Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

Unavailable
Lockdown
Unavailable
Lockdown
Unavailable
Lockdown
Audiobook7 hours

Lockdown

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

4/5

()

Currently unavailable

Currently unavailable

About this audiobook

Furnace Penitentiary is the world's most secure prison for young offenders, buried a mile beneath the earth's surface. Alex Sawyer is the "new fish." Convicted of a murder he didn't commit, sentenced to life without parole, he knows he has two choices: find a way out, or resign himself to death in the darkness at the bottom of the world. Except in Furnace, death is the least of his worries. 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.

Escape is Alex's only option. But it's not just about saving his own skin. The more he discovers, the more he understands that he is going to have to do whatever it takes to expose this nightmare hidden from the eyes of the world.

Fast-paced and full of shocks and terrors, Lockdown is the incredible first book in Alexander Gordon Smith's Escape from Furnace series.

LanguageEnglish
Release dateNov 27, 2009
ISBN9781441830357
Unavailable
Lockdown
Author

Alexander Gordon Smith

Alexander Gordon Smith lives in Norwich, England. "The Stephen King of YA horror," he is the author of The Fury; The Inventors; the Escape from Furnace series, which has sold nearly half-a-million copies; and the Devil's Engine series.

Related to Lockdown

Related audiobooks

Children's Action & Adventure For You

View More

Related articles

Reviews for Lockdown

Rating: 3.995867685950413 out of 5 stars
4/5

242 ratings53 reviews

What did you think?

Tap to rate

Review must be at least 10 words

  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    After violent riots by youths led the the murder of numerous people youth crime is now treated harshly and those convicted of murder face mandatory life imprisonment at a purpose built hell hole named Furnace. A young man is set up and see his friend and partner in crime murdered, then he is framed for the killing and sent to Furnace where he learns it is more than just a prison. It's an interesting story and I certainly thought the scenes were vivid and articulate. The sense of despair is conveyed well by the author, in a way it kind of reminded me of the Shawshank Redemption with the cruel warden, although obviously substantially different.Looking forward to the next installment.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    This author made me feel as if I were the person living through these events wishing that the bad things would pass by quickly but seem to slow down. I would definitely recommend it to anyone who is looking for a suspense/adventure book.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This is the first book in the "Escape from Furnace" series and it is great! Action-packed, fast-paced and quite brutal at times I raced to the finish. Furnace is a maximum security prison for young offenders ruled by black coats, dogs and wheezers. Alex Sawyer is the narrator and is a newbie to Furnace. even though he is an extremely likeable protagonist, my favourite character has to be Donovan. Donovan has been imprisoned for a number years and is Alex's cell mate and close friend. I love the dry humour Donovan shows regardless of the situation, and although he has a tough, hard exterior, he proves to be a loyal friend and a real softie on the inside. The last page of "Lockdown" is a cliff-hanger and I can't wait to see what happens next.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    A very dark novel. Many horrific moments but I really enjoyed reading it. Don't go into it with your eyes closed though. There is no sunny outlook I this book. Still I like a good dystopia YA and look forward to reading the next book.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I flew through this book...started and finished within 24 hours. It's a fast paced and completely gripping story about a boy named Alex who gets framed for murder and sent to Furnace, an underground prison. A prison that is filled with horrible creatures and no way of escaping, that is until Alex plans a grand scheme to do just that. It reminded me a bit of the prison scenes in The Chronicles of Riddick.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    This was an excellent read if you like adventure stories. It did take a while for the story to pick up pace but it was great once it got going.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I fell in love with this series immediately. A work of art
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Excellent voice acting to go along with one of my favorite book series from high school!
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Not sure what all the hype was about. Didn't love this book, there are some good horror scenes sprinkled within but between the narrator with his lackluster story telling and the missed opportunities the author let slide by...there is no way I am going to start the next book. The few thrills aren't worth it. It is just ok.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    This was fantastic thank you so much for your narration you made the book come to life, and your black suit voice was what i imagined it to be
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Not nearly as thrilling towards the end, as it is when our friends gets locked up in Furnace. Would maybe read more in the future, but I'm in no hurry... Only reason would be to see how the cliff hanger at the end of this book is carried into the second book.. I assume there's more prison breaking. A grim, dark read for teens, more likely boys than girls. As close to teen horror as I've read.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I.Loved.This.Book. I enjoy a lot of Y.A. adventure storied and dystopian tales, but this one ranks up there with the best of them. The story is about a boy named Alex who is a little bit of a troublemaker though not terrible. He winds up getting framed for a murder and sent to a prison underground called Furnace Penitentiary. The rest is a thrill ride of friendship, hope, horror, and suspense that holds you right up to the last page. I was seriously stressed for Alex and his friends. I'm going to start Solitary right now. A very thrilling and scary read that pulled me in and didn't let go. 8.5/10 Stars.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    AWESOME!!! I can't even beginning to tell how much I loved this book. Glued to the pages is an understatement. I'm not sure how I missed hearing about this series but I'm so glad I found out about it. Drop everything and start this book today. Highly recommend.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I enjoyed reading this story. I kept thinking about it during the moments of the day when I wasn't actually reading it. I was completely intrigued.

    That being said, I hesitate to recommend this to my 12-year-old. I think it's definitely fine for an older youth, say 9th-12th grade.... But it was definitely too graphically violent for my middle-schooler. I think she'll like it in a few years.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    An easy YA action book.

    All the evidence is against Alex Sawyer. The jury found him guilty for killing his friend Toby and they throw him in prison. But even as Alex swears he didn't do it, he has to adapt to this prison called Furnace. Which is basically hell on earth. It's where gangs rule and lifting your eyes is a sign of rebellion. But that's only in the "day". At night comes something worse with strange blacksuits and mutated dogs. Is escape even thinkable?

    The style reminds me a little of Anthony Horwitz's Alex Rider series, even though the plot is completely different. Something about the insane escapes, basically all male perspective, (excessive?) action, and the writing style (short and to the point). And, ha even their names are the same!

    It's a little too out-there to be truly scary.

    I didn't quite believe Donovan's character as Jekyll and Hyde. He was too friendly to even appear to give off a mean facade. I almost wish we got to see him beat another kid up to deserve the respect he seemed to have in the book.

    The book was interesting because it explored the Furnace at a good pace. Not too slow to make it boring, but just enough for the reader to appreciate all of the prison's horrors.

    The first person perspective did the book justice. We got to see everything through Alex's eyes and it worked. No awkwardness or strange mind-jumping.

    Obviously the escape is a bit ridiculous, but hey, artistic license, right?

    Three stars. Fairly standard action book. Quick and easy read just for fun.
    Would recommend if you liked the Alex Rider series or a lot of easy action with no romantic interest.

    Note: I didn't like the future books (not even book 2) because after the initial interest in the world wore off, I found plotlines to be a little too contrived and too much blatant reader manipulation to enjoy the book anymore. But the first book is decent as a standalone, sort of.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Alex Sawyer is framed for murdering his best friend and sent to "Furnace" a prison for teen boys deep underground. Here Alex discovers that hellish experiments are being done on the boys and his existence becomes a nightmare of fear and survival. Along with a few friends, he schemes a breakout that ends the book in a cliffhanger. #2 is Solitary, not as good as the first book. Alex is put in solitary confiinement with his friend, Zee. They are aided by Simon, a boy who was experimented on, but who escaped and is hoping that Alex can help them all finally break out from Furnace. #3 is Death Sentence.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    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.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Interesting story, but didn't love the writing.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    This is pure teen boy bait - gruesome, violent, and scary, with absolutely no girls. I think it's also pretty purely YA; there's not a lot of there there, and not a lot to recommend it other than the creep factor.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    One part Great Escape, one part Running Man and one part Stand By Me, Lockdown is the kind of story that should appeal to the rebel with a heart of gold in all of us - especially if that rebel is a teenage boy.

    For me, however, all the surprises were of the more or less expectable variety, so I found it a bit too simple - right on target for it's intended audience, perhaps - but simple enough for me that I doubt I'll continue with the series.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    The horrors of experimenting on humans without consent. Conversation starter for how prisoners are treated.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    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 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.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    The book Lockdown is the first in the Escape from Furnace series. This book made me feel like I was standing right next to Alex, the protagonist in this story. This was a book to remember. Alex was framed for a crime that he never committed. He was dragged off to the prison furnace where he had to fight to survive. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes gore and psychopath mutant creations. In furnace there are also dangerous groups of gangs who were sent there after the summer of slaughter, which was a time when gangs killed people for fun. The furnace was built in the first place, so kids would be afraid to commit crimes.Alex made friends in furnace. One of his new friends actually did kill someone, but it was for a reason. His name is Donovan, and he killed his mom's boyfriend because he would beat her and mistreat her. His second friend is Zee, and he was framed like Alex.I already bought the next one in the series to read.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    14-yr-old Alex is no "Boy Scout" but when he is framed for murder and sent to the legendary Furnace Penitentiary, his troubles just begin. Black suits, skinless dogs, a monstrous warden, and dangerous gangs inhabit this futuristic jail, set miles underground in bedrock. This reader didn't have to go far to realize the drill: danger at every turn and escape is in everyone's mind. One supposes Alex escapes at book's end and thus begins the sequel. Great reading for adrenalin-seeking youth... just mind the prison cliches.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    4.5. This was heading for a 4, but that ending made me grin so much.

    This ends on a cliffhanger. This book barely skims the surface of this prison, society, and characters. This books raises more questions than answers them.

    For a YA novel, I consider it very dark. Children that are killers, gangs, no skin dogs that eat children, soulless silver-eyed men, child labor, etc.

    As dark as it got at times, the novel was sprinkled with much needed humor and hope. There was one time I swear I could hear Sean Astin in the Goonies saying to the group, "Down here, it's our time. It's our time, down here." Yes, I am a nerd. Shut your haterfaces.

    Can't wait to read the rest of the series.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    “Beneath heaven is hell ~ Beneath hell is Furnace”

    I absolutely loved this book; it was horrifyingly thrilling and intense all the way through, with plenty of teamwork..! After I finished it I couldn’t stop thinking about it, the characters and what happened to them throughout the many chapters..! Alexander Gordon Smith has such a way with words that the reader gets sucked into the story, feeling every emotion and will want to know:

    “What will happen next?!”

    I admit that question often came to my mind, and I was eager to move onto the next scene. I really liked the main, he didn’t annoy me one bit. Alex insists he’s not a good person, but yes, there’s something about his character that makes him a good person in my opinion. So many people make mistakes, are influenced by those around them. But he learns to accept his flaws as they are, and learns from his mistakes to better himself. He gets a person to think, and had a way at drawing other boys who were locked in Furnace to him. He gives them hope and even gives them something to smile about ~ Even in the pits of Furnace!!

    “You don't have friends in here, you'll soon come to understand that. You get attached to someone, then you'll just lose them. They'll get shanked or they'll jump or they'll be taken one night.”

    That was a quote that stuck in my mind. It was put up as a natural barrier to keep a person’s emotions in check. To make sure they don’t get hurt further, when those closest to them are pulled away. As soon as Alex came into the picture, that barrier was thrown to the wayside for Donavan, as much as he tried to resist. Alex would follow him around from the very beginning like a lost puppy. Yes, he was reckless, and Donavan wished he wasn’t his roommate. But an undeniable friendship was formed between the two of them.

    “I’ve decided to escape!

    Oh gosh, escape?! That’s crazy, this is Furnace! Oh wait, he’s crazy enough that he might just pull this off O_O;; *Sneakily follows!*”

    I really feel this book has everything you could possibly want, and more!! If you love intenseness, and teamwork, then this is definitely a story I’d recommend! And I can’t wait to find out what’ll happen next :D!!
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    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.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Escape from Furnace is about Alex being framed for killing his friend by ‘Black suits.’ Then, he gets sentenced to life in prison at a place called the Furnace. He meets Donavon, who is his cell mate, and Zee, who he met on the way to the prison. Later on he meets Toby and they make a plan to escape by filling rubber gloves with gas and then blowing a hole in a wall in room two. Room two is a mining room where people were mining and they found a river. The night before they planned their escape Donovan was taken by the Weazers. The Weazers are people who have gas masks sewn onto their faces. They take kids and turn them into dogs and ‘black suits’. At the end, they escape from the Furnace. I would rate this book a 5 because I LOVED this book!! This is my favorite series because it kept me reading and it was hard to put down the book. It is very action packed and is very interesting. I think this book is good for young adults because it is kind of creepy for little kids. I like the way that there are twists and turns within the book . There are 5 books in this series and each time I finish a book I can’t wait for the next book. I wish the books would never end. I totally recommend it!
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Sounds bizarre right? It is. Lockdown is a whole other world of evil. Think of the depths of hell and the evil that must brew close to the center of the earth... then multiple it. That is Furnace Penitentiary. Smith created a world so evil the Devil would be scared. His depiction of Furnace is chilling- while reading, I could picture this horrible place in my mind as I traveled along side Alex as he sunk below the earths surface and entered a nightmare. Not your typical jail story, the reader learns early on that the workers from Furnace are not there to protect you- they are there to fill beds. Guilty or not, the kids who end up in Furnace are in for the worst nightmare imaginable, because in Furnace, everyone is guilty of their crimes. Unimaginable monsters are woven into the story in the form of gangs, mutant animals, and gas mask clad creatures. Everyone must fight to survive- and hope they make it through the night.
    I must say that this was a bit slow in the beginning- although it was necessary. We need a back story for Alex to understand who he is and why he ends up at Furnace. Once we get to Furnace though, things move quickly. The story picks up some serious momentum and I plowed through. Smith created such disturbing pictures in my head that I swear it was real. Smith laid a foundation of fear as he described Furnace Penitentiary and described the underbelly of the earth. The monstrous dogs that come for the inmates was a vivid image in my mind thanks to beautifully wicked descriptions. The evil gas masked creatures that mark the cells in the middle of the night were haunting- I could hear their screams in my head. Overall, Smith did a mind blowing amount of description without slowing his pace or losing his readers. The minute details that he wove into the story created such an ugly picture. I was amazed. The characters were not as developed but it almost didn't matter- he gave us enough to get attached and feel for Alex, Donovan, and Zee. Other players in the story were also memorable, even without huge back stories.
    I was greatly impressed with the writing in Lockdown and as so pleased to have found Alexander Gordon Smith. His writing is disturbingly wicked and quite memorizing I will absolutely read the next one in this series: Solitary and certainly finish this series- there are five books in all. I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a creepy action filled tale.

    1 person found this helpful

  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Kids these days are just a bunch of hoodlums. They don't got no respect. They're violent because of their video games and the like. It certainly is not too difficult to imagine that, should there be some event to set it off, that governments (and the people) might get the idea that some kids are irredeemable. Some people cannot be saved, cannot be turned into good citizens; they should be allowed to rot.

    Of course, this is a serious waste of resources. They're not okay with the death sentence, but they're willing to condemn children to a life sentence without possibility of parole in a jail of horrors. Right. The logic of other people confuses me. Even though they don't give the boys much, this still has to be an incredibly expensive operation.

    Then you have to factor in the fact that the folks running Furnace are framing boys for murder to add to the prison population, probably because they're dying off too fast, thanks to the violence of the guards and the violence of the inmates. I really am looking forward to continuing with the series. At the end of Lockdown, you don't know much. Basically, you know enough to know that some seriously bad shit is going down.

    I mentioned that Alex was framed, and he was, but I what I have not yet stressed is the robbery part. Alex is not a good guy. He was a bully and graduated from stealing classmate's money to robbing homes. He definitely was a criminal. Even so, he does not deserve the treatment he's receiving in Lockdown. It's important to keep that in mind, because that's much of the point; this setting makes even the boys harsher than Alex seem somewhat sympathetic.

    Lockdown will definitely appeal to teenage boys, full of violence and creepy monsters. Of course, don't let that limit you, because I enjoyed it. I'm looking forward to finding out more about the dystopian world that created Furnace.