The Scorch Trials by James Dashner

☆☆☆☆☆Author: James Dashner
Publisher: Delacorte Books
Pages: 360
Genre: Young Readers Fiction
Source: Own
ISBN: 0385738757

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.

Thomas can only wonder—does he hold the secret of freedom somewhere in his mind? Or will he forever be at the mercy of WICKED?

If James created Thomas to reflect himself, then I would be honored to meet such a person in real life. With such a large heart and a will to do what's right by his friends and even foes, Thomas is by far my favorite of the many characters. Minho is a close runner up with his drive to lead such a beaten down group of boys.

I could not put this book down.  I relished every break at work and every moment to sit down and eat! While I thought The Maze Runner had a slow start, The Scorch Trials definitely took off from page one. James made sure you felt as though your were walking through the desert with those boys. The heat, the storm, the lightening. You felt every death and tried to provide hope to the boys from the pages that you desperately clung to. Horror, disgust, envy, hate, rage, fear, despair, hunger, joy, heartache...those are just a handful of the emotions thrown into the mix.
A second in a trilogy and a wonderful addition to an amazing adventure. I cannot wait until the last installment to see where their story ends.