The Maze Runner

Thomas wakes up in an elevator remembering nothing about his prior life except his first name. When the elevator doors open, Thomas learns that he's in an enclosed area, surrounded by a maze with a group of boys. The boys live in the center of the maze, grow their own food and have their own society. Each day a group of boys called Runners go out and try to solve the maze and find a way out. But everyone finds their way back in from the maze before dark or else they'd surely be killed by the Grievers - a mysterious monster that lives inside the walls of the maze. The other Gladers expected Thomas' arrival. Every thirty days another boy is delivered to them through the elevator. But the day after Thomas arrives, a newbie comes through the elevator - this time it's a comatose girl and Thomas feels like he already knows her.

I enjoyed this book a lot but it wasn't absolutely great. It was a unique concept. The action kept moving very quickly. It had some echoes of Lord of the Flies. The author kept a bit of the mystery in exactly why the boys are in the maze. I realized when I was getting close to the end of the novel that the author was going to have a hard time wrapping it all up before I got through the pages that were left but, lo and behold, it's the first book in a series. How did I miss that in all the reviews I read before I finally picked up the book? I'll definitely read the other books in the series but they'll be library books not books that I buy.