lockdown

 

 



Premise

 

     The book I read is called Lockdown from the series Escape From Furnace by Alexander Gordon Smith. It is a fiction book about a character named Alex Sawyer who's 14. In the beginning, Alex is set up for a crime he didn't commit, which was killing his best friend while they were robbing a house. When Alex got sentenced to life at Furnace Penitentiary, he found out that some of the kids that were there also got set up for crimes. Others actually did commit the crimes. Alex then got a cell mate, Carl Donovan. Donovan told him that Furnace isn't like other prisons. He explained to Alex that on some nights, the guards from Furnace take prisoners away from there cell and don't come back. Alex knew he wouldn't last long in the prison so him and two others, Donovan and a kid named Zee, planned an escape. As the story continues, they figure out a plan that might work but the night before their escape the guards came and took Donovan. Alex promised him that he would come back for him. When Alex and Zee attempted their escape, it would've worked until the guards sent dogs after them and to find them., To find out all of what happens then you'll have to read the book and the rest of the series.

 

Significant Passage

 

     "Look," I said, taking Donovan's shoulders. "They only take one cellmate at a time, right?"

     "Right."

     "Then one of us is left. We go ahead with this, okay? One of us makes the break. Once I'm free, I'll go straight to the cops. Doesn't matter if they throw me back in here, just as long as they investigate. If I'm quick, I might be able to save you. If you hurry, you might get back in time to save me."

     Donovan nodded as the lights rebooted, then he flung his arms around me, squeezing me so hard I gasped for breath.

     "Thanks," he said, his eyes filling.

     "For what?"

     "Thanks for giving me hope."

     "It's not over yet," I said. I could hear footsteps crashing down the platform, the howl of mutant dogs.

     "I know," he replied. Then they were there. A command from the blacksuit sent the cell door crashing open and in a blink of an eye the guard was inside, a massive hand wrapped around Donovan's throat, pulling the boy out as if he weighed nothing, holding him above the ground. I threw myself forward but the giant used his other hand to swipe me away. I felt like I'd been hit by a car, sliding across the floor and smashing into the bunks.

     By the time I'd got to my feet again, the cell door was rattling shut.

     "Donovan!" I shouted. The gas mask was sliding a needle from his belt, a syringe full of blackness and death, a cloud that swirled like a galaxy, full of flickers of yellow light. "No!"

     But it was too late. The wheezer stabbed the needle into Donovan's neck and the boy went limp and silent.

     "You cant do this!" I shouted. "Donovan, I'll come for you. I'll come for you!" (259-260 Smith)

    

     That passage is significant because that was the night that Donovan got taken. Also, more things happen in the series that involve Donovan, when he got taken, and when or if Alex did go to find Donovan and save him. After Donovan got taken, Alex realized how much of a friend Donovan was and how much help he was so that pushed Alex to escape and save him.