Lockdown (Escape from the Furnace series)

Synopsis: Taken from Google Books.

Macmillan, Oct 27, 2009 - Juvenile Fiction - 288 pages

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

Escape from the Furnace series book trailer and background publishing information (includes excerpts of other books in the series.  Parental guidance suggested.  Though this is a young adult title, with a 15-year-old protagonist, it is science fiction/horror and includes graphic scenes, violence, and some language.  Click HERE to got the PUBLISHER'S WEBSITE to view TRAILER and read excerpts.

Other books in the series:  Solitary, Death Sentences, Fugitives, Execution

Genre: Science Fiction/Horror

Pages:  273

Level: intermediate, advanced/mature

Author website

First paragraphs:

If I stopped running I was dead.

My lungs were on fire, my heart pumping acid, every muscle in my body threatening to cramp.  I couldn't even see where I was going anymore, my vision fading as my body prepared to give in.  If the siren hadn't been hammering at my eardrums, then I'd have been able to hear my breaths, ragged and desperate, unable to pull in enough air to keep me going.

Just one more flight of stairs, on more and I might make it.

I forced myself to run faster, the metal staircase rattling beneath my clumsy steps.  Everywhere around me other kids were panicking, all bolting the same way, to safety.  I didn't look back to see what was behind us.  I didn't need to.  I could picture it in my head, its demonic muzzle, silver eyes, and those teeth, like razor wire.

Someone grabbed my arm, pulling me back.  I lost my balance, spilling over the railing.  For a second, the yard appeared five stories beneath me and I almost let myself go.  Better this way than to be devoured, right?  Then the beast shrieked through its wet throat and I started running again before I even knew I was doing it.

I heard the rattle of the cell doors, knew they were closing.  If I was caught out here, then I was history.  I leaped up the last few steps, hurtling down the narrow landing. The inmates jeered from their cells, shouting for me to die.  They stuck out their arms and legs to trip me, and it almost worked.  I staggered, lurched forward, falling.

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