Death Sentence: Escape from Furnace 3

by Alexander Gordon Smith

Paperback, 2012

Status

Available

Call number

823.92

Series

Escape from Furnace (3)

Genres

Publication

Square Fish (2012), Edition: Reprint, 288 pages

Description

After his failed attempt to escape from Furnace Penitentiary, Alex struggles to survive the bloodstained laboratories beneath where monsters are manufactured, with a death sentence--or worse--hanging over his head.

User reviews

LibraryThing member JRlibrary

I loved Lockdown and I enjoyed Solitary, but Death Sentence was just so violent most of the time that I didn't enjoy it quite as much. Don't want to spoil it for you by providing details of where and when in the book my gut wrenched from what I was reading, but it did happen several times. Having

said that, I'm positive that many readers will love to know what happens to Alex now that he is back in the hands of the Warden. I will tell you that certain enhancements happen to him... but the core of who he is can't be destroyed, and his friends stick with him til the end. But I'm not telling what the end means. You'll have to read it and find out for yourself.

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LibraryThing member dasuzuki

Book 2 in this series left readers clinging to the edge of their seats in anticipation of what happens to Alex and his friends at the end. Death Sentence picks up with Alex facing his worst nightmare, being turned into a black suit. This book was another hit from Smith and the action and heart

pounding suspense will keep the readers enthralled until the very last page. We finally learn more about how black suits are made, who the wheezers are and the origins of all these sick experiments. The pacing was again superb as we see Alex struggling to remember his name and who he truly is. Some parts stretched the imagination a bit even for me knowing that this book means you just have to go with the flow. I found it hard to believe the technical skills some of these kids have at their age. Still this one was another hit in my opinion. The only down side was I thought this was going to be a trilogy so I was shocked that it ended in a way that leaves you waiting for another book. This is one of those series I do not see talked about as much but you should definitely check out.

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LibraryThing member A_Reader_of_Fictions

Although Death Sentence has all of the action and grossness of the prior installments, I definitely was not as engrossed (see what I did there?) as I was before. I found myself getting a bit bored in some parts.

The beginning was rough. I mean, he's undergoing the change and mostly just having

nightmares. Then he wakes up and the Warden says things. He fights with himself to hold onto Alex Sawyer. He has Achilles-level rage. He feels guilt. There are some scenes that are reminiscent of the reprogramming in A Clockwork Orange, which I really hope was an intended reference.

So, in this installment, you actually do get to learn a bit more about the origins of Furnace. Actually, there were a couple of subtle hints before this point, which I noticed, but ignored, hoping that wasn't where Smith was going with this. Well, it is. Sigh. Maybe it will be cool, but I worry that it will just make me angry with stereotypes. I guess that remains to be seen.

The next book, The Fugitives, is poised to be hugely exciting. Even after having been less enthused with this one, I'm excited to find out what will happen next.

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LibraryThing member erincathryn

These books are fast-paced, fun reads for me. They don't take a lot of effort, and they are well written to fit into the horror genre while being sensitive to the YA audience. Enough gore to make my skin crawl (as an adult) without making me feel overly uncomfortable with details.

The plot of this

one got a little strange, but I still engoyed it. I like Alex as a main character, but I feel he is a bit of a Mary Sue sometimes. All of them are. Obstacles? What obstacles? Zee is "immune" to the effects of the nectar, yet he can carry a gas tank to Alex that other boys had issues just holding, and climb an elevator shaft, a feat that the two modified boys were having issues with. I was genuinely excited when Alex showed signs of turning into a blacksuit legit-like.

One downside to these novels? There are no female prisoners. Aside from memories of moms or sisters, there are no female characters at all at this point. Not owning the first book, I can't go back and see if it was originally referenced to as Furnace Penitentiary for Boys or not. But I seem to recall it just being for "children" who committed heinous crimes. It preserves the opinion that women are innocents incapable of the crimes needed to land in Furnace, or potentially the sexist belief that women are weaker and less suited to life in Furnace and all it entails. Both of these beliefs are archaic, and while I like the main character, I would have liked to see some female children in Furnace as well to kick some butt and even things out.

Spoilered ramblings about the lack of women in the series: The unspoken implications would seem that women aren't strong enough to be turned into blacksuits. However, it could also stem from the apparent Nazi background of Alfred Furnace and his "nectar". I am not well versed in the role women played in the Nazi regime, but I can't imagine it was much different than the role of any woman during WW2. Lastly, the lack of women in the story could be from the fact that the procedure, Alfred Furnace, the warden, etc. all come from a time of war when women were far from the battlefield. So more sexism. Interesting things to think about/discuss if anyone wants.

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LibraryThing member Weirdology

While reading this book I was thinking that Furnace is as close to being hell as is possible without the supernatural involved.

Alex is turned into a blacksuit and we get to see Furnace from the bad guys perspective. Which was very fun! But it only lasted a short time. I wish this idea could have

been a book unto itself, mainly focusing on bad Alex and exploring all the evils that is Furnace. Maybe have Alex kill a few more people and see what it's like to patrol gen pop with the other blacksuits. Then have the escape in the next book. But I know that would have been branching out too much as the point of these books is escape, since the series is called "Escape From Furnace" after all. But still, it would have been a nice change to focus on something else for a while.

The escape scene for this one is very long. About half the book. But it's the most exciting one yet, in my opinion, so it didn't feel that long.

A lot of questions are answered in this book. Including why the prisoners who survive to see their 18th birthday are shuffled off to a different section. I was wondering what was up with that since the first book. But we have yet to see what life is like for them up there. I'm curious. Also, we find out why Furnace exist and the history behind the people who run it.

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LibraryThing member DianaLynn5287

Love this series. The first book was amazing, second was very good, and now this one is just awesome. It started out a little slow, but very interesting to be in the mind of a killer. Once the action started I couldn't put this one down. Totally nailed the ending of this book. It was happy, sad,

exciting, and terrifying all wrapped into one. Can't wait for book 4. Recommend this series to any fan of YA or action/adventure novels. 10/10 stars

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LibraryThing member TeamDewey

book 3 in the series

LibraryThing member JiBu14

Escape from Furnace Death Sentence, by Alexander Gordon Smith is about a boy named Alex Sawyer who is locked away in furnace penitentiary, a maximum security prison for the younger generations, for a crime that Alex didn't commit and is being framed for. Alex, Zee, and Simon, are trapped in the

prison and thinking of a way to escape after there third escape attempt had failed. The warden holds Alex and his friends hostage and injects venom into Alex's body, making him much stronger and turned him into a black suit. But Alex finds the strength to gain control of his mind as the venom was supposed to control all of him. The warden tries to convince Alex that he never existed and that he was a black suit now and worked for the warden. I would recommend this book to people who like action and mystery and those people would like this book.

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LibraryThing member lkmuir

LibraryThing member HenriMoreaux

Another solid entry in the series that expands the story further.

After two failed escape attempts Alex is caught and the warden decides to send him to the infirmary to be experimented upon an injected with the mysterious liquid carried by the wheezers.

It's here that his transformation into one of

the blacksuits begins, and his inner rage builds. Will he be able to control and hold onto himself or will the warden's darkness win?

In this installment we also learn some more of the background into the Furnace and Alex finally gets out.

Looking forward to the next in the series to see where the adventure goes next.

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