What is your worst nightmare? I would be willing to bet that you could never dream of a place as horrible as Furnace. Furnace Penitentiary was built following the "Summer of Slaughter" when teenage gangs reigned, terrorizing and murdering, sending society into a state of fear and panic. Now it is a state of zero tolerance. You do the crime, you will do hard time, forever. If you are convicted, you are sentenced to life in this underground prison, where horrors beyond your wildest dream exist. Muscular, meat-eating guard dogs. A warden with black eyes like vortexes that seem to suck out your soul. Guards who wheeze due to the gas masks covering their faces, the gas masks that appear to sewn into their skin, the guards that come for you in the dark of night.In exchange for safety and security, the government and society have turned a blind eye to the prison. If they only knew what was really going on, would they allow the teenagers prisoners, who are children really, to be treated this way? Don't they deserve a second chance, especially if, like Alex, they maintain their innocence?
Welcome to Furnace, where there is no escape. Or is there?
Why I picked up the book: My alternative high school book club picked it. It had been recommended to me before but I'd never made the time to read it.
Why I finished it: I was hooked from the first page as Alex is running up the prison stairs to avoid whatever monstrous thing is chasing him and the other prisoners. I'm underwater claustrophobic so I know the threat of spending my life in an underground prison would do me in. I will definitely be picking up the sequels (will be 5 in the series by 2013).
I'd give it to: fans of horror, like Stephen King or Darren Shan. In fact I gave it to my King/Shan fan the minute I saw her. Definitely teen boys, especially those looking for a new series, although I've had girls like it too.
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
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