Title: The Death Cure (Maze Runner Trilogy #3)

Author: James Dashner

Synopsis (Courtesy of Powell’s Books):

“Thomas knows that Wicked can’t be trusted, but they say the time for lies is over, that they’ve collected all they can from the Trials and now must rely on the Gladers, with full memories restored, to help them with their ultimate mission. It’s up to the Gladers to complete the blueprint for the cure to the Flare with a final voluntary test.

What Wicked doesn’t know is that something’s happened that no Trial or Variable could have foreseen. Thomas has remembered far more than they think. And he knows that he can’t believe a word of what Wicked says.

The time for lies is over. But the truth is more dangerous than Thomas could ever imagine.

Will anyone survive the Death Cure?”

Thoughts: If one goes into reading The Death Cure hoping for definite answers, one is going to be severely disappointed. Just as with the first two novels in the series, answers are there but they are so vague that they can be easily missed if a reader is not paying close attention. Then again, perhaps that is the point Mr. Dashner is trying to make – that no one can ever know the truth. If so, it is not a very satisfying lesson in this highly creative but anti-climactic series.

Part of the problem is that Thomas is one of the few Gladers to never get his full memories restored, so the reader is left to continue to question as much as Thomas still does. He has no idea who to trust, and the reader is left as much in the dark as ever. The answers, when they do come, leave the reader as suspicious as ever. Even though the synopsis states that the time for lies is over, it feels as if The Death Cure is as full of lies as ever.

There are a few moments of brilliance as Thomas is forced to make two of the two most difficult decisions a person can ever make. He finally shows signs of the man that he is slated to become. It is a welcome change.

As much as I loved the first two books, I cannot help but feel slightly disappointed with this last novel and the overall series. The demise of certain characters feels too contrived and surprisingly simplistic, as if they were easy ways to resolve looming conflicts. While there were some surprising twists and turns, I wanted more definitive answers. The saving grace is that the ultimate resolution is neither fairy tale-lie nor fantastically artificial. It is as realistic an ending as one could hope for in such a series. In the end, one can only feel satisfied at that.

Acknowledgements: Mine. All mine.