The Maze Runner by James Dashner

When Thomas awakens in an elevator, he doesn't remember anything other than his name. He cannot remember where he is or how he got there. His memory is a complete blank, but he is not the only one. When the elevator opens, he is welcomed into the Glade by a bevy of kids his own age. Thomas walks into a wide glen, full of vegetation - and completely surrounded by stone walls. Outside these stone walls is the Maze.

Just like Thomas, his new friends have no memory of how they got to the Glade or who they were before they arrive. Life in the Glade centers around what they can know - every morning, the gates open and every night they close tight. Every 30 days, the elevator opened with a new boy. Everything had happened the same way for as long as anyone could remember.

The next day, something extraordinary occurs. The elevator opens once again - this time bringing the first ever girl to the Glade. What's more is that she brought them a message - that she was the last thing to ever come out of the elevator. After her arrival, things in the Glade become very stressful as things change rapidly and dangerous situations become entirely too life-or-death. What about Thomas and the girl have changed everything in the Glade?

The Maze Runner is a thrilling tale of a dystopian society, where nothing is quite what it seemed. There was a bit too much exposition in this tale, however, for me. There was a lot of build up to the ultimate conclusion, which often times, I wished would move along just a bit quicker. This book was chock full of action, driving the plot to an unexpected ending. Dashner does an excellent job keeping you guessing as the Thomas and his friends attempt to find their way out of the Maze.

There is not a lot of character development, either. We learn bits and pieces about the main characters and their relationships, both past and present, to each other, but nothing is ever flushed out. While this is certainly understandable given the lack of memory in the characters, I found I wanted more. I felt that the characters were a little two-dimensional. I am hoping that they become a little more flushed out in book two.