Genre: Suspense, Thriller
Publisher: William & Morrow
Pages: 352
Author’s Website
Rating: 5 of 5 Stars
As 2019 started out I was in a reading slump. Every new book I picked up didn’t grab my attention enough to keep reading, was boring, or I disliked the protagonist. After putting down the 27th book uncompleted I thought maybe it was me, perhaps I didn’t like to read anymore or could be burned out from reading. Then I saw Taylor Adam’s NO EXIT. I read the excerpt which piqued my interest enough to buy it. Well, let me say I found out I still loved reading and wasn’t burned out from it as I feared.
Darby Thorne is a college student heading to Utah to see her dying mother. She is stranded by a blizzard at a remote highway rest stop in the Colorado Mountains with four complete strangers. While trying to find a signal to check on her mom, she discovers a little girl locked in an animal crate inside a van parked beside her car. With no cell phone reception, no telephone, no way out because of the fierce blizzard, and on top of all that she has to figure out which of the four strangers is the kidnapper, Darby must find a way to save the girl.
Taylor knows how to set up a story and grab your attention. Darby was a character I initially didn’t like or care for and then BAM with the incident of discovering the kidnapped child I started to like her, then admire her and finally root for her. The setting of a remote highway rest stop with no way of getting out seemly cut off from the world because of a mega blizzard added to the suspense of this story. Even the name of the rest area’s name Wanashon, meaning Big Devil, lets you know what, excuse the pun, the kind of hell Darby would be facing. Taylor puts Darby through the wringer, stacked the odds against her, and had me on the edge of my seat wondering how the hell she was going to succeed. This story had me riveted to it like the movie P2, about a woman trapped in a parking garage on Christmas eve with a psychopath. I heard NO EXIT may be made into a movie and I would be the first in line to see it if it does. There were some major twists that made me bite my lip and shake my head in worry for Darby and the young kidnapped girl she was trying to save, all great stuff.
NO EXIT was an excellent rollercoaster read. It had suspense, action, a bit of humor, twists you didn’t see coming, and most of all what makes a hero. One of the best stories I have read this year. In fact, I just downloaded the audio version to experience the story in a different medium.
Leave a Reply