In The Scorch Trials, James Dashner continues expanding the world he introduced in The Maze Runner. It's a world gone wrong, a world where the too-hot sun beats down on the Earth, relentlessly frying everything in its path. It's a world where a deadly virus has been unleashed, ravaging the few humans that remain. It's a world controlled, but not totally, by WICKED. As Thomas and the other boys navigate the strange landscape, they will encounter everything from zombies to blistering heat to homicidal, man-made monsters. If they survive, they win both information and freedom. If they don't, well, death might be a kinder alternative to life in this crazy new version of the world.

While The Maze Runner offers some heart-pumping action, The Scorch Trials kicks it up a notch. Or two. Or ten. The book's an intense, action-paced thrill ride that just doesn't stop. Ever. I raced through it as fast as I could to see if - and how - the Gladers would survive this impossible challenge. WICKED's cruel manipulations throughout the "trial" make the story even more twisty and turny. I loved all the conflict and intrigue, so much so that I almost didn't realize how little the overall plot advances in this volume of the series. Because, really, we don't learn a whole lot about WICKED, its intentions, or even the overall state of the destroyed world. A little bit, yes, but not a lot, which left me a mite disappointed in a novel I otherwise really enjoyed. Still, I'm counting down the days until October 11, when The Death Cure makes its appearance, and all the answers are finally revealed. All I can say is, WICKED, you've got some 'splaining to do ...

(Readalikes: The Maze Runner by James Dashner and The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins)

Grade: B-