Title: The Kill Order
Author: James Dashner
Series: The Maze Runner, Book 0.5
Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers
Paperback: 327 pages
Source: Chicago Public Library
Summary: (taken from Goodreads)
Before WICKED was formed, before the Glade was built, before Thomas entered the Maze, sun flares hit the earth and mankind fell to disease.
Mark and Trina were there when it happened, and they survived. But surviving the sun flares was easy compared to what came next. Now a disease of rage and lunacy races across the eastern United States, and there’s something suspicious about its origin. Worse yet, it’s mutating, and all evidence suggests that it will bring humanity to its knees.
Mark and Trina are convinced there’s a way to save those left living from descending into madness. And they’re determined to find it—if they can stay alive. Because in this new, devastated world, every life has a price. And to some, you’re worth more dead than alive.
Overall Rating: 3 out of 5
I don’t know what I was expecting from this book, but it wasn’t exactly what I got. It’s a prequel to The Maze Runner to explain how The Flare became an epidemic. A lot of it dragged on and was boring, but I appreciated getting a better understanding of the context of the books that followed. It’s definitely not at all necessary to the series and honestly, you can get most of the important stuff from what was implied and explained within the main series. So, it doesn’t really offer much new interesting information, which was a disappointment.
I liked the characters themselves, though, and they pulled me through the book. There’s even a slight connection in characters from this book to the main series, which was a fun surprise. But, it’s your average survival/apocalyptic story and didn’t really wow me. I enjoyed it, but I don’t recommend going out of your way to read it unless you really loved the series (or are a completionist like me and feel obligated to finish the series out).
Purple People Readers 