The Scorch Trials by James Dashner

Solving the Maze was supposed to be the end. No more puzzles. No more variables. And no more running. Thomas was sure that escape meant he and the Gladers would get their lives back. But no one really knew what sort of life they were going back to.

In the Maze, life was easy. They had food, and shelter, and safety . . . until Teresa triggered the end. In the world outside the Maze, however, the end was triggered long ago.

Burned by sun flares and baked by a new, brutal climate, the earth is a wasteland. Government has disintegrated—and with it, order—and now Cranks, people covered in festering wounds and driven to murderous insanity by the infectious disease known as the Flare, roam the crumbling cities hunting for their next victim . . . and meal.

The Gladers are far from finished with running. Instead of freedom, they find themselves faced with another trial. They must cross the Scorch, the most burned-out section of the world, and arrive at a safe haven in two weeks. And WICKED has made sure to adjust the variables and stack the odds against them.



This is my favorite book of the trilogy. It picks up right where it left off in The Maze Runner. Thomas and the gladiers go to sleep and when they wake up, Theresa is no where around, some people are dead and another "test" begins.

The group, dwindling now, goes through a scorching desert, trying to figure out what they should be doing. They run into some cranks, Brenda and Jorge, and find out they need to get to the safe haven.  Brenda immediately attaches herself to Thomas. At first I didn't mind this because I wasn't attached to Thomas, but then I did so, and his bond with Theresa seemed to torture the guy. I felt bad for him. Theresa shows up, kisses him, and takes off. Then she tells him it is going to get really bad but then it will get better thought their mind-speaking abilities. Brenda is still there, inching her way into Thomas. Seeing a relationship through a boy's eyes, left out the butterflies, and made it very realistic for me. He was torn, but he sought comfort.

I didn't trust Brenda.

Then Theresa does something horrible, and I wanted Thomas to forgive her, but I didn't know if he could. I didn't know if it was part of his nature.

Thomas is super important in the story (yes, I realize I am stating the obvious.). But we start to see that WICKED, through flashbacks and mini-trials, is specifically watching him and wanting him to survive.

Minho is a great - loyal - friend and even though he isn't destined to be as great as Thomas, I find his character to be essential to Thomas, more so than Theresa.