Solitary

Gr 9 Up—Alexander Gordon Smith's second book (Farrar, Straus, 2010) in the Furnace series picks up with Alex Sawyer, Z, and Gary Owen trying to escape the Furnace penitentiary. The attempt fails miserably and Alex and his friend are thrown into solitary, which is basically a hole in the ground. Soon, a boy disfigured by the Wheezers, the gas masked figures who do testing on the inmates, frees Alex to convince him to try to find a new way to escape. Alex must overcome his fears of the Warden, the black suits with their glowing silver eyes, and the Rats, who are failed experiments of the Wheezers, along with his sense of guilt over his life of crime before Furnace. Alex's loyalties are tested when he must choose between his friends and a fate worse than death or escape and the chance to stop the experiments. Smith takes listeners on a terrifying ride through the underbelly of Furnace providing gory descriptions and thrilling chases. Alex Kalajzic brings Alex to life with his British accent. His voices for the villains, especially the Warden, are chilling. Those who enjoyed the first book in the series and fans of novels with gory descriptions will enjoy this fast-paced, suspenseful book. The chilling conclusion will leave listeners anxious for the next installment.—Sarah Flood, Breckinridge County Public Library, Hardinsburg, KY