Lockdown by Alexander Gordon Smith - Starting 16th February 2014

[Noella]

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.

Join Maddison, Alley and me in reading this book!

[Alley]

I'm starting this a bit late. I'll get to it ASAP.

[Noella]

I'm starting this one late too. Looking forward to discussing it~

[Noella]

15% (view spoiler)[Gosh the Furnace sounds awful. I don't understand why the representatives from Furnace Penitentiary framed Alex in attempt to get him into the Furnace? Do they target kids who have been bad? (hide spoiler)]

[Maddie]

I haven't got it from my library yet and I'll probably start it really late sorry.

[Noella]

37%
(view spoiler)[This prison sounds like a sadistic game the silver-eyed men and gas-masked men has set up for the prisoners with the the way the siren sounds signalling various events. It's hard to believe that the society in this book is willing to punish kids in such a way (rather than condition them to change their ways) even with the Summer of Slaughter incident. Or is the inner workings of the Furnace a secret to everyone above ground?
I wonder what the 'greater purpose' to the Furnace is? (hide spoiler)]

[Noella]

48% (view spoiler)[There hasn't been much character background or development. We just get a bunch of guys going through the motions of what it means to be down in the furnace. Zee, Alex and Donovan laugh at inappropriate moments and what they're laughing about ain't even funny! (hide spoiler)]

[Noella]

57% (view spoiler)[Erm why has Alex got his nose up against the bars to witness the gas mask monsters when Donovan specifically told him to lay low? I'm getting annoyed at this book since things are happening for no reason except to frighten the prisoners. (hide spoiler)]

[Noella]

74% (view spoiler)[ Oh dear. What in the world did they do to Monty to make him a monster...? (hide spoiler)]

[Noella]

89% (view spoiler)[ Just when everything seemed to make a turn for the better, now the beans are spilled to psycho Gary, who's now following Alex and his friends to escape? I hope this book won't end in a cliffhanger... (hide spoiler)]

[Noella]

Ending thoughts
(view spoiler)[ I didn't like reading this much. I did like the friendship Donovan and Alex developed throughout their stay in the prison but I wasn't invested in the characters, mostly annoyed at them.

Why did Monty retain some of his old self? Who were the blacksuits before they started working in the Furnace? Where they the ones that were 'taken' in the blood watch? It looks like the outside world doesn't know about the horrors that occur in the Furnace... I don't think I'll be continuing on the series though to find out what happens after the escape though. (hide spoiler)]

[Maddie]

Sad to hear you didn't like it Noella. :(