“Stephen, Stephen, Stephen.”

From James Dashner’s The Maze Runner: The Fever Code.

Long before he woke up in the WICKED maze as Thomas, he was a small boy named Stephen that was immune to a terrible virus.  Stephen is given the name Thomas by the doctors and scientists that keep him at the facility, but the boy wants nothing more than to hold on to the ever-fading memories of who he really is.  WICKED has been collecting immune children from around the world in their attempt to find a cure.  As the years go by, Thomas learns to comply with his classes, training, and testing, but he never truly forgets the pain of his past.  With all the bad WICKED employees, Thomas finds some understanding with Dr. Ava Paige, but his life is relatively solitary until he is allowed to meet a girl named Teresa who is part of a program similar to Thomas.  Teresa and Thomas are assigned to help with the construction of the Maze, but with some late night rule-breaking, they are able to meet some other children (Alby, Minho, and Newt) being used by WICKED.  The new friends are found out and punished with exposure to the infected Cranks outside, this spurs them to cooperate for a while until Thomas sees Minho unjustly punished.  As he watches WICKED pile up the unspeakable acts, Thomas decides against all odds to find a way to free himself and his friends before it’s too late.

This fifth book in Dashner’s Maze Runner series is also the second prequel of the series; it takes place between the events of The Kill Order and The Maze Runner.  Definitely the better of the prequels, it brings familiar characters in for an origin-type story while also answering many fan questions from the other books.  The Fever Code is an twisting, action-packed thriller that really helps to shed light on the series as a whole.