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Beneath Heaven is Hell....Beneath Hell is Furnace! 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:... read more

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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... read more (warning: may contain spoilers)

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.

Characters edit see section history

  • Alex Sawyer: A boy who gets framed and is sent to furnace, a place where you never want to go and is picked on by the skulls
  • Gary Owens: Gary is the new leader of the skulls. He is far more violent than anyone else Alex has encountered in Furnace. In fact, he is probably a sociopath.
  • Carl Donovan: A well-built teenager who has been in Furnace for years. Alex's roomate and close friend. Very funny and sarcastic, but also fearful of Furnace and it's monsters.
  • The Skulls: A gang from the summer slaughter who Alex picked a fight with. Cruel, violent and deadly.
  • The Warden: One of the most powerful people in Furnace. He has eyes you can't look into in person because they contain so much evil and are like black holes.
  • Blacksuits: Seemingly invincible soldiers of Furnace.
  • Zee: One of Alex's closest friends in Furnace. Also framed for murder, and is taken to Furnace the same time as Alex. Very clever because he used to watch documentaries with his parents.
  • Donovan: Alex's roommate and friend in Furnace. He is older and protects Alex.
  • Ashley: A new kid that comes into Furnace after Alex. He is bullied relentlessly by the skulls.
  • Toby: A kid that comes in to Furnace after Alex, at the same time as Ashley. Toby has more strength of character than Ashley and becomes Alex's friend.
  • Kevin: The leader of the skulls and can be considered a coward for relying on his gang to back him up so much
  • Monty: A fat boy who arrives with Alex and Zee.; gets picked on relentlessly by the skulls.
Show all 12 characters
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Quotes edit see section history

  • “This book so far is amazing i hope who ever else reads the would love this.”
  • Popular Highlights from Kindle Customers
  • “Beneath heaven is hell, boys, and beneath hell is Furnace. I hope you enjoy your stay.”
    Highlighted by 31 Kindle customers
  • I DON’T BELIEVE THAT anyone truly loses their fear of the dark. Yeah, grownups act like they feel at home when the lights are out, they say there’s nothing to be afraid of, that nothing’s changed just because you can’t see anything.
    Highlighted by 27 Kindle customers
  • “Well, we figured a way out. We actually found a way of escaping. It doesn’t matter if we make it or not, we still beat the system. Right now, Donovan, right now we’re free.”
    Highlighted by 25 Kindle customers
  • I defy even the bravest adult to spend the night in a place like Furnace in the pitch black without thinking that every noise is something right behind you with dagger teeth and eyes of silver and blood on its breath; that every whisper of air that runs over your skin is the rush of a descending blade; that every flicker of movement is a tendril of darkness wrapping itself around your throat and coiling in the pit of your belly, where it feasts on your soul.
    Highlighted by 25 Kindle customers
  • “After a day you think you’re going crazy. After two days you think you’re in hell. After three days you lose a little piece of yourself that you don’t get back. I never heard of anyone being in there more than four days and surviving. That place drives your soul right out of your body. It’s the screams you hear when you’re down there, like demons. They don’t ever shut up.”
    Highlighted by 19 Kindle customers
  • I killed my mom’s boyfriend ’cause he was beating her up every night. Just couldn’t take it anymore. I snapped, hit him with a candlestick. Was a lucky hit, I guess, for an eleven-year-old. Or unlucky, depending on how you look at it.”
    Highlighted by 19 Kindle customers
  • “Obedience is the difference between life, death, and the other varieties of existence on offer here in Furnace,” the image spoke, the voice amplified through hidden speakers to a volume that made the ground vibrate.
    Highlighted by 17 Kindle customers
  • “In the dead of night they come for you, Alex,” he said. “Sooner or later they come for everyone.”
    Highlighted by 14 Kindle customers
  • “Alex Sawyer. Prisoner number 2013834. Cell number F11, sixth level. Cellmate Carl Donovan.”
    Highlighted by 14 Kindle customers
  • “Montgomery Earl,” the warden continued, looking at the doughy kid. “Prisoner number 2013833. Cell number E15, fifth level. Cellmate Kevin Arnold.”
    Highlighted by 12 Kindle customers
Show all 11 quotes from this book

Setting & Locations edit see section history

Organizations edit see section history

  • The Skulls: A gang from the summer slaughter who Alex picked a fight with. Cruel, violent and deadly.

First Sentence edit see section history

If I stopped running I was dead.

Table of Contents edit see section history

No Way Out
To Hell
One Last Job
Framed
On The Run
Denial And Damnation
Buried Alive
The Descent
Settling In
Skirmish
Darkness Falls
Hard Labor
Skull Fodder
Hell Hounds
The Warden Is Warning
Downtime
Slop
The Blood Watch
Aftermath
New Fish
Room Two
A Revelation
The Return
A Distraction
My Darkest Hour
Jumpers
The Red Hand
The Arena
Back To Work
The Last Night
Taken
Break

Series & Lists edit see section history

This is book 1 of 6 in Escape from Furnace. (standard series)

Followed by Solitary.

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

  1. Alexander Gordon Smith (Author)

First Edition edit see section history

Original Language: English
Publisher: Faber and Faber
Country: United Kingdom
Publication Date: October 27, 2009
ISBN: 0374324913
Page Count: 273

Notes for Parents edit see section history

Reading Level: Young Adults

This book is best suited for teenagers due to the content in the novel, which may give younger readers nightmares.

Links to Supplemental Material edit see section history

More Books Like This edit see section history

   
  • Lockdown
  • Solitary

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