Title: Execution (Escape From Furnace #5)
Author: Alexander Gordon Smith
Published: March, 2011 by Faber and Faber
Pages: 336
Rating:  
Purchase: The Book Depository

Alex Sawyer has escaped his underground nightmare to discover the whole world has become a prison, and Alfred Furnace is its master. Monsters rule the streets, leaving nothing but murder in their wake. Those who do not die become slaves to Furnace’s reign of cruelty. Alex is a monster too. He is the only one who can stop Furnace but in doing so he could destroy everything. Is he the executed or the executioner? Who will die? All Alex knows is that one way or another, it all ends now.

Final Thoughts:
It took me two weeks to get through—that should tell you something. Being the final book in the series, I pushed through to the end, just because I needed them to find peach—I mean peace—some sort of resolution. The series as whole has been hit and miss for me. The first book took me a while to get into, but then the second and third had me gripping the pages tightly, unable to stop. Book four—the actual escape, or rather fleeing—was the turning point, but unfortunately lost a bit of steam, the same happened with this one. Alex became very much a loner, taking away the fun, brotherhood aspects I’d come to love in the previous instalments. There were still bits of humour, bits of that camaraderie laced throughout, but it was few and far between, instead focussing on the final battle that Alex needed to face with Furnace, the one the whole series had been leading to.

Title: Fugitives (Escape From Furnace #4)
Author: Alexander Gordon Smith
Published: February, 2012 by Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Thanks: Macmillan via NetGalley
Pages: 288
Rating:  
Purchase: The Book Depository

Forever altered by his experience in Furnace Penetentiary, Alex has done the impossible and escaped. But the battle for freedom is only just beginning. Charged with his superhuman abilities, Alex must uncover the last of Furnace’s secrets—the truth about the man who built the prison, the man known as Alfred Furnace. And to do that he must stop running and finally confront his greatest fears.

Final Thoughts:
I love the progression this series has. The first three books built up the prison life, the beginnings of the escape, and Alex’s transformation, and their actual breakout from Furnace. Fugitives continues directly on, showing that the escape was barely the beginning of Alex’s story, and I love that. It maintains an edge of danger, with the three friends on the run from police, gun-toting choppers, and scientifically enhanced humans that more resemble rabid animals. And finally, there’s a female character. It was a gripe I had with the prior books—there were no female inmates, or even a mention of a female prison.

Title: Death Sentence (Escape From Furnace #3)
Author: Alexander Gordon Smith
Published: August, 2011 by Farrar Straus Giroux
Pages: 256
Rating:  
Purchase: The Book Depository

Alex’s second attempt to break out of Furnace Penetentiary has 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?

Final Thoughts:
It took me a while to get into the first book, but with each one that followed, I just can’t get enough. This series actually feels like one in the sense that the plot in each book flows into the next as part of a much larger arc. Sure, something new happens in each, the stakes growing ever higher, but it really keeps you guessing as to what may lie ahead. Not shying away from harming and killing off characters, with this instalment, not even Alex is safe. I really like it for that. When the main character’s own mental stability is in question that’s when you know a book is going to be fun.

Title: Solitary (Escape From Furnace #2)
Author: Alexander Gordon Smith
Published: July, 2009 by Farrar Straus Giroux
Pages: 256
Rating:  
Purchase: The Book Depository

Alex tried to escape.
He had a perfect plan.
He was almost free. Even felt the cool, clean air on his face.
Then the dogs came.
Now he’s locked in a place so gruesome—so hellish—that escape doesn’t even matter.
He just wants to survive.

Final Thoughts:
With the amped up cliff-hanger ending of Lockdown, this one had its work cut out for it. You could probably gather the direction the series is headed just by looking at the titles, so it’s hard to root for the characters when you know their most likely going to fail, but nonetheless, I’m finding myself thoroughly enjoying these books so far. Solitary is fast-paced, gritty and emotional. The plotting is smart and so are the characters. I like their ingenuity in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds. I’m just waiting for the day when Alex finally sticks it to the powers that be.

In My Mailbox is a meme hosted by The Story Siren, which allows bloggers to share what books they’ve received in the past week. They can be from stores, contests, tours or publishers!

• Tantalize by Cynthia Leitich Smith (library)
• Eternal by Cynthia Leitich Smith (library)
• Blessed by Cynthia Leitich Smith (library)
• Solitary by Alexander Gordon Smith (library)
• Death Sentence by Alexander Gordon Smith (library)
• The Slayer Chronicles: First Kill by Heather Brewer (purchased)
• Witch Eyes by Scott Tracey (purchased)
• Carrier Of The Mark by Leigh Fallon (purchased)
• Torchwood: Miracle Day (purchased)

Sorry for the blurry pic. I had to resort to iPod photography while my camera was on holiday. I turned 22 last week. My parents got me a kindle, which I was especially excited about as I finally have an ereader. I also grabbed that copy of the new series of Torchwood during a 20% off sale which happened to be going on, on my birthday – so can’t wait to get back to Captain Jack. Okay, onto the books… I stopped by the city library and picked up the first three in the Tantalize series. I’m not expecting a lot from them, but I thought give them a shot. I also read the first in the Escape From Furnace series last Monday and picked up the following two. It was kind of like Prison Break for teens, and kind of violent… so obviously I want to read more of it. With the purchased books, I’ve only read the first in the Vladimir Tod series, so I probably won’t get around to this spin-off series for a while… that didn’t stop me buying it though. Witch Eyes and Carrier Of The Mark are ones I’ve been wanting to check out in the near future, so if I can make it through my increasing library pile with any kind of haste, I’ll slot time in for them.

Here is my latest review if you want to check it out:
Smith, Alexander Gordon Escape From Furnace #1, Lockdown

Link up to your mailbox and I’ll be sure to check it out!

Title: Lockdown (Escape From Furnace #1)
Author: Alexander Gordon Smith
Published: October, 2009 by Farrar Straus Giroux
Pages: 273
Rating:  
Purchase: The Book Depository

Furnace Penitentiary: the world’s most secure prison for young offenders, buried a mile beneath the earth’s surface. Convicted of a murder he didn’t commit, sentenced to life without parole, “new fish” Alex Sawyer knows he has two choices: find a way out, or resign himself to a death behind bars, in the darkness at the bottom of the world. Except in Furnace, death is the least of his worries.

Soon Alex discovers that the prison is a place of pure evil, where inhuman creatures in gas masks stalk the corridors at night, where giants in black suits drag screaming inmates into the shadows, where deformed beasts can be heard howling from the blood-drenched tunnels below. And behind everything is the mysterious, all-powerful warden, a man as cruel and dangerous as the devil himself, whose unthinkable acts have consequences that stretch far beyond the walls of the prison.

Together with a bunch of inmates—some innocent kids who have been framed, others cold-blooded killers—Alex plans an escape. But as he starts to uncover the truth about Furnace’s deeper, darker purpose, Alex’s actions grow ever more dangerous, and he must risk everything to expose this nightmare that’s hidden from the eyes of the world.

Final Thoughts:
It took me almost a week to read this. I was initially turned off by the first few chapters that I put it down and ended up reading three vampire books in the process. I came back to it, determined to finish it, and after the first hundred pages, surprisingly it wormed its way into my subconscious. I didn’t love the book, but it got addictive. It’s essentially Prison Break for early to mid-teens. It plays heavily on the male friendship aspect as the wrongly imprisoned try to deal with, and find a way out of, their new gritty, despair-filled futures.

In My Mailbox is a meme hosted by The Story Siren, which allows bloggers to share what books they’ve received in the past week. They can be from stores, contests, tours or publishers!

• Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl (library)
• Texas Gothic by Rosemary Clement-Moore (library)
• Lockdown by Alexander Gordon Smith (library)
• Touch by Jus Accardo (purchased) – My Review

Three library books this week, saved some money which was good. I’ve been waiting on Texas Gothic and Lockdown for over a month. They were in stock at the main city library but it took them forever to get it transferred out to the branch near me. I’ve been thinking about trying the Caster Chronicles for a while so I thought I’d borrow it in case I end up liking it and want to buy the new hardcover collector’s box rather than being stuck with the individual paperbacks. And Touch, it’s my only purchase for the week. I read it a couple days ago and thought it was awesome – exactly my kind of book.

Here are my latest reviews if you want to check them out:
Accardo, Jus Denazen #1, Touch
Derting, Kimberly The Pledge #1, The Pledge

Link up to your mailbox and I’ll be sure to check it out!