Solitary by Alexander Gordon Smith

The book's synopsis from the publisher's website:

Furnace Prison ...
Where death is the least of your worries.
Escape is just the beginning ...

We thought we’d made it, we thought we were free. But we should have known there was no way out of Furnace.

All we did was slip deeper into the guts of the prison: into solitary confinement, where the real nightmares live - the warden, the Wheezers, and something much, much worse.

The clock’s ticking. Because if we don’t escape soon they will turn us into freaks - like them. For ever.

In the darkness of the hole your worst nightmares come to life.

This book rocked!!! I thought that maybe because it's a sequel, it wouldn't quite live up to the first book, Lockdown, but it definitely did and then some. Solitary has everything a reader may look for in a good, action packed thriller. It's full of nasty characters you just love to hate and want annihilated almost as much as the good guys do, it's very fast paced, almost not allowing a reader to surface for even one intake of breath, and  the protagonist, Alex Sawyer along with his friends (old and new), are such likable boys that you can't help but want them to succeed.

I have seen this series (Solitary is part two of the Escape from Furnace and there are apparently three more coming our way, yay!) being pitched as 'boy and reluctant reader' books and while it's certainly that, Solitary should be really read by all YA fans and even reader of adult thrillers. It asks important questions (How much authority is too much? How much punishment is too harsh?) and definitely makes a reader think. I like that there are some introspective passages in Solitary that were missing in Lockdown and that a little more is revealed about the Warden. It looks like the curtain of secrecy will be lifted every few inches with each book, until the grand finale. Besides the great, roller coaster fun, the secrets will make you want to come back for more.

BENEATH HEAVEN IS HELL

AND BENEATH HELL IS

FURNACE 

*******

Special thanks to Ksenia W. and Macmillan publishers for sending me a copy of this book for review.

Make sure you check out the website for Furnace Penitentiary and the author, Alexander Gordon Smith. They're both awesome, just like the series.

Show Me 5 - Lockdown by Alexander Gordon Smith

Ali from That's a Novel Idea has this cool meme which I decided to peruse when I am too lazy to write an actual review or simply don't think I have enough ideas to share about a book to create a cohesive post. Mind you, this will not have anything to do with the quality of the book.

Each Saturday You will post the answer to these questions. The number indicates the number of answers you will provide.

1 - Book you read and/or reviewed this week

2 - Words that describe the book

3 - Settings where it took place or characters you met

4 - Things you liked and/or disliked about it

5 - Stars or less for your rating

  

1 - Lockdown by Alexander Gordon Smith

2 - YA, thriller

3 - Alexander, a 14 year-old boy who is set up for the murder of his best friend and sentenced to life in prison

Donovan, Alexander's cell mate who despite the circumstances becomes his friend

Furnace, the worst place on earth to be, or rather worse even than hell itself, it's the prison of young boys where both Alexander and Donovan must survive against the odds and the odds are they are never  getting out of there alive, it's a place where unspeakable terrors lurk at night and you don't want to be caught outside your cell after the lockdown.

4 - There almost isn't anything that I disliked. I liked the setting, I think it was original since there aren't many books for YA, especially boys that are set in futuristic prisons. I liked the action, it was very quick paced, very engaging and got me through the book before I knew it. I liked the characters, both good and evil but especially good with their friendships and loyalty and courage in the face of unspeakable evil and with their spirit of never giving up. I disliked the lack of depth for the most evil of them all, the Warden. In my opinion there could have been more background for him, where he's from, why he was doing what he was doing, etc. There were only glimpses instead and for me it was a little frustrating. Maybe we'll know more in part two which is coming out in late fall 2010.

5 - it's not quite 5 stars, but definitely 4 (hardly ever will there be 5 stars from me, I reserve this rating for best of the best but 4 is pretty much very close).

*******

I received Lockdown from Shelf Awareness.