James Dashner wrote the very popular young adult “Maze Runner Trilogy.” It starts with a book published in 2009 called “The Maze Runner,” and concludes with the 2011 book “The Death Cure.”

“The Maze Runner” begins with a boy named Thomas–our central character–rising in a box and emerging in a huge open area called The Glade, populated by a group of about 60 other teenage boys. Like the other boys, Thomas’s memories have been wiped.

The Glade, it turns out, is the center of a huge maze. Outside the glade, in the corridors of the maze, hybrid animal/machine creatures called the Grievers keep everyone terrified. A small handful of boys, called runners, spend their days running through the maze and mapping it out. They know there’s a solution, but after a couple years of effort, they’ve not been able to find one. Meanwhile, boys die–often at the hands of the Grievers–and a new boy arrives, like Thomas, every month. Along with a weekly selection of supplies from the unknown maze creators.

Thomas becomes a runner, and a leader. Then one day the next new arrival comes–and it’s a girl, named Teresa. And Thomas and Teresa are able to communicate with each other telepathically. It’s clear that they knew each other before arriving in the Glad, but they can’t remember anything about it.

So anyway, that’s the situation. They need to figure out the puzzle of the maze without getting killed by the ferocious Grievers.

“The Scorch Trials” finds the group out of the maze, in a world where solar flares have killed a huge portion of the world population and left the planet hot, very hot. Scorched. Plus, a plague called The Flare infects most people, gradually turning them crazy. The boys are released into this world for a new set of test–yes, the maze was a tests–and it’s gotten more demanding.

I liked “The Maze Runner” quite a bit, even though not much was explained–who the creators are, what they hope to accomplish, etc. I expected more to be revealed in “The Scorch Trials,” but was disappointed. Instead, “The Scorch Trials” makes things even more confusing, raising even more questions about what the purpose could possibly be. It also brings into play a group of teenage girls who emerged from their own maze.

So now, that leaves “The Death Cure,” the third book, which would explain everything…right?

Not necessarily. I read some reader reviews, and too many of them expressed disappointment–that the third book was the worst of the three, moved slowly, and didn’t answer the questions generated in the previous two books. So I decided against investing any more of my Christmas B&N Gift Certificate in this series. I decided I was just going to be disappointed, that James Dashner had a keen imagination but hadn’t really planned out where he was going in advance. I decided to take a pass. I can live without knowing what happens to Thomas & Company.

I read 49 books during 2011. Not as good as the 81 books I read during 2010, but in 2010 I had a lot of down time, with 3 surgeries. I plowed through gobs of books while recuperating. But 49 is still good.

You can read the complete list, along with brief descriptions and links to my reviews.

For this post, I’ll spotlight my 10 favorite books of 2011, in roughly the right order. This doesn’t mean they were technically the best, the ones a professional reviewer would applaude. These are just the ones I, Steve Dennie, ordinary guy, personally enjoyed.

1. City of Thieves, by David Benniot. Set in St. Petersburg, Russia, during World War 2. My review.
2. Blood Safari, by Deon Meyer. My introduction to a fabulous South African writer.
3. Hot, by Mark Hertsgaard. An artfully written look at the ramifications of a warming earth.
4. Nothing to Lose, by Lee Child. Jack Reacher stumbles into trouble in a small Colorado town named Despair. My review.
5. I Am Number Four, by Pittacus Lore. The first of a planned series about an alien war brought to earth. My review.
6. Matched , by Ally Condie. A young girl comes of age in an interestingly-imagined dystopian society. My review.
7. Night of Thunder, by Stephen Hunter. Bob Lee Swagger, master sniper and all-around tough guy, tackles a conspiracy built around the Bristol NASCAR race. My review.
8. The Professional, by Robert Parker. The third-to-the-last Spenser novel written by the master, and it’s a good one. My review.
9. Area 51, by Annie Jacobsen. The whole fascinating history of the super-secret chunk of Nevada known as Area 51. Loved it. My review.
10. Spade and Archer, by Joe Gores. How Sam Spade, the famous Dasheill Hammett sleuth of “The Maltest Falcon,” got to be Sam Spade. My review.

Catching up on some more books I read late in the year.

Bad Blood, by John Sanford (2010).
As I’ve written before, I much prefer Sanford’s Virgil Flowers series to his signature Lucas Davenport “Prey” books. Flowers is a much more interesting character than Davenport (who is actually Flowers’ boss). This fourth entry begins with a 19-year-old football star bludgeoning a coworker, and then he’s found hanging in his cell. A deputy is suspected of killing the boy, but that deputy is then murdered. As Flowers and the lady sheriff investigate, clues point to a girl murdered a year before, and to a secretive religious community where lots of bad things seem to happen. The book ends with a doozy of a shoot-out, and a startling act of vengeance. Yes, I think this is the best Flowers book.

Cross Fire, by James Patterson (2010)
I read Cross Fire in one day, on the plane back from California in early November. Patterson’s style–the short chapters, the color-sparse writing, the unrelenting pace–is well-suited for travel reading. This book brings back serial killer Kyle Craig, who, after extensive plastic surgery, assumes the identity of an FBI agent and ends up working with a clueless Alex Cross to solve a series of sniper killings (the victims being corrupt politicians). Realistically, it’s a bit of a leap, but I willingly suspended my skepticism and enjoyed the ride. The ending seemed a bit weak, yet satisfying. The Alex Cross books rarely disappoint (Cross Country being an exception), and this one certainly didn’t. Not one of his best, but an average Alex Cross book is still a lot better than most other books in this genre.