Lockdown: Escape from Furnace by Alexander Gordon Smith Review

Title: Lockdown (Escape from Furnace)

Author: Alexander Gordon Smith

Genre: Young Adult, Dystopia, Horror

Page Count: 273 pages

Book Type: Library Paperback

Publisher: Square Fish

ISBN: 9780312611934

Picture from Amazon

From Goodreads: Beneath Heaven is Hell. Beneath Hell is Furnace. 

Furnace Penitentiary: An underground hellhole. A place of pure evil with walls soaked in blood. Murderous gangs and vicious guards rule the darkness. Horrific creatures steal people away in the dead of night. And the impossible - escape - is the only hope. 

"Hotter than Hell and twice as much fun." -Darren Shan, author of the Cirque Du Freak series 

"Fresh and ferocious." -James Patterson

My Review: This is such a super creepy cover and I love it so much. The face inside of the one eye is amazing. The font is delightful as well. So much cover love. For once, the “Fresh and ferocious” -James Patterson on the cover doesn’t even really bother me too much. It isn’t really that noticeable and is still in the cool font. 

This is one of the first YA books that has labeled itself as a thriller/horror novel that I found to be really effective. It was actually pretty scary and had me terrified of going to Furnace. 

I really loved some of the characters in here. Alex’s cellmate, Donovan, is my favorite. He was one of the first boys to go to Furnace and he has lost all of the drive to leave Furnace. He goes through the daily routines and just tries to make it to another day. Things start to look up when Alex becomes his cellmate. The character development and the detail in this novel are very well thought out. 

This made me wonder what kind of institution the females are put into. Perhaps Alexander Gordon Smith could write a companion series about the female institution. There has to be one, right?

This wasn’t a fast paced read throughout the book, but I think that worked to its advantage. As a reader, the pace really allowed me to empathize with the characters. I’m really excited to read the second in the series to see the fate of the characters. The third one comes out this summer, I believe.

Have you started this series yet? Do you think you could survive a place like Furnace? Let me know in the comments!