"The Kill Order"

The prequel to the Maze Runner series, "The Kill Order", by James Dashner, reveals how it all started. I thought that this book would be about the beginning of the Maze and how all of the "subjects" were picked, but it is before all of that happens. It is the story of the Scorch and how the Flare started.

Mark has had a crush on Tina forever, he just can't seem to get her to think of him as more than a friend. He never thought that sun flares destroying the earth would be the thing to open her eyes and bring them together. They have to escape New York City to get away from the scorching heat and smell of death. Groups of survivors have fled to the mountains to try to rebuild their lives and are doing a pretty good job of it. Mark and Trina have joined up with Alec and Lana (both former military), as well as other survivors, to start their own little community. They all think that the worst is over, until one day a Berg shows up and starts raining their little community with small darts.

The darts seem harmless enough, only killing if they hit someone fatally. The people that were just knicked by the darts, however, become sick and pass away within a couple of days. Mark and Alec realize that there is a disease spreading that started with the darts and it is mutating so that each person that gets it will manifest differently and will show symptoms at different times. Now no one knows if they are really sick or not and the only hope is to get to the nearby headquarters of their attackers and find a cure.

They encounter other people on their journey and start to see exactly what this disease is doing to people. They are full blown crazy and are saying nonsense and hurting eachother. They find a light in all the darkness though when they meet a 5-year-old girl who was hit by a dart but didn't become sick. Deedee is special because she is immune, and Mark makes it his lifes mission to get her to people who can use her to help others. They have to fight for their lives through a city full of Cranks to save Deedee and get her to safety.

This book will blow your mind. It is one of those books where it seems like there just isn't a way for the characters to win. The whole world is against them and they have to fight for their lives against Cranks and against themselves. This is the prequel to the Maze Runner series and I think you would be just fine reading it before the other books, or at the end like I did. If you do choose to read this before the other three, you will probably come back and read this one again becuase the author drops hints about the characters in the Maze Runner that you might not pick up on until you have read the series. There is a lot of sadness and death and crazy people in this book. I would not suggest it to anyone younger than high school. James Dasner's imagination continues to amaze me and I am sure that you will be amazed at what he comes up with when you read this book. 5 stars! Check it out and let me know what you think!