well, like I said, it's a bit unbelievable, but I'm not the target audience. I know for a fact that these books fly off the shelves. When I purchased Lockdown: Escape from Furnace, the clerk said, "We really sell a lot of these books!"

Lockdown ends in a huge cliffhanger -- well, really it just ends without any resolution -- but there are currently four books in this series, and the fifth comes out in November. I'm not sure I will be going any farther, but I'll definitely purchase the rest for my library. Escape from Furnace would be a great series for reluctant readers, particularly boys.(less)

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Jun 12, 2012 Liviania rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

LOCKDOWN is the first in the Escape from Furnace trilogy, which is already available in full in the UK. They're set in an alternate future, one in which teenage gang members wreaked havoc for one memorable summer. Now, the adults are afraid of their kids. Now, juvenile offenders go to Furnace. This underground prison is for life. Although sometimes it seems like calling it life might be a stretch.

The story is narrated by Alex Sawyer, who was a decent kid commiting progressively worse crimes. How...more LOCKDOWN is the first in the Escape from Furnace trilogy, which is already available in full in the UK. They're set in an alternate future, one in which teenage gang members wreaked havoc for one memorable summer. Now, the adults are afraid of their kids. Now, juvenile offenders go to Furnace. This underground prison is for life. Although sometimes it seems like calling it life might be a stretch.

The story is narrated by Alex Sawyer, who was a decent kid commiting progressively worse crimes. However, he didn't kill his best friend; he was framed by the black suits - the Furnace guards themselves. The only way he keeps himself going is by dreaming of escape, taking his new friend Zee and his roommate Donovan with him. Of course, he manages to make life more difficult for himself by antagonizing the Skulls, the prison gang.

But the gangbangers are nothing. LOCKDOWN is a horror novel, and as such is filled with a couple of eldritch abominations. Alexander Gordon Smith deploys them well: he describes the monsters' physicality and basic functions, but often leaves the most brutal moments to the imagination. Books never really scare me, but Smith does well at creating an atmosphere of dread and punctuating it with terrible events. I also like that the ending seems to promise there will be some explanation of how these creatures came to be in the other two books.

On the down side, LOCKDOWN definitely feels like the beginning of a trilogy. Yes, the boys achieve something at the end, but the novel ends immediately after. Most of Alex's adventures are set-up, making sure the horrific scenery of Furnace is fully in place. Eventually an escape plan develops, but until then the plot is a thin affair, not much more than a reason the characters are in such an awful place. (Of course, horror is not a genre that calls for dense, involved plots.)

I wish I knew about this series earlier, since I could've bought myself copies of SOLITARY and DEATH SENTENCE. Now I'll just have to wait with the other Americans. That or have my friend who's studying abroad in Ireland this spring ship me some books - after all, she will owe me a twenty-first birthday present.

LOCKDOWN is a good choice for people who enjoy something creepy and have a strong stomach. And due to an Anthropology class two years ago, I can't help but think people who are into prison reform would enjoy it metaphorically. (less)

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May 31, 2012 Ken Kugler rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This was a great start to the series. I had been hearing some buzz on it but mostly noticed that it was almost never in the library.
Alex is the main character and he starts the story of Furnace by telling us how he got there. Alex shows us the path leading down to being a crappy person, one who becomes a criminal because he is/was to rationalize what he wants. He shows that timeline so we realize that he has a soul and conscience that is redemptive.
Furnace is a prison below grown and was built...more

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May 27, 2012 Stéphanie rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: dark-and-gritty

First, I loved this book. In the three hours that took me to finish it, I fell for the universe and the characters, rooted for them, felt surprised at the revelations. Still, perhaps because I'm not the target audience for it, being twenty two and female, I couldn't help but wonder if the book would've been better if written by someone else, or if it had had a meatier inside. The pace was perfectly fine, but where authors like Stephen King manage to cook 300 pages, there were what, 100? And it f...more

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May 14, 2012 Jeff rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

When I first saw The Lockdown by Alex Smith, it didn’t seem like a great book. Alex makes the characters seem like real people. The characters are well described about their personality and how their physical condition is. Alex starts to make you have a connection to the readers because there are different types of people that all have different personalities. At points in the book my heart rate increased because the character was in a adrenaline moment and it seemed like I was in the same situa...more

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May 02, 2012 Meg rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: young-adult

Alex Sawyer is a juvenile delinquent and school yard bully. He takes what he wants not caring who he hurts, until he is arrested and sent to prison for the murder of his friend, a murder he didn’t commit. The prison is the notorious Furnace Penitentiary, a literal hell on earth for Juvies where monstrous creatures, huge men in black suits, and skinless horrors that look and act like killer dogs prowl the corridors. Alex quickly realizes that if he can’t find a way out, it’s just a matter of time...more

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Apr 01, 2012 Rivkah rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: awsome-books, possible-mature-subject

Another book with amazing writing. Fast paced, and the characters were brought to life, lot more of which was detailed and brought together, to make the story complete, then the second book. (Only saying that by reading Lockdown I understood solitary better. They are separate books in the fact that this one focuses on life in the main prison population rather than stuck down in the hole.

A lot of things in this book go a bit like "oh every things fine.." to "what just happened! How could that...more

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Mar 17, 2012 Laura Lee Anderson rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I made it to page 40.

I can't remember the last time I just put down a book because I couldn't take it any more! Oh wait- the 3rd (or 4th?) book in the Gone series. And for the same reason- there was no hope.

The first chapter gave me hope- it was an exciting chase scene. The monster was innovative. The chaos was fun to envision. But from there on... it did not deliver.

First of all, the protagonist didn't have much of a personality. I'm sure it will develop over time, but there weren't even glimp...more

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Mar 09, 2012 Aik Chien 인첸 rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I usually don't say this, but...
.
.
.
.
.

Lockdown. Is. Amazing!!! *inserts hardcore-fan squeal*

Being super engrossing and totally un-put-down-able, I couldn't stop reading this book, and ended up finishing it by 4 o'clock in the morning, only then did I close the book with a satisfied smile on my face and went to bed dreaming about Alex's Escape.

What I love about this book:

1. A hero with a complex personality. Alex Sawyer is a school bully, a thief and a burgular --- but never a killer. After he is...more

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Is he Britsh or not?	16	49	Apr 07, 2013 07:04am
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About Alexander Gordon Smith

Alexander Gordon Smith is the author of the Escape from Furnace series of young adult novels, including Lockdown and Solitary. Born in 1979 in Norwich, England, he always wanted to be a writer. After experimenting in the service and retail trades for a few years, Smith decided to go to University. He studied English and American Literature at the University of East Anglia, and it was here that he...more

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Books by Alexander Gordon Smith

Death Sentence (Escape From Furnace, #3)

The Night Children (Escape from Furnace, #0.5)

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Quotes from Lockdown

“Don't make the mistake of bringing your heart down here with you, there is no place for it in Furnace.” — 37 people liked it

“When you're locked up in here for life, you learn to welcome the little freedoms.” — 29 people liked it

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Lockdown (Escape From Furnace #1)

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