Book info

• Title Lockdown
• Author Alexander Gordon Smith
• Year 2009
• Genre Young Adult

When thirteen-year-old Alex is framed for murder, his life changes forever. Now he is an inmate in the Furnace Penitentiary - the toughest prison in the world for young offenders. A vast building sunk deep into the ground, there's one way in and no way out. But rowdy inmates and sadistic guards are the least of Alex's problems. Every night an inmate is taken from his cell by guards and returned the next morning changed. Where are they taken and why are they returned covered with scars, acting as though they are not quite human? In a desperate bid for freedom Alex discovers a horrifying truth - that the Furnace Penitentiary is a place of pure evil, a place where cruel experiments take place every day, where inmates are guinea pigs, where monsters make monsters, and where death is the least of your worries...

Thoughts

I’m always one for a series, and this seemed like an easy-going adventure to kick things off. I couldn’t have been more wrong. It was horrifying! From start to finish, it just got worse and worse (although better and better, if horror is what you like). How anyone could survive those conditions is beyond me, let alone planning an escape.

The book is written well, fast-paced with a good mixture of wide-eyed innocence up against cynical brutality. It’s hard to believe a situation like this would exist - no matter how many riots and deaths there had been, due process must still be followed. But I guess it only takes one tiny butterfly wing flap and dystopia arises. So, a good story, but not really for me. I won’t catch the rest of the series, but recommend it for those who can handle the pain!

Rating: 3 / 5