Crank Palace, a Maze Runner novella© 2020 James Dashner

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used factiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locations, organizations, or person, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in articles and reviews.

.

For more information contact:

Riverdale Avenue Books/Quest Imprint

5676 Riverdale Avenue

Riverdale, NY 10471

Cover design by Scott Carpenter

Digital ISBN: 9781626015661

Trade ISBN: 9781626015678

Hardcover ISBN: 9781626015685

First edition, November 2020

Praise for the Maze Runner series:

A #1 New York Times Bestselling Series

A USA Today Bestseller

A Kirkus Reviews Best Teen Book of the Year

An ALA-YASLA Best Fiction for Young Adults Book

An ALA-YALSA Quick Pick

“[A] mysterious survival saga that passionate fans describe as a fusion of Lord of the Flies,

The Hunger Games, and Lost.”—EW

“Wonderful action writing—fast-paced… but smart and well observed.”—Newsday

“[A] nail-biting must-read.”—Seventeen

“Breathless, cinematic action.”—Publishers Weekly

“Heart pounding to the very last moment.”

—Kirkus Reviews

“Exclamation-worthy.”—Romantic Times

[STAR] “James Dashner’s illuminating prequel [The Kill Order] will thrill fans of this Maze Runner [series] and prove just as exciting for readers new to the series.”

—Shelf Awareness, Starred

“Take a deep breath before you start any James Dashner book.”—Deseret News

Dedication

To Lynette,

my loving wife, my hilarious best friend,

my adventure partner,

who has always been my first reader

and biggest supporter.

To our children,

Wesley, Bryson, Kayla, and Dallin,

the final pieces of the puzzle,

who’ve continually inspired me

and kept me on track with life.

To Tomoya,

my son Wesley’s (and now our family) friend,

who provided the spark for the character of Keisha.

Finally, to my readers,

who show me each and every day

how to fight for a better future.

Author’s Note

I’ve always been fascinated by viruses and plagues. What does that say about me? Not sure. But our world history is chock-full of devastating periods of illness and disease that wiped out huge proportions of the population. There are many scary things in life, many things that can kill you, but for me personally, dying from a microscopic invader that you can’t see coming... well, that’s some serious terror right there.