Title: No ExitAuthor: Taylor Adams
Page Count: 333
Rating: B+
Format Read: BOTM Hardcover
Genre: Thriller
Keywords: Kidnapping, Heroes, Blizzard
Kid Appropriate: No
Synopsis from Goodreads:
A brilliant, edgy thriller about four strangers, a blizzard, a kidnapped child, and a determined young woman desperate to unmask and outwit a vicious psychopath.
A kidnapped little girl locked in a stranger’s van. No help for miles. What would you do?
On her way to Utah to see her dying mother, college student Darby Thorne gets caught in a fierce blizzard in the mountains of Colorado. With the roads impassable, she’s forced to wait out the storm at a remote highway rest stop. Inside, are some vending machines, a coffee maker, and four complete strangers.
Desperate to find a signal to call home, Darby goes back out into the storm . . . and makes a horrifying discovery. In the back of the van parked next to her car, a little girl is locked in an animal crate.
Who is the child? Why has she been taken? And how can Darby save her?
There is no cell phone reception, no telephone, and no way out. One of her fellow travelers is a kidnapper. But which one?
Trapped in an increasingly dangerous situation, with a child’s life and her own on the line, Darby must find a way to break the girl out of the van and escape.
But who can she trust?
With exquisitely controlled pacing, Taylor Adams diabolically ratchets up the tension with every page. Full of terrifying twists and hairpin turns, No Exit will have you on the edge of your seat and leave you breathless.
My Review:
Wow. Just wow.
I opened up my Book of the Month December box expecting a descent distraction of a book that I could read over the course of a couple of days. I READ THIS IN THREE HOURS.
Like with most Fridays I planned on curling up with my good book next to a cheery Christmas tree and my fluffy pup. A nice relaxing evening after a week of work. My expectations were terribly wrong. There was no relaxing, cozy Friday night reading for me. Nope. Instead I was perched on the very edge of the sofa, completely tense, and mumbling "nononononono" to the annoyance of my dog.
This book is nothing that I was expecting. Rather than a slower burn thriller that slowly creeps up on you this one takes off pretty quickly and throws twists at you left and right. While I am sure that some readers will complain of the predictability of some of the turns, there are enough that I found unexpected that I think a majority of readers will be pleased.
While I may have never experienced a Colorado winter, I could sympathize with the blizzard scene and felt it was well described based on my time in Montana and Washington. I actually lived in the part of eastern Washington that this author went to school in and the descriptions of the storm and roads that this novel is set in completely reminded me of driving between Pullman and Spokane during a blizzard. If you're looking for a book that will chill you to the bone (more from temperature than terror) then this is the one for you. As someone that has definitely been caught unexpectedly driving during a blizzard, Adams' descriptions of Darby trying to coax her Honda (named Blue) through the snow was done very well.
The scarier thriller elements weren't so over the top that I would only recommend this to fans of horror or overly intense novels. While the premise and overall plot did freak me out at times and keep me reading a top speed, it built at a gentle enough pace to ease unfamiliar readers into the genre but not bore others to tears.
One element I liked was the flipping back and forth between liking and hating our villain. I prefer morally grey characters with potentially questionable mental states when I am reading my thrillers. It makes the plot a touch more unpredictable. Taylor Adams definitely delivered on that front.
If you're looking for a fast paced thriller full of misdirection, then I definitely recommend picking up this novel. I'm so glad I read this during the colder months. Whether you're a thriller veteran or a newbie you'll love this book.
Like with most Fridays I planned on curling up with my good book next to a cheery Christmas tree and my fluffy pup. A nice relaxing evening after a week of work. My expectations were terribly wrong. There was no relaxing, cozy Friday night reading for me. Nope. Instead I was perched on the very edge of the sofa, completely tense, and mumbling "nononononono" to the annoyance of my dog.
This book is nothing that I was expecting. Rather than a slower burn thriller that slowly creeps up on you this one takes off pretty quickly and throws twists at you left and right. While I am sure that some readers will complain of the predictability of some of the turns, there are enough that I found unexpected that I think a majority of readers will be pleased.
While I may have never experienced a Colorado winter, I could sympathize with the blizzard scene and felt it was well described based on my time in Montana and Washington. I actually lived in the part of eastern Washington that this author went to school in and the descriptions of the storm and roads that this novel is set in completely reminded me of driving between Pullman and Spokane during a blizzard. If you're looking for a book that will chill you to the bone (more from temperature than terror) then this is the one for you. As someone that has definitely been caught unexpectedly driving during a blizzard, Adams' descriptions of Darby trying to coax her Honda (named Blue) through the snow was done very well.
The scarier thriller elements weren't so over the top that I would only recommend this to fans of horror or overly intense novels. While the premise and overall plot did freak me out at times and keep me reading a top speed, it built at a gentle enough pace to ease unfamiliar readers into the genre but not bore others to tears.
One element I liked was the flipping back and forth between liking and hating our villain. I prefer morally grey characters with potentially questionable mental states when I am reading my thrillers. It makes the plot a touch more unpredictable. Taylor Adams definitely delivered on that front.
If you're looking for a fast paced thriller full of misdirection, then I definitely recommend picking up this novel. I'm so glad I read this during the colder months. Whether you're a thriller veteran or a newbie you'll love this book.
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