The Scorch Trials by James Dashner

I'm a few years behind in reading this but I'm glad I waited. Now I can go right ahead and read The Death Cure without having to wait a year. This is the sequel to The Maze Runner, which I read when it first came out a couple of years ago. Thomas and the surviving Gladers have escaped the maze and now are waiting to find out lots of things, such as who really is behind WICKED? What has happened to the world? Will they ever get their memories restored? Why were they subjected to such a cruel and elaborate "trial"? However, they soon find out that no one is giving out answers to any of their questions. Instead they are thrown into yet another trial. This time they must travel 100 miles through the "scorch" to get to a safe haven. Theresa has disappeared and in her place is a boy who claims to have been part of a similar maze trial with a group of girls called Group B. Our Gladers, AKA Group A, must travel through a hot, dusty wasteland toward an abandoned city populated with cranks that have the flare. (Yes, there is a lot of jargon in this book but it all makes sense when you read it.) Oh, did I mention that WICKED has told the Gladers that they all have been infected with the deadly flare and if they make it to the safe haven they will get the cure? There were enough plot surprises to keep me reading, and some new characters that added to the complexity of this series. My complaint about The Maze Runner was that it didn't have enough character development to make me care about Thomas and Theresa. The Scorch Trials was much better in that regard and I can't wait to hear how their story ends.