THE KILL ORDER is prequel to one of the greatest book series I have ever read - THE MAZE RUNNER. These stories come from a pen of a great author of thrillers, James Dashner.
I have so much love for the main story in the Maze Runner series that I couldn't wait to read the prequel. I hoped it would give me a glimpse into the world of WICKED. A glimpse it did give me, but a different one than I expected.
*****
Sun flares have unleashed devastation on the Earth. Mark and Trina were there when it happened, and against the odds they survived. But now a violent and highly contagious disease is spreading like wildfire. Worse still, it's mutating, and people are going crazy. Mark and Trina will do anything to save their friends - if only they can avoid madness and stay alive ...
*****
Firstly, let's talk about the book edition first. I own the paperback published in 2013. 331 pages long. I bought it as a part of collection. Black background. Yellow illustration and shiny silver title. Simple, yet effective.
The writing is engaging. Thrilling. Smart. Very scary at times. But at the same time is a lot different to the other three books. It the same type of writing, but something just doesn't click. At least not for me.
The story itself has a potential to be great. It goes into the past and gives us a view of the world after the Sun Flares hit. I thought it might be a story of how the Flare spread, what caused it and how the WICKED has been formed. But instead we only get to find out how the Flare was spread. And it's a terrifying secret which will shock you to the core, but the story itself is quite long-winding and boring at times. I was pretty disappointed to be honest. I was expecting more. I wanted to find out how Thomas & his friends got to WICKED and who was originally behind it. But the plot was only around the Flare itself. Yes, it was horrifying how the Flare actually entered the world, but the accompanying story fail to impress.
I am really sorry Ms Dashner, but the prequel to Maze Runner was way worse than the main three books. The plot didn't make me want to pick up the book time and time again to find out what happen next. The character weren't as interesting as our group of Gladers. The development of the story itself wasn't as exciting as the main plot line. On the contrary, I had to force myself to read the book as it slow pace made me fall asleep on couple of occasions.
Neither did I feel for the characters. There weren't many opportunities to get to know the characters and their individual stories. It felt like their life before and after the Sun Flares wasn't much thought through. I didn't develop any kind of appreciation for them. And I should have. They went through the worst time ever. They lost their homes.. Their whole world has been thrown into pure chaos.. And just when they started to feel a little bit of hope, it has been shattered to little pieces again. But I wasn't sad for them. I didn't feel anything. They were strangers for me. Which is a great shame.
So Mr Dashner, although I could sing a whole hymn about the main three books of Maze Runner, the prequel fail flat for me. I don't think I will re-read it again. It is a great shame and there is so much potential to this story.
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