Death Sentence

Escape from Furnace #3

by Alexander Gordon Smith

Alex's second attempt to break out of Furnace Penitentiary failed. This time, his punishment will be much worse than before. Because in the hidden, bloodstained laboratories beneath the prison, he will be made into a monster. As the warden pumps something evil into his veins--a sinisterly dark nectar--Alex becomes what he most fears . . . a superhuman minion of Furnace. How can he escape when the darkness is inside him? How can he lead the way to freedom if he is lost to himself?

Genres: Horror, Young Adult, Science Fiction, Dystopia, Fiction, Thriller, Fantasy

297 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2009

About the author

Alexander Gordon Smith is the author of the Escape from Furnace series of young adult novels, including Lockdown and Solitary. Born in 1979 in Norwich, England, he always wanted to be a writer. After experimenting in the service and retail trades for a few years, Smith decided to go to University. He studied English and American Literature at the University of East Anglia, and it was here that he first explored his love of publishing. Along with poet Luke Wright, he founded Egg Box Publishing, a groundbreaking magazine and press that promotes talented new authors. He also started writing literally hundreds of articles, short stories and books ranging from Scooby Doo comic strips to world atlases, Midsomer Murders to X-Files. The endless research for these projects led to countless book ideas germinating in his head. His first book, The Inventors, written with his nine-year-old brother Jamie, was published in the U.K. in 2007. He lives in England.

http://us.macmillan.com/author/alexan...

Reviews

[Paige Bookdragon · Rating 4 out of 5]

What the actual fuck.

Death Sentence is the wild card in this series. This book is definitely a game changer.

If you're the type of person who is scared riding a roller coaster but wants to experience the thrill, then read this one. It's one hell of a ride.

[Mel Steadman Hunt · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ugh. Maybe it's because it's nearing the end of the year and I'm behind on my GR goal, but my patience for reading books I'm not enjoying has dramatically decreased. I used to try to finish books no matter what, but I can't be bothered. If I'm over half way and still bored, I think it's time to give up. It helps that my boyfriend has read it and told me what happens, so it's not like I really don't know what goes on at the end of this book. It's just disappointing after a pretty good, enjoyable first 2 books in the series, to dislike this one so much. But oh well. On to my next read.

[Amy Jacobs · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just when I thought Alex had no hope or strength left inside of him, the author renewed my hope in this story. When we last saw Alex he was burning in the incinerator. He had been pulled from the flames by the Black Suits and taken to the lab -- a lab that holds even more evil than we have seen so far. The Warden has decided to make Alex into one of them. The Alex of old will be nothing but a memory and a new but stronger Alex will emerge.


I finally understood the meaning of remembering your name when captured by the Black Suits. It actually does make sense once you get to book three. What Alex is turned into is a stronger and darker side of his true self. We also learn about how Alfred Furnace invented the Nectar and his reasoning in creating Furnace Penitentiary. Involving WWII and Nazi history within the horrors of Furnace Hell, plots are revealed and surprises are around every corner. I loved the return of previous characters and the mental strength that Alex realizes he has had. Has Furnace created their perfect monster, or have they created their own terror they can't control?


An amazing addition to the series that is quickly gaining attention from readers everywhere! I can't wait for the next book in the series that features Alex as a fugitive on the run from Alfred Furnace!

[Lucie Aran · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hodnocení: 4,5/5 ✩
Je skoro až neuvěřitelné, že se autorovi mohlo po předchozích dvou dílech podařit, dostat do třetího dílu ne jen víc napětí, ale i akce. Avšak je tomu přesně tak. Rozsudek smrti je jízda, od začátku až do konce. Autor tak dává čtenáři jasně na srozuměnou, že je třeba s ním počítat ne jen v rámci žánru krimi thriller, ale i sci-fi. Jeho knihy jsou ne jen originální, se sympatickými postavami a mají spád, ale není nouze ani o vypjaté situace nebo nečekané zvraty.
Sama se už moc těším, na další knihy.

[Cori · Rating 3 out of 5]

Death Sentence is the third book in the five part Furnace series. To catch you up quickly, the Furnace series takes place in a below-ground youth prison in Australia in which a warped warden conducts experiments on the boys. While the books have always strayed slightly into the sci-fi realm, this book firmly sets up camp in sci-fi, and I would even go as far as to say the biopunk realm.

I really enjoyed these books. The Audible narrator is fantastic and nails the voices, accents, and urgency of the plot. The setting is unique. I've always had a thing for prison escape novels. And the lack of any romance or female presence in a young adult novel is an absolute breath of fresh air.

Bodie was my absolute favorite character in this book. Where was he sooner??

That said, this may be my station to get off the Furnace train. I really enjoy these books, but the internal monolog of Alex, the main character, is eating up so much territory, I would have a hard time pushing through two more books when the series probably would have sufficed as a trilogy. Fantastic books with an original plot. Highly recommend, especially for male readers looking for a great male lead...actually all male cast. I'm torn, but I think this is my stopping point, although I'm invested enough in the story that I may try to find a synopsis online.

I'd rate this a hard PG-13 for blood and gore, violence, scary situations and creatures, and mild swearing.

[Diabolica · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this more than the first. This has never happened before.

How?

Truth be told, I was starting to like the characters a lot more. The main three from book one, anyways.

Escape attempt number 1: Down the river FAILED
Escape attempt number 2: Up the chimney FAILED

Will they try again. Of course, assuming Alex can survive becoming a black suit.

So this book goes even further and the horrors a little lot more gruesome. In fact, a good portion of the novel, I sat reading, while repeatedly saying No as if that would make the characters see sense.

It didn't.

But it worked out anyways

We even get a bit of history in this novel, and I want to say I did see it coming. Not in full, but I had an idea that it would involve a World War.

This book does end on a much more joyful note than the other two, not to mention the kind of cliffhanger the other two novels left the reader off at. This book wasn't too bad in terms of the ending.

But boy am I glad the series is done and I have all the books on hand.

[Dwayne Portwine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love it so much!

[Kimberly · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a massive wild ride. My eyes hurt from reading the words so fast, my fingers hurt from turning the pages so quickly, my mind hurts from the unbelievable story this book threw at me. Yes, this is book 3. When I thought the horror couldn't get any worse, this was the best most awesome horror read ever. This has got to be the best horror series EVER!! Addictive, totally adrenaline pumping. Reading this book was like being on a treadmill on high speed with the inability of never being able to stop.
The story will flood into you like a cold rush. Wow, Mr Alexander Gordon Smith. He could be the next King, even better than King ever could have thought to be.

Yes, mighty powerful words, but read it for yourself, starting from book one and I am confident you will see it my way here.

In this read without giving too much away, Alex the main character has been caught, again and as far as the prison sees it, the last time he will ever outwit this horrid hell that is Furnace. Its his turn to become a Black suit, a monstrosity. What happens to him is just gut wrenching. BUT...there will be HELL to pay...Ive gotta know what happens next, on to book 4.

[Cindy Newton · Rating 2 out of 5]

I dunno--this one just didn't captivate me as much as the previous two. We definitely find out more about what is going on and the origins of things in this book, but it just wasn't as gripping to me, and actually got repetitious at times. There's still plenty of action, including escapes from tight situations, life and death struggles, and psychological battles that Alex has to overcome with himself. Again . . . I dunno. Now that these operations they're doing on everyone are actually described, they sound far-fetched. I know, I know--this whole premise is not exactly rooted in reality. However, if you are dealing with the human body, it should at least be something that is actually possible. These operations do not sound possible at all.

Anyway, I'm going to continue reading because I want to see where this ends up, but I'm just not as engaged as I was.

[Pat the Book Goblin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Welp... first escape attempt failed. The second one too. Now the warden is pissed, and is going to do the unthinkable to my characters...dickhead.

This was a great book, just as awesome as the first two. I really like the author’s style of writing. I got to see more of the history of Furnace Penitentiary which was cool! I really like this series!

[Courtney · Rating 2 out of 5]

This series just gets grimmer and grimmer. Also, I was kinda hoping this was the conclusion to the series, but such is not the case. At this point, Alex has tried to escape, twice. This time he falls (literally) directly into the hands of the Warden and the blacksuits and is quickly taken off to be turned into one of the blacksuits. Here we get to see the "transformation" process as well as learn a bit about this history of Furnace Penitentiary. I don't really want to go too far into to it, but it involves Nazis and WW2. Don't ask...I didn't see this coming either. The really hard part about making through the transformation (aside from, you know, not dying) is attempting to maintain any semblance of humanity. You're really not supposed to and the Warden gets pretty upset if one remembers one's name. Of course, it's no where near as upset as he gets when one makes yet another attempt at escape.
Maybe I just wasn't in the mood for this right now, but this one didn't really hold my interest as much as the first couple of books in the series did. It was interesting enough, I guess, but I'm not sure that I was really feeling the whole "blacksuit experience" and I really had trouble with the nature and origin of the "nectar", not to mention the intentions behind Furnace itself (hint: not just an insane prison). But, as usual, the ending's a cliff-hanger and I wouldn't be surprised to find myself reading the rest of the series just to see if any of this makes sense in the end.

[Baily Volpel · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Death Sentence” I thought was a great book. It is very suspenseful and the action never stops throughout the whole book. Alex is the main character in this book who, in the second book thinks he found a way to escape. As he was getting close to freedom, he and his friends were captured by the warden. After he was captured, the warden started experimenting on his body and filling him full of a fluid called ‘Nectar’ which is of the warden’s special design.

This book is about Alex who, with the help of his friends, tried to escape from the Furnace. Alex is a sixteen year old boy who was thrown into prison on false pretenses and has been serving his time thus far. One of his companions, Simon, is a mutated boy about the same age as Alex and has been trying to find a way to escape for the last few months. Now with the help of Alex, he has been able to do that.

This story continues during modern time in the Furnace where it began in the first book, “Lockdown.” It is down in the transformation room where they take the prisoners and turn them into the warden’s prison guards, also known as Blacksuits. This is a time where Alex has to decide whether he is going to side with the warden or if he is going to fight back and stay true to himself.

I think this book is very suspenseful and is a great read for anyone who likes books with turmoil in it. I would recommend this book for teenagers and up, because anyone younger wouldn't understand it as well.

[Brittany · Rating 3 out of 5]

Death Sentence lost some of the momentum that was present in the previous books in the series. At times, it also seemed to be a bit too repetitive for my liking. I found I was forcing myself to pick it back up to continue reading, or I could only read a chapter or two at a time. It's not because it was a bad book, it was still good, but because it lacked something major that the previous two books had for me. The last half of the book did pick up the pace and upped the entertainment level enough to convince me to continue the series. Hopefully the next installment brings back the zing to the series.

[Aaron Batten · Rating 5 out of 5]

Personal Response: I really liked this book because it kept me guessing what was going to happen next. It was a great horror story with a little mystery too. I was only given as much information as the main character. This really left the reader with a lot of questions about what was really going on in Furnace. The biggest mystery that was presented in this book was the existence of Alfred Furnace and what his plans were.

Plot: This book was about a teenager named Alex Smith. He was locked in Furnace for a crime he did not commit. He was a common bully in school and occasionally broke into houses. He was framed for the murder of Toby. He was sentenced to life in Furnace penitentiary. He nearly escaped from the prison only to be caught even deeper in it. He was turned into a Blacksuit. The Blacksuits were superhuman furnace guards. This book was all about his transformation and constant mental battle to remember who he was. A nectar was always injected to keep all the Blacksuits from remembering their former lives. It also kept them alive. Without it they would have died. The nectar also gave the Blacksuits all of what they needed so they never had to eat of drink.

Characterization: Alex was the main character in this book. At the beginning of this book Alex was humbled by his time spent in furnace. He had seen horrifying things in Furnace. His time made him want to help everyone escape. His time made him very weary of others as well. He was experimented on and turned into a superhuman Blacksuit. The whole purpose of the experiment was to make a superhuman guard driven by rage like all of the other guards. Alex was able to remember who he was even after given extra doses of the nectar. He had all of the power of a Blacksuit but kept his own thoughts and memories.

Impact of Setting: This book took place in the present. It was an enormous prison for secret testing, which was unknown to the inmates. The prison had a big, black fort at the surface but reached miles into the Earth through one elevator. All of the inmates were kept below the surface. Further below the general population of the prison was where all of the testing and monsters of furnace were kept and experimented on. One elevator also connected the underbelly of the prison to the general population of the prisoners. The lack of escape routes and number of tunnels made escape very difficult.

Thematic Connection: A strong recurring theme throughout this book was isolation. The prisoners of Furnace were isolated from the outside world. All of them were sentenced to life in furnace. They were completely isolated from the outside world. Another form of isolation was the hole. This is where Alex stayed for most of this book. The hole was Furnace’s idea of solitary confinement. The prisoners went here after doing something that the warden disapproved of. Alex stayed there throughout most of the book for his first attempt at escape. The hole made the prisoners lose their minds. This made Alex much more susceptible to the procedure. Alex was barely able to keep his sanity by talking to Zee through the toilet pipe in their cells.

Recommendation: I would recommend this book to male or female teenagers who like science fiction or horror books. I gave this book five stars. It was a great book for anyone who likes a thrilling horror story.

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5⭐️

[Gus · Rating 5 out of 5]

Personal Response

This book was amazing. My opinion was that this book was far better than the previous two. The plot of this book keeps the reader on the edge of their seat. I especially liked the constant action throughout the book because there was never a dull spot to get bored at. I thought that this book deserved the five stars easily.

Plot

Alex is very unaware of what is going on around him. Alex is severely injured after falling from the walls of the smoke stack and into the flames below. He has sustained severe burns on every inch of his body. To make matters worse he is still alive in the hell hole that is Furnace. He is recaptured by the black suits and is personally watched by the warden himself. Alex is experimented on by the wheezers and is slowly starting to physically resemble a black suit. After Alex's second attempt at escape, the warden takes a special interest in Alex and he regularly visits Alex throughout the transformation process. The warden also tries to alter Alex's mind by showing Alex videos and talking to Alex in an attempt to warp his mind to crave violence. When the physical transformation is complete, the warden puts Alex through a series of tests to see if he could join Furnace's ranks of black suits. Alex passes the physical tests with flying colors but it is the mental tests that show where he falters. Alex is unable to kill Zee and is deemed as a failure by the warden. Alex is able to incapacitate the warden and he tries to escape with Zee and Simon. They are able to get back up to general population and they free all of the prisoners to defeat the guards already up there. Alex gets the prisoners to back him and together they repel the black suits and the warden. The warden unleashes a new type of creature called a berserker on the rioting prisoners. Alex defeats the berserkers that attack them and he is also able to climb the elevator shaft to freedom with Zee and Simon. The three escape into the night with the other prisoners as the sound of sirens follows them.

Characterization

Alex's character leaves the reader in a lot of doubt throughout the book. There are times throughout reading where the reader questions where Alex's loyalty truly lies. It seems at times like Alex will give in to the warden's evil influence but when he chooses to save Zee it shows the reader that Alex has only changed in appearance. He also becomes a huge leader to the prisoners above and he is able to turn them into a strong threat bent on freedom.

Setting

The setting of the infirmary leaves chills down the readers spine when they read the things that Alex goes through. You can feel a feeling of nervousness and uncertainty as Alex is sliced open by the wheezers in their operating rooms. When you read about general population during the riots, it adds a feeling of pent up aggression inside the prison. When the characters emerge into the rainy night, it gives the reader the sense that all pressure of being underground has lifted and hope shines bright.

Rating/Recommendation

This book was easily deserving of the five stars I gave it. The plot was very fast paced and kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time I read. This book was very gruesome in content and had a lot of violence so I wouldn't recommend letting people under middle school read it. I would recommend this book to readers of both genders but the lack of a female character may leave female readers a little uninterested. I think that the book is great for people who like to read science fiction or books with a lot of action.

[Zach Hansen · Rating 5 out of 5]

The third book in the “Escape From Furnace” series is named, “Death Sentence.” Just the name itself is able to make anyone suspicious and wondering if this is the book where it all goes bad and Alex Sawyer and the rest don’t make it. The book follows the previous events where Alex, Zee, and Simon were trying to escape through the incinerator smoke duct. The Warden figured out their little plan and had turned on the incinerator in order to smoke them out. That’s when they realized they had all failed. Now it takes you directly into the accursed hospital branch of this deadman’s wonderland and witness all the gruesome horrors of the Warden’s foul beasts. You read as Alex himself is put below the blade and is cut to pieces and then rebuilt to be one of the Soldiers of Furnace. What Furnace doesn’t expect is that Alex refuses to forget his name. That’s what kept him going. You follow Alex as he is put to the test with his new body and as he continues to try to find some way around Furnace’s keepsake, the nectar. As it courses through Alex’s veins and all throughout his head, it clouds his thoughts and actions.

This story is still taking place within the bowels of Furnace Penitentiary, housed in Europe. Time was lost after the countless days that Alex has been drifting in and out of consciousness and trying to stay in control of his body. Alex, being put into the brainwashing process, has started believing that the prison was his home all along and that he had no need for parents. He only thought of the Warden as his parent. He had to sleep while hooked up to a machine inside of a tiny little room where dozens of others that were like Alex had to sleep. One in all, they became his new brothers. The Soldiers of Furnace.

Alex has made many friends and allies within the prison, all of whom help him out greatly along the way. Zee, his most trusted friend, has been through this whole prison and its deepest darkest corners with Alex. He has been with him since the very first day they had been sent down here. While in the caves, Alex met some of the kids who escaped, and Simon is one who Alex becomes great friends with. Simon has had first-hand experience with the horrors that Alex is going through. Simon was undergoing mutation as he escaped from the hospital. He now has one rather bulky arm along with two silver eyes instead of the normal human eyes.

I recommend this book to all who have read the first and second books in the series and who have all really liked it. It has that slight sense of humor in some of the parts where they actually have fun exploring and surviving along with other people who were just like them. This book is rated at a five out of five in my opinion. It has a great plot, characters, and overall value of the suspense. It keeps that suspenseful feeling the entire time when you know that danger is lurking around just about every turn.

[Tiffany · Rating 4 out of 5]

“And if there's nothing left of you but darkness, how can you not become a monster?”
After Alex, Simon, and Zee failed in their second attempt to escape Furnace Penitentiary, Readers are left wondering what will become of them now they're in the Warden's evil clutches. Author Alexander Gordon Smith delivers another riveting entry to his Escape From Furnace series with Death Sentence. In this novel, Alex has been captured following his failed escape up the chimney and discovers firsthand the secrets of the prison. This book was even more horrific than the previous novels in that it dealt more with the ideas of what makes us ... us, the dichotomy of good and evil, and whether or not someone can experience horrors yet remain unchanged.

While the previous novel had more gross-out scares, this one seemed to possess more psychological horror. Readers experience Alex's captivity, brainwashing, and horrible body modifications. Many of the scenes of Alex in the prison hospital reminded me of A Clockwork Orange. The Warden works to eradicate everything that makes Alex the character we've rooted for, and coupled with everything he has experienced since his incarceration I was left wondering if Alex would survive. This added a different level of suspense than existed in the previous novels. Now, readers don't just worry for Alex's safety, but whether he'll remain with any of his humanity intact.
Though Alex went through a lot in this book, it still felt like a bridge from the second to the fourth novel. I honestly don't know if this has to do with Smith's writing or the fact I know that there are two books after Death Sentence. Sadly, I will admit that this knowledge removed some of the danger of Alex dying in the book. Luckily, the idea that Alex could become a "soldier of Furnace" became more of a possibility and allowed the book to stay as suspenseful as the other two. Even though this book read like a bridge from one book to the next, it still was an addictive read that left me glued to the book from one page to the next.This review was originally posted on I Was Angelized_1st

[Grey Liliy · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you picked this up without reading the first two books in the series--please go do so now. This is pretty much a direct continuation of the first two and makes enough references that it pays off to have read the others first.

Now, for thoughts on this one:

We went from prison life in book one, to a sci-fi laboratory setting in book two, and now that we're on the third--it's an all out monster movie, baby. Monsters, fights, daddy-issues, and full blown riots.

Everything is amped up, and Alex is a whole new man lucky to have two very supportive friends behind him. The action is upped, the plot gets deeper, and everyone starts showing their true colors--all things you'd expect by the time you get to the third book in a series of five.

Probably my favorite of the books so far, if only because this one just felt more fun, or more energetic if you prefer.

Lots of love.

The Warden and Zee are competing for favorite character, by the way. Great stuff all around. Can't wait for the next book. <3

[Ron · Rating 4 out of 5]

While their first attempt for escape was completely botched, then the second got f*cked up, now there’s no escaping from what the warden has in mind for them.

Continuing the events from Solitary, after being caught with their second attempt for escape, Alex Sawyer was taken to be used for the warden's experiment, he was injected a substance that Alfred Furnace discovered and it consumed both his mind and body, but fortunately, our kid was able to fight it.

In this installment, it was explained how and why Alfred Furnace created Furnace Penitentiary during the second world war. We are also presented another creature from their experiment, a killing machine they called Berserker

Although this book may not be as intense as the previous two, it gave a satisfying but still a cliffhanger ending, for I would not want another volume set in the same place all over again.

[Brett · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book because it gives us more detail than the other ones just paint a picture in our head but this one makes those pictures come to life. Unlike the other ones Alex finally gets out of the prison but since he was turned into a black suit, he might die on the outside because he needs the nectar. The only reason he is still alive is because of Bodie, Zee, Simon, and Donavan without them he would be in a place worse than death itself.

[Bri Donnell · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the few books I think are worthy to write an actual review for. Truly a masterpiece. The emotions I felt while reading, hope, fear, sadness and pure rage I felt right along side Alex. The grotesque descriptions of body horror have led me to my love to extreme horror. Truly an amazing book could not recommend enough.

[Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Personal Response: The book Death Sentenceby Alexander Gordon Smith was a great book. I really enjoyed all of the descriptive words and how Alex really became a pretty incredible person. He was not really good, but he was far from evil. Now that the warden gave him nectar, Alex was basically immortal as long as he had nectar on hand, which I think was incredible. This whole series of books were so good. They were so descriptive and easy to read and were enjoyable all at the same time.

Plot: Alex and his friends got caught after trying to escape furnace. The warden put Zee and Alex into solitary where they escape yet again. The warden was furious, so he turned Alex into a black suit. He put Alex through a bunch of surgeries. When the surgeries were done, he was corrupt because of this nectar. After the surgeries, Alex was a black suit and was supposedly corrupt. The warden made him forget his name and tried to have him kill his friend Zee. Alex snapped out of his trance and hit the warden. Then Alex and Zee started to escape, but got stopped by more black suits. Alex told Zee to run around to the door. Alex went to a cage where there was a giant monster inside. He tried to open it by breaking the chain, but it scratched him. He still got the door open and the monster started killing the guards. Alex and Zee ran out of the room. They went to the infirmary and looked for their friends. They only found Simon. The three of them went to their spot in the rock where they used to hide. The spot was all cemented up which meant that their friend was trapped on the other side of the wall and had no way out. The three boys started to think on how to escape. They decided that they could not escape without a map, so they started to head to the warden's office to find a map of the prison. They found a gun and cameras that looked over the whole prison. They got all suited up and started to leave. Suddenly, the phone rang and they freaked out and ran. They made it to the elevator that lead to the control room. They went through two doors and arrived at gen pop. Alex, Simon and Zee fought off the black suits, then fought two berserkers. They ran to the elevator and to the front gate. They climbed to the top and they got free. They started running. Alex heard the voice of furnace in his head saying, “I'm coming for you.”

Characterization: Alex changed a lot since the book started. He was 15 and he had been put through a lot. Now he was muscular and had a lot more strength. He drank nectar and as long as he had that nectar he was basically immortal. He had two friends left, zee and simon. Zee was an average kid. He was 15 and did not have anything bad happen to him since he had been at the prison. Simon had one giant arm and one small arm. He was in the infirmary and was getting worked on when he escaped. His arm was super muscular because of the surgery. Then there is the warden, who was a small evil looking person. He was super creepy. He was very old and the only reason he was alive was because of the nectar.

Setting: The setting took place all over the prison. Alex tried to escape the prison then got put into solitary and broke free. He was captured and placed into the infirmary where he was turned into a black suit. Alex then went with the warden on a tour. Alex was told to kill his friend then he remembered his name and knocked out the warden. He left and tried to escape the prison for the third time.

Theme: The theme of this book was that prison is a bad place, but a person should never give up. Alex always fought and stayed positive during bad times. I admired that about him. He was very clever and could think of ways to react to a situation in a second. I know never to do something stupid to get myself into prison.


Recommendation: I recommended this book to both male and female young adults age 15-20. Either gender would love this book. If these readers love action-packed,gruesome, and descriptive events then this book would be for them. This book was action packed, very detailed, and it kept my mind imagining every scene. I gave this book a 5 out of 5 stars.

[Exander]

PERSONAL RESPONSE:
I really like the book Death Sentence by Alexander Gordon Smith. It feeds on the motif of giving the reader a lot of hope that Alex is going to find a way out, but there is always something holding him back. Finally, in this book he finds a way out. I like how the author describes how Alex is thinking, and the way that his mindset starts to change from the nectar. I also like how the nectar is described; however when it is looked into more, there are still so many more questions. I like how the warden is finally demoted from being the scariest person in the book--now it is Alfred Furnace.

PLOT:
The book starts with Alex being hauled off after almost dying in the incinerator. Instead of killing him, the warden decides that the best option is to make him one of his black suits. The Warden pumped the black fluid that Alex saw many times before into his veins. He lost his consciousness and then had a dream. When the subjects are first being transformed into the black suits, they have dreams and what happens in them lets the warden know if it is working. The purpose of the nectar is to make the people forget who they are so the Warden can change their thoughts. Alex is told by Monty and Donovan to never forget his name. That is a very big reason that Alex did not get turned right away. Gary gets out of his area and is going on a rampage. Alex realizes it is Gary and remembers his name. This makes the Warden angry and causes him to pump Alex with much more nectar than what has ever been used on one person. Alex miraculously survives this much nectar being pumped into him. After all of the nectar is put in him, he is never the same.

CHARACTERIZATION:
In this book, Alex ends up changing a whole lot. It is not just mentally, but physically too. Throughout the entire book, he is having to fight with his thoughts of becoming one of the Warden’s black suits. He ends up switching sides a lot. He even kills one of the other “failures” that help him try and escape. After it, he feels very guilty. The Warden changes a lot too. He becomes a lot less scary because Alex finally has a way to beat him. The Warden actually shows a weakness that Alex has never seen before; he sees the Warden in pain.

SETTING:
The setting of this book is set inside of the infirmary for about half of the book while the other half was in the courtyard of the prison. The setting finally changed at the end of the book from the prison to the outside world. Alex and all of the other inmates ended up escaping through the elevator that the berserker made. The books seem like they have taken up to a year, but the book has only taken about a couple of weeks. The book seems like it has taken so long because of how Alex has been slipping in and out of consciousness.

RECOMMENDATION:
I recommend this book to anyone who likes books in this series before this one. I also only recommend this book to anyone who has read the first two books because the reader would not understand what is going on. This book is in the Sci-Fi genre. If the reader likes the genre, this is a good book to read. The book is still a very graphic book. This one has a lot of gore that would be unsuitable for a younger audience. This book would be much more suitable for an older audience because of this gruesome imagery.

[Cian Fischer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Personal Response-
I really enjoyed this book because it was action-packed. I also liked other aspects of it such as when it finally brought light to why some of the things in the other books happened. The other thing I liked about this book was its use of another viewpoint of the story by making Alex, a Blacksuit, who doesn’t see the harm in what he’s doing. The only part I really didn’t like about this book was some of the graphicness that the novel portrayed.

Plot-
At the beginning of Death Sentence, Alex, Zee, and Simon are captured by the warden and brought to the Infirmary, where the warden turns boys into Blacksuits. The warden is furious that Alex was able to break free not once, but twice. Now the warden is going to have him turned into a Blacksuit, undergoing the mysterious surgical procedures that will turn him into a powerful creature of Furnace. Of course, there is also the risk that Alex won’t survive the procedure. Throughout this book, there is a lot of background information given on the Furnace itself, the warden, and Alfred Furnace, the creator and seemingly the only person to whom the warden answers. Alex is injected with a substance called nectar, which, along with the surgical and psychological procedures he undergoes, will turn him into a Blacksuit. He becomes stronger than he ever thought he could and is filled with anger. He begins to see how weak he used to be and how weak the boys in the Furnace are and loves the feeling of power he’s been given. He likes feeling that he belongs, finally, as the Blacksuits accept him as one of them. However, there is a memory from his former life that he can’t shake. It is a boy from the beginning of his time in Furnace telling him that whatever they do to him in Furnace, he should hold on to his name and to remember who he is. He is tested by the warden in some very cruel ways before the warden finally realizes that Alex will not let himself become a servant of Furnace. Once again, Alex needs to come up with a plan to get out of the prison. Alex learns that the warden is a Nazi and he built the prison so he could survive for a long time. The book ends when the prisoners escape through a hole in the prison created by the prison beasts.

Characterization-
Alex is, once again, the main character in the book. After the second attempt, he is turned into a Blacksuit and during a test to prove himself as a Blacksuit, he kills Ozzie. However, he remembers his name and he successfully makes the third escape along with all of the prisoners of Furnace. He's on the brink of insanity due to the nectar running through his veins but with his friends' help, he manages to stay true to himself.
Zee is still one of Alex’s closest friends. He, however, is immune to the nectar, unlike Alex who is immediately turned into a Blacksuit. Because of this, Zee is of no use to the warden, since he cannot become one of his minions.

Setting-
The setting of this book is, once again, the Furnace penitentiary. However this time it doesn’t seem as cold and dark because the plot is shown through the eyes of a new Blacksuit that seems to enjoy a life here. The book does not specify the time in which the events occur, but it seems fairly present day because it talks about the Warden being a Nazi.

Recommendation-
I would recommend this book to guys and girls between the ages of 16 and 18. The novel is quite graphic at times, and it also has a little bit of advanced vocabulary. I think it isn’t gender specific because it isn’t really a gender-specific topic; it’s prison. Overall, I really liked the book and would rate it as four out of five stars.

[Cody Becker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Personal response:

I really liked this book because it had a lot of fighting scenes. I also really liked this book because it was a very good and interesting read. I loved reading this book, because it had a lot of details and kept me wanting to read more.

Plot:

The book started with Alex getting dark nectar pumped into his veins. Then he was put to some tests and failed the first one. So the Warden put more nectar in Alex, and he was put through more tests when he woke up. He passed several tests except the last one, when he had to kill his best friend. It took Alex awhile to remember, but when he did, he turned around and hit the Warden in the face. Alex killed the other Black Suits in the room. Alex then turned to the Warden and realized that he had a panic button in his hand but it was too late. The alarms started to go off. So Alex and Zee took off running and Zee wanted to look for someone that Alex killed. So they went and got Simon. Simon said that Alex would have withdrawals from the dark nectar, and there were two things that could happen either he would die. Or else Alex would be abnormal. Then they went to the Warden's room and found blueprints of the place. Then the original owner got in their heads and said “I'm coming for you.” Then they figured out the only way to get out was the same way they got in. So they made their way up to gen pop. They got to gen pop, and realized that someone would have to stay behind, because they could only open one of the two doors at once. So Zee stayed behind.

Characterization:

Alex was the main character of the book. Alex started out in the beginning of the book getting some dark nectar pumped into him. The nectar was supposed to make them forget who they were. The dark nectar turned him into a person who could not die. Alex was given an overdose of dark nectar and still remembered who he was. He became a leader for the prisoners in Gen Pop. Zee was small and had no muscles. He was immune to the dark nectar. He was the smartest of the group.

Setting:

The setting of this book was in the furnace one mile underground again. The setting was important because it doesn't seem as scary now. Alex became a Black Suit in the furnace. Everything was the same, but for Alex it was like a new home. The book took place around present time because they have modern technology. They have modern technology like computers, cameras, and guns.

Thematic Connection:

Manipulation was a main theme in this book because the Warden brainwashed all of the Black Suits. The Black Suits have been brainwashed because they do not remember anything, and if they do remember something they were either killed or tossed. The Black Suits keep the furnace running, because they do not need to get paid and they keep the inmates in line.

Recommendation:

I recommend this book to men, because there was a lot of fighting scenes in this book. I recommend this book to 13+ year olds, because there was some gruesome stuff that went on in the book. I rate the book a 4 out of 5 because Alexander Gordon Smith did a great job with describing how things looked.

[Abby · Rating 5 out of 5]

Personal response:
I really liked this book because it flowed together very well. I liked how Alex fought the nectar even though the warden said he couldn’t. Also, I liked how Alex, Zee, and Simon worked together to get out of the prison.

Plot:
In the beginning of this book, Alex was being carried into the infirmary. Right before he was being carried away, he was trying to climb up the chimney to escape furnace. When Alex had fallen asleep, the wheezers had operated on him. They first gave him his powerful legs, then his eyes, and so on from there. Alex had to get a lot more of the nectar than the other black suits because Alex never forgot his name. Once the wheezers had finished their operation, the warden had to test to see if Alex was ready to see if he was a true black suit. Alex had passed that test. The next day, the warden took Alex around the prison. The warden had shared the history of the prison and how Furnace came to be. When the warden got to the last room near the berserker, Alex had heard two black suits beating up an inmate. When they got in that room, Alex noticed that Zee was the person who was getting beat up. The warden had asked Alex to kill Zee but Alex couldn’t. Alex had killed both the black suits and he punched the warden in the face. When Alex unbuckled Zee from the chair, they ran out Zee knocked the warden out. When they got back into the room with the berserkers, they were met by black suits. Alex had a plan to let out the beast that had once been Gary. When Alex did that, they had to make a run for it. Once they got past the doors where the berserkers were, they ran through the wheezer holding cells. Once they got past the wheezers, they ran into the infirmary to find Simon. They found Simon and ran into the warden's office to temporarily hide from the back suits. They ended up finding maps and cameras that show all around furnace. Alex had found the elevator that lead to the inmates cells. Once they got up to the holding cells, Alex had to take out two berserkers. When Alex had finished killing one of the berserkers, the other one fled up the elevator shaft that lead to the surface. Alex, Simon, and Zee started to climb the elevator shaft to the surface. When they got to the surface, all they did was run.


Characterization:
The main character in this book was Alex. Alex first started off as an inmate at Furnace. Alex had changed into a black suit for the warden. Alex had grown stronger because of the surgery that the wheezers did. Alex also had gotten faster because of the nectar that swam in his veins. Zee was another one of the main characters. Zee had been one of the characters in solitary with Alex. Zee was the only one who knew anything about electronics. He had offered himself to stay back and open the doors to escape.

Setting:
This book took place at Furnace during the fall in the future. At the end of the book, it took place in the evening because when the inmates got out of the prison the sun started to set in the fall. This book took place in the future because of the technology that Furnace used to operate their prison.

Theme:
The theme of this book was not everything turns out the way the inmates thought it would and there was always hope and a way. This was the theme because Alex had never planned on becoming a black suit and he also always was trying to find his way out of the prison. In this book, Alex finally found his way out of the prison. Alex had never given up hope even when he had turned into a black suit he had always had hope to get out of that prison.

Recommendation:
I would recommend this book to anyone who read the first two book in this series. I would recommend this book high school males because there was some strong language and males tend to like action more than females. I would also recommend not reading this book if people don't like action scenes very much, because this book had a few battle scenes throughout this book.

[Collin baehnman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Personal Response:
I thought that Death Sentence was a great fourth book in the Lockdown series. Even if the reader thought he/she knew, what's going to happen, the author threw a loop for the reader. I liked how the book started to answer questions that I had in the being of the series.

Plot Summary:
Death Sentence began when Alex started the black suit procedure, while Simon and Zee were locked up. Alex started to forget his memories, his friends and even his name. What was left was a cruel, merciless hatred toward the weak and a lust for power. However, to become a black suit, he had to pass a test, in which he successfully kill many rats and Ozzie. As a new guy, he found out other secrets; the existence of the berserkers, the nectar, and the motive behind the Warden to create perfect soldier without fear, pain or pity. When he had to pass another test by killing Zee, Alex started to remember his name, he attempted to escape for the third time along with Zee and Simon; this time through the elevator that connected the prison with the main gate. After a while, he started to feel weak due to the lack of the nectar; without it, two things can happen. Alex can either become a boy again or completely lose his mind and become a merciless killer. In the general population Alex, Zee, Simon, and the other prisoners successfully defeat their enemies they sent. First the black suits, later two berserkers, and then they reach the main gate. They were finally free. In Alex's mind there was Alfred Furnace's voice screaming I am coming for you.

Setting:
The setting of Death Sentence was in London, England and the Furnace Penitentiary. The Furnace was a hellish prison that no one escaped from. London was famous because it showed a beautiful city that can have some very terrifying secrets. The time was in the present or the short distant future. They had large screens and modern medicine in prison, and along with cell phones and cars.

Characterization:
There were a few main characters that remain throughout the series so far. Alex, Zee, Simon, and the Warden. Alex changed the most throughout the book, because his physical appearance had undergone the black suit process. Zee and Simon stay roughly the same. The Warden’s true intentions were revealed throughout the book. Alex, Simon, and Zee all work together with the other inmates to break out of the prison.

Thematic Connection:
Themes in the Lockdown series were the illusion of power and a desire to escape. The one that was the most obvious was the desire to escape, Alex tried to escape three times and failed twice. Alex and company does not stop there either; he tried for the third time when he was on the run from the back suits and the Warden. The second theme in Lockdown was the illusion of power. The Warden gave Alex a body and pure power. The Warden made him superhuman, and all he asked for was obedience in return. The Warden did not get that through to Alex; who took the body and tried to escape with it. However, the Warden does not have the upper hand here because he was not as strong as the black suits, but he controlled all of them. Which was an illusion of power.

Recommendation:
I would recommend Death Sentence to boys and girls who are high school age and up because the book had harsh situations. The characters were aging whether or not they know the time, and it would be easier to connect with them if the reader was a bit older. I gave this book a four out of five stars.

[Carter Dittmann]

Personal Response: I like Death Sentence because the book is very interesting to me. There were mind altering things that happened throughout the story that caught my interest and I wanted to keep reading. Obviously, some of the things that happen in this particular part of the series can never happen, but it sure would be something to imagine having power whenever it is needed. It really shows how people can overcome anything when they have their minds to it and stay focused on their own thing and not other people.

Plot Summary: After Alex, Zee, Simon, and Greg get caught trying to escape Solitary, the warden takes them down into the depths of Solitary. The warden and his wheezers give the boys black nectar that is supposed to make them think like the warden does. The warden gives Alex nectar, and the nectar gives mental and physical power. When anger builds up, there is nothing stopping the beast inside. Alex shows the warden he is changed; however deep in his mind, he has not and knows his name is still Alex Sawyer. The warden wants Alex to forget who he is so he can truly become a blacksuit. Simon gives Alex his final dose of nectar he found on the warden’s desk to overcome the berserkers.

Characterization: When Alex first started his journey in Furnace, then being moved to Solitary, he always thought of Zee as the little guy and never thought he would be able to help escape. When the time came for someone to shine and be the all star, Zee stepped in and stayed in the control room and opened the door for Simon and Alex to run through. Zee masterminded the controls so the doors stayed open long enough to get through but to stop the fast approaching warden.

Simon played a huge role toward the end of the story by being observant. He found weapons and other things for everyone to use in case the warden was able to break free. The most important thing is that Simon found a syringe of nectar on the warden’s desk. Simon knew that Alex was going to need it if they were going to escape alive and beat the berserkers.

Setting: The story continues to take place in the underground prison known as Solitary. The author does not give a time because they are underground and have no idea what is going on in the real world. In the prison, the author describes it as a thick, muggy atmosphere and they are surrounded by rock and concrete walls. Now the boys are back to where they were during the first story in the general population of Furnace with all of the other criminals.

Recommendation: I would recommend this book to anyone ages 12 and older because some language usage is not okay for younger people. The book describes a real prison environment and some changes to the human body that simply are not possible. Alex, Zee, and Simon finally think they are home free on their final, ultimate escape from Furnace. The book also tells some good ways to overcome mental problems that can happen in real life.

[Whitney · Rating 5 out of 5]

Now that we're into the third book in the Escape From Furnace series, you wonder if Death Sentence makes up for how boring Solitary turned out to be. Not only does Death Sentence have to make up for Solitary but it also has to begin to set the tone for the rest of the series. Being a five book series means that Death Sentence is the absolute middle book and it's just as important that it delivers. If you couldn't tell by my bumping this book back into the five star category, Death Sentence most definitely does.

Alex has been captured after his second attempt at escaping Furnace Penitentiary. This time his luck has ran out and there's no escaping his terrible fate. He's now forced to undergo the terrible process of changing him from a child into a cold-blooded blacksuit. Alex has to now become one of the things he's feared most in Furnace. He knows he's going to become a monster; the true question is whether or not he can still keep his humanity too.

Plot

As I mentioned in my review of the previous book, Solitary, the plot got pretty boring and I hoped the next book wouldn't be like that. Thankfully, it wasn't. I won't lie and say that the beginning ofDeath Sentence wasn't a little boring, because it was... somewhat. I say somewhat because when Alex is first being transformed into a blacksuit I was kept on the edge of my seat, hoping that he broke free of the spell before he was actually turned. However, after Alex stops fighting and the actual conversion begins is when things start to get a bit boring. It wasn't nearly as boring as his solitary in the previous book, and thankfully not as long either.

After Alex gets turned into a blacksuit, not too far into the book actually, is where the plot quickly picks up. Almost as if to make up for how dull Solitary was, Smith packed Death Sentence full of action. By the end of the book my hands were shaking in excitement. I was very happy with this change of pace from Solitary. If you were worried that Smith would continue on with the slow, boring pace then you will be proved wrong, and be happy about it.


Writing

The writing was better this time around in terms of descriptions. I'm pretty sure Smith just isn't good at describing caves. As there were no caves involved in Death Sentence there was no confusion when it came to picturing things based off of their descriptions. Smith also maintains his great style of giving feeling to the words he writes.

One thing that I've noticed that has become more prominent in his writing and becomes more obvious in Death Sentence is his ability to drop hints in the writing. The hints are something that will be revealed later in thew writing. It gives the reader a chance to possibly be ahead of the characters. There are many times in novels, especially YA novels, where the adult author, who is writing for teenagers, underestimates how easily their readers can piece things together. What I mean by that is that they usually give readers the hints too early or make the hints way too obvious. In the end all this does is make that characters in the book seem more obtuse than the author meant for them to be.

Smith has managed to find a happy medium where he drops the hints and you if find them, you have an inkling of what's going on without you knowing way much more than the characters. This makes his writing great and much better, in my opinion.

Characters

Going into the third book we are still stuck with our little trio from the second book; Alex, Zee, and Simon. Now that we've got to spend an entire book with Simon featured in it I can feel a lot more appreciation for his character. He's written differently than Zee or Alex in that he was in Furnace longer than they were and would give up a lot more for freedom then they would. I think it was good to have a character like that in the books because it shows two different sides of the same coin. Everybody wants to escape from Furnace but you have inmates who have been in Furnace for years and are a different kind of desperate to escape than newbies like Alex or Zee.

There is also an advancement in Alex's character that I liked. We get to see a totally different side to him that not even solitary confinement could drag out. I think in Death Sentence he become much more relatable because he becomes much more human, even as he is turned into this not-quite-human creature. As the reader we begin to connect with him during his transformation more because we understand how hard he's struggling and losing and we know that if we were in his position we'd do the exact same things. And he becomes such a noble person near the end, and it is very organic and realistic for him as a character.

Things I Didn't Like

My biggest problem with Death Sentence was a certain similarity it shares with another novel. I've mentioned before that Smith's writing reminds me a lot of Darren Shan's writing. I got this feeling more so when it becomes obvious that Alex being turned into a blacksuit is exactly what he needed to beat Furnace. The character becomes his smaller enemy to help him stand a chance against his bigger enemy. This is reminiscent of Shan's character Grubs in Wolf Island when he turns into the thing that was considered his smaller enemy and this in turn helps him defeat his bigger enemy.

I'm sure this isn't a common writing trope. I just feel like they're a little too close to not see the connection to the two. I'm not saying that Smith is copying Shan; it's just that the situations are extremely similar and I feel like Smith should have done it in a different way so that they didn't look the same.

One other thing I didn't like, and it looks like I'm not the only one, was the back story behind Furnace. I'm sort of iffy about it and I'll wait and see where it's taken.

Diversity

If you've finished reading Solitary then by now you're probably aware that Donovan is dead. He was the only confirmed POC in the story up to this point. We may have two other characters of color, a boy named Bodie who I'm pretty sure was written to talk in a dialect similar to AAVE, and Simon, whose last name is revealed to be Rojo-Flores. Rojo-Flores is a Spanish last name so it is possible that he is Latino. Though there is also a chance that he is white with a Spanish last name as we aren't really given a description of any of the characters.

There aren't any mental illnesses that I could tell of this time around.

Overall

Death Sentence leads us back up to the exciting levels we saw in Lockdown. Though it was a little boring in the beginning the plot picks right back up in the best ways possible. Even as you're rooting for our poor protagonist, you're constantly wondering "What next?" Smith keeps you on the edge of your seat most of the book. Finishing this series will be a wild ride that I can't wait for.