Lockdown - Alexander Gordon Smith

Furnace Penitentiary: the worlds most secure prison for young offenders, buried a mile beneath the earths surface. Convicted of a murder he didnt 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 inmatessome innocent kids who have been framed, others cold-blooded killersAlex plans an escape. But as he starts to uncover the truth about Furnaces deeper, darker purpose, Alexs actions grow ever more dangerous, and he must risk everything to expose this nightmare thats hidden from the eyes of the world.

Published: 2009-10-27 (Farrar, Straus and Giroux (Byr))

ISBN: 9780374324919

Language: English

Format: Hardcover, 273 pages

Goodreads' rating: -

Genres

Young Adult Horror Science Fiction Dystopia

Reviews

Jeniece rated it

Jai mis longtemps a me lancer dans cette lecture, en premier temps parce que lâge du personnage me refroidissait un peu, Alex Sawyer a 13 ans au début du récit, et 14 ans quand il intègre la Fournaise, du coup je craignais une écriture trop jeunesse, et une histoire trop édulcorée pour la thématique de lhistoire, mais la réalité est tout autre et je suis ravie davoir tenter cette lecture !Parceque en réalité Alex est mûre pour son âge, il ma dailleurs fait penser à plusieurs reprise à Thomas dans le Labyrinthe de James Dashner, ils ont un peu le même tempérament, cette manière de se soucier des autres et de foncer tête baisser sans se soucier réellement des conséquences. Mais il ny a pas que le personnage dAlex qui ma fait penser au Labyrinthe, la construction de lhistoire, les personnages en général, il y a énormément déléments qui mont rappelé ce que jai ressenti en lisant la trilogie de James Dashner. Cest pourquoi je pense sincèrement que cest une histoire qui pourrait plaire aux fans de cette trilogie, sans pour autant que ça soit une pâle copie, cest différent, mais similaire, bref, je vous recommande de le lire pour que vous puissiez le constater de vous-même.L'auteur ne propose pas quelque chose d'édulcoré comme je le craignais, non à la Fournaise la vie est dure, très dure, j'ai même envie de dire cauchemardesque, des prisonniers tentent même de mettre fin à leur jour tant le calvaire est insoutenable. Je ne souhaiterais même pas à mon pire ennemi de finir à la Fournaise. Donc si jamais comme moi vous hésitiez à démarrer cette lecture de peur de tomber dans une histoire beaucoup trop éducolrée et jeunesse, n'attendez plus, vous ratez certainement quelque chose. :)

Jamesy rated it

Fast paced and bloody brilliant.Don't go looking for snakes, you might find them..Don't send your eyes to the sun, you might blind them,Haven't I seen you here before?There ain't no heroes here....This is a shit-meet-fan kind of book. There are no sugary bits glossing over events because of the main character's age. It's actually adds to the horror, when you are forced to see kids as adults and surviving trough ordeals you are certain most adults wouldn't survive trough.It has it all. Underground prison from hell, gangs and turf war. Fights, murder, mad science experiments and a band of unlikely friends. I have been reading quite a lot of dystopia lately and can safely say that I still have the taste for it. I like the fact that it's a rich genre. This particular spin is very engaging, it doesn't leave you with two minutes to catch your breath. It keeps you on your toes all the time. It's not something for the fans of insta justice, and evil vs. good. This book will give you chills....

Baldwin rated it

3.75*Jail is wild. The action scenes were the best part. I think there could have been more with the monsters, but that's probably going to be explored in future books. I like all the characters, but I'm not super into them like I would in one of my favorite books. The main character is a bit too normal. Also the author really should of given him a more unique name than Alex. I've seen that name used so many times. People aren't even named Alex that much in real life.