The Death Cure: Book Three of the Maze Runner Series Paperback – January 8, 2013

The biggest theme in the third book of this series is trust. Who to trust... Brenda? Theresa? WICKED?Is anything real? I love how this series gets me questioning every single thing I read. I got to the point where I thought, if it's written down, it must be a trick. I had to remind myself that not everything could be a trick, and that some things had to be real. But which things? It was perpetual. Something like I imagine was happening in the minds of the characters.Memories are being returned to the survivors so they can finish the trials and find the cure. Thomas is terrified of what else he might remember. He didn't want to know what he had done before the start of the trials. He already knew that WICKED shouldn't be trusted. Finally, he escapes WICKED with a small band of other munies and they flee to the city of Denver, which has resisted the spread of the Flare. They believe that the other survivors, including Theresa, have also escaped and found their way to the city.In Denver, munies (those immune to the Flare) held jobs that others couldn't do, but they were deeply resented by most of the population who weren't immune. After their arrival, Thomas is approached and offered a lifeline by an underground operation called The Right Arm. It’s an operation that includes a blast from his past, Gally from The Glade.We also learn that Denver is the one place where there is someone who can remove the tracking device that has been implanted into Thomas’s head. Of course, in the meantime, the crazy Ratman can track him, and tries to convince him to return to WICKED and complete the final stage of the trials. Naturally, Thomas resists. As the story unfolds Thomas and his fellow munies join forces with The Right Arm and set plans in place to defeat WICKED once and for all.Then, on February 13, 2015, I was on about page 200, when a post from James Dashner landed in my Facebook feed. It mentioned something about page 250. The post was littered with comments from readers that spilled forth information that I didn't need to know. The timing was dreadful, so I replied to Mr Dashner with my feelings. I got no reply, of course, but at least I got to vent my disapproval. What a spoiler at the worst possible time!WICKED may have started off with the good of the world in its sights. But over time it morphed into something that was just as damaging as the problem it tried to solve. The lesson here is that good intentions aren't a license to do whatever you want. WICKED’s driving ambition had been running blind and it failed to stop and take a sanity check. Janson (Ratman) had lost all sense of right and wrong. But luckily there was a light in the darkness that left a thread of hope for a future.Finally, there was an escape, but not a cure. The world was left to self destruct while the lucky few could start afresh. It was hardly a happy ending, but perhaps the only one that was plausible.<b>In a Nutshell</b>I can see why this series has a huge and faithful fan base, and I'm glad to call myself one of them. Recommended for readers who enjoy action filled with twists, tricks and lies, and relish the uncertainty of not knowing what to believe as they read.

The Death Cure... the end to a series that I really enjoyed. And I did enjoy this book, although I am still not sure how I feel about the conclusion!!I have mixed feelings, but I have to wonder if perhaps that is exactly how the author meant us to feel. These books are surrounded with mystery, the kind of mystery that makes you question the powers that be and their authority and control over your life. That's the bigger message. So the series was written in such a way to constantly foster that mystery and I think that too many neat answers might have eliminated that feeling and lessened them overall messages and themes.Part of the mystery is rooted in the fact that no one, including the reader, ever seems to know exactly who they can and can't trust. There are moments that it is even hard to tell what is real and what isn't. These things keep the story interesting, and keep the reader from being able to guess what is going to happen next.The presence of WICKED throughout the series is the source of all mystery. The methods that they use and the things that they do in the name of the greater good are often incomprehensible and horrendous. Their involvement was so mysterious and so convoluted that it just amped up the misdirection and made the answers impossible to guess, which I loved.The ending was satisfying, but I think I expected something different, something more epically conclusive. By the end, the characters, and the reader, are exhausted and full of conflicting emotions. Their stories have been confusing and twisted and the ending leaves them with a sense of hope. And that is something that they have not had for a very long time.My Recommendation: I am sad to see this series end, although I am happy that The Kill Order begins a prequel trilogy. I loved the premise of this story and found it engrossing and unique.