The Kill Order by James Dashner

The Kill Order (The Maze Runner #0.5)
by James Dashner

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.



Even though this is a prequel, I suggest reading The Maze Runner series before reading this because there are some spoilers for The Maze Runner.

I was pretty skeptical about reading this book because a lot of people have been saying that they didn't enjoy it. But I was curious about how WICKED started and what happened before The Maze Runner that led to all of that happening.
I was actually pleasantly surprised by this book. There was a lot of mystery and it was pretty exciting seeing how everything started.

The first chapter is told from Teresa's POV. It's when Thomas is being sedated and his memories are being removed so that he can be sent into The Glade. And then after that the story has nothing to do with Teresa or Thomas because it's set 13 years before The Maze Runner.
It follows our characters Mark and Trina in the year after the solar flares hit the Earth. They're living in a community in the woods with their other friends when they are attacked. A berg appears in the sky and they start shooting everyone in the community. Mark and Alec manage to get onto the berg and what they discover isn't pleasant.

I really liked all of the characters in this book. Mark was great character. He was curious and determined to find out what happened. Alec was strong and tough and knew what he had to do. Trina may have seemed naive, but she was a strong and resourceful character. They all stuck together and knew what they had to do. They came across a young girl named DeeDee who they find out is immune to the virus and was abandoned by her community because they thought she was a bad sign.

The whole storyline was interesting. I was very very intrigued by the virus and finding out where it originated. What I found out was horrible. Seriously, this government that Dashner created have done some horrible and unforgivable stuff, but this was probably the worst. I couldn't believe how far they were willing to go! It was disgusting.

Seeing how the virus started and then mutated as it passed from person to person was disturbing. Dashner shared all the gorey details of this virus. What is did to a person and what it made them do when the succumbed. It was pretty horrific to read about considering there were people committing suicide because of the pain in their heads and people being killed because they had the virus. It was pretty disturbing, but interesting to read about the progression and see it in action.

The ending was heartbreaking. I'd grown so attached to these characters in one book that the end was distressing for me. But I'm glad that DeeDee got her chance. I also found out something about DeeDee that I was quite excited to find out! I'm a bit upset that the chapter wasn't in the back of the copy I read, but still, it was nice to find that out since it never crossed my mind.

Overall, this was a very interesting and exciting read. It helps you understand how everything came about and just how corrupt WICKED really are. I definitely recommend reading it.