Looking for a thriller that you can’t put down? Then try this book that everyone’s talking about.One of the tensest, most gripping thrillers you will ever read. From UK and US best-selling author Taylor Adams. A KIDNAPPED LITTLE GIRL LOCKED IN A STRANGER’S VAN. NO HELP FOR MILES. WHAT WOULD YOU DO?Darby Thorne is a college student stranded by a blizzard at a highway rest stop in the middle of … a blizzard at a highway rest stop in the middle of nowhere. She’s on the way home to see her sick mother. She’ll have to spend the night in the rest stop with four complete strangers. Then she stumbles across a little girl locked inside one of their parked cars.
There is no cell phone reception, no telephone, no way out because of the snow, and she doesn’t know which one of the other travelers is the kidnapper.
Full of shocking twists and turns, this beautifully written novel will have you on the edge of your seat.
Who is the little girl? Why has she been taken? And how can Darby save her?
What readers are saying about NO EXIT
“A roller coaster of a read from start to finish – one of the best books I’ve read this year. ” Nerys Roberts
“I won’t spoil anything but the ending blew me away. Stunning, simply stunning. One of the best books I have ever read.” Misfits farm
“My heart soared into my throat from the first page and never left. Don’t read this book right before you go to bed. Your adrenaline rushes will be too high . . . That’s all I’m giving away because I really, really want you to read this thriller. It is so good. ” Heather
“This book is action from start to finish. I don’t want to reveal anymore other than to say that the tension escalates all the way to the final confrontation.” Marion
“I found myself having to tell myself to stop read and just BLINK, and breathe, for crying out loud.” Bonnye Reed Fry
“I read it in one day. Would have read it quicker if I could have hidden myself away from the rest of the world, but alas, there was no escape from reality! It’s been a long time since I opened a book and couldn’t think of anything else, even after the book was finished. Un-be-liev-able!” Mary
“OMG, this really is a fast-paced roller coaster ride. After spending a few pages getting to know Darby, the reader is launched into a danger packed, adrenaline ride that rockets along and grips the reader so tightly that you sometimes have difficulty breathing.” Nicola Richards
“The first twist left me breathless. The suspense starts at the very first page and only becomes more compelling until the explosive ending.” Linda Strong
“Once starting this story I just could not put it down, call it engrossing, engaging, intriguing or whatever you’d like it truly turned into one of those reads that I couldn’t break away from and today I really need a nap.” Carrie Glover
ALSO BY TAYLOR ADAMS
EYESHOT An international best-selling thriller. In the middle of the desert a couple are pinned down by a ruthless sniper
OUR LAST NIGHT Dan Rupley has 24 hours to get his dead fiancée back. What could go wrong?
more
Finally a thriller that really delivers a wallop!!
Get this book, you won’t be disappointed. Unlike other heavily promoted books, this delivers big time. I read it in one sitting because I could not put it down. Talk about a great plot and the characters, fully developed to the point I really hated several of them deeply. This is the 2017 Agatha Christie …small room with just 5 people in it and one or more is a kidnapper…Trust me, this author did Christie proud with a solid plot, great characters, a little girl called Jay and an honest to goodness heroine Darby. Put yourself in her position, what would you do?
The suspense was real, the tension was thick and trying to stay ahead of the next trap was exhausting. You cheered for Darby and the relationship that developed between her and Jay seemed real, authentic and the humor between them helped. Get this book!
I was tempted to skip writing a review about this book at first, but the more I thought about it and after seeing even more people call it “the best thriller”, I realized some things definitely need addressing, so here we go…
The whole story had potential, I was really, REALLY excited to read the book, I was even more hyped when people started reviewing it and saying it was the BEST thriller they had ever read, etc. But here’s the thing… I’m a huge fan of thrillers, this one is not even in my top 100 of crime/thriller/mystery books and after finishing it the only way to describe how the story felt is, well, the word trainwreck comes to my mind.
Original read date: in January 2019
Update as of 29.03.21: This book still haunts me with how bad it was and I absolutely wish I didn’t read it. It definitely gave me trust issues when it comes to thrillers and mysteries.
Here is why.
Things that bothered me, I’m sure more would come to mind later, but for now:
– 80% (the other 20% are easy to predict) of the whole mystery is revealed literally on the first page of the book through an email, you just need to pay little attention and you would get it.
– The story/fight between the heroine and the bad guys keeps going and going and going to a point it just gets repetitive and annoying. No joke, the whole time all we hear about is how lucky Mr. Magic Man and how much he loves gore and hates people mistreating Mr. Obvious Killer, and that the heroine is such a bad daughter. *not gonna say any actual names, so I don’t ruin the ‘surprise’, I will leave that to the book.*
– The fact that the story was in 3rd person, especially when we had the POVs of the bad guys.
– The author kept repeating the last names of the characters through the whole book, it was so randomly placed too, like the last names at that point would make any difference to us, when all that did was take away from the reading.
– Things like that:
“But she’d have to shoot the Beretta left-handed. She had never fired a gun before, and she was right-handed. She hoped she could still hit her target. She only had one bullet.”
Not even gonna comment on how annoying this is written, let’s focus on how bonkers it is: I know that almost anything is possible in movies/books, but in what world did these four sentences sound right and totally not ridiculous to anyone/the author reading them?!
– The fact that the heroine wanted to stop Mr. Magic Man but in the end was oh so inconsistent about actually doing it, the CHILD had to do it for her!
– The last few moments of Mr. Magic Man before his death and his “maybe I will become a president thoughts”, like just WHAT?!
– The non-stop repetitive action and descriptions with too much unnecessary details.
– The part with Darby’s mother felt so rushed and improperly finished. Also, I still can’t over that last text message from Darby’s sister… (view spoiler)
Final thoughts on the book:
If you’re still on the fence about reading ‘No exit’, even after seeing all of these great reviews about it and you’re looking for a good thriller, with unpredictable twists and turns and well-constructed characters, that would leave you wanting to read more, that’s NOT the book for you.
10/10 would NOT recommend.
I couldn’t put the book down I just wanted to find out what else could happen and there are so many twist and turns and the ending blew my mind and I couldn’t believe the ending
Darby Thorne is desperate to get home to Utah after receiving an urgent text from her sister about their mother. She’s an art student at UC in Boulder and is fighting a blizzard. When the weather wins the battle, she’s able to make it to a rest stop before losing all visibility and navigation. There are four other stranded travelers and no WiFi service. After Darby ventures out to try and get a signal beyond the building without success, she sees a disturbing sight through the window of one of the vehicles…the small hand of a child in a cage.
As Darby doesn’t know who owns what cars in the parking lot, she has no idea which of the four in the rest stop is the culprit. It becomes a match of wits, at first, to determine who she can trust and who owns that van with the child. It took a while for the story to develop and I was losing interest. But suddenly it ramped up and then began a series of twists, surprises and dilemmas. There are situations that required me to suspend my belief system but I decided to just roll with it.
What makes this story work is its lack of predictability, even when it felt like it was going down that path. Darby was extremely imperfect, which made her even more engaging. I had no idea how it would all end, whether it would be satisfying or frustrating. It was brutal and cruel at times but consistent with the circumstances. This would make an excellent movie (20th Century Fox bought the rights over a year ago) and I’d go see it on opening day. And, I opted to get the audiobook, which was an excellent decision because the narrator made it even more exciting. But, I was also tempted to buy the eBook so I could skip to the end and put myself out of misery. It was that tension filled because the villain was diabolical. 3.5 stars
Wow, what an amazing book! Such a simple idea – a group of strangers stuck in a highway rest stop during a snow storm with no way out until the next morning.
I loved the protagonist, Darby. She’s got unresolved issues from the past, she’s feisty, and she sticks up for what’s right. When she sees a child’s hand in a van, she’s determined to find out what’s going on.
After the initial build up, the story is non-stop tension all the way to the end. Highly recommend!
Holy Crap! This novel is a wild intense thrill ride. I think I held my breath the entire time I read this one. Darby Thorne, a college student in Colorado, is driving home to Utah to visit her mother who has just been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. As she is driving through a snowstorm on a mountain pass, the storm intensifies and she is forced to stop at a rest area. Inside, she meets three men and one woman, and they soon learn they will be stranded there for the night. One of the men, Lars, is particularly creepy and Darby keeps her eye on his movements. When she goes out to her car to get something, she sees a horrifying sight—a girl trapped in a cage in the back of a van. She knows this van must belong to Lars, and she vows to save this girl no matter the cost. Seems straightforward, right? WRONG. This book has more twists and turns than my naturally curly hair. There are some gruesome scenes, lots of violence, and obviously children in peril. This one is definitely not for the faint of heart, but it is so well crafted. Make sure to buckle your seat belt tight and enjoy the wild ride.
On the way to see her mother who is undergoing surgery for pancreatic cancer, Ashley is forced to stop at a rest stop because the driving conditions are too much for her to pass. There she meets a few people, cousins Sandi and Ed, a man named Ashley, and Lars, who she mentally calls Rodent Face. Everyone seems friendly enough, except for Rodent Face, he’s creeping her out.
Even more so since on her way back from trying to get a cell signal, she spotted a little girl in someone’s van outside. Not only is she trapped in the van, she is locked inside a dog cage. Now she needs to figure out who owns the van and she will have her kidnapper. It should be pretty easy to figure out, but nothing is ever that easy.
What follows is the long night in the rest stop, waiting for plow trucks to be able to come and clear the area and roads so Darby can free Jay and get whoever kidnapped her behind bars where they belong.
Darby is my kind of favorite character, she’s clever and strong and she never stops fighting for Jay.
Some books have a major plot twist, and then you can breathe a sigh of relief, you’re not going to get that in No Exit, there were numerous plot twists. Every time Adams put us on stable ground, he would remove another rock, having us slip further into the madness that he’s created at the rest stop.
This was so well-written and I loved all of the characters, I even came to love to hate Lars. I knew that reading this was going to be stressful because thrillers always are, but Adams never let you rest easy and it was fantastic. I am definitely a new fan and cannot wait to read more of his work.
Great read, hope they make a movie based on this book!
I love the way this story unfolds within such a limited space and time. It had me up late turning pages!
An occupational hazard of being a writer is picking plot twists in books and movies well ahead of when they happen.
I couldn’t pick them in this one!
Kept me riveted and turning pages rapidly.
I Loved this book! I loved it so much I read every book I could find from this author.
His books are so well written. The stories are believable and the action never stops from page one to the end.
This book is incredible! Started reading and only finishing did I realize I barely breastfed, and every muscle was tense. Wow, I’m a fan!
I binge-read all three of Adam’s novels this weekend. These are the most suspenseful and satisfying books I’ve read in quite a while. He pits ordinary people against extraordinary, terrifying circumstances; his protagonists have to use every bit of their strength, ingenuity and innate goodness to find a way to safety for themselves and the innocent people around them.
Was taken for a ride. I thought it would be a good thriller you know easy reading. But I was not prepared for a modern hateful eight sought of rollercoaster. Read it straight through in one sitting. Wow!! Highly say again HIGHLY recommend. Got his other two books and I have started Our Last Night. Got my seat belt on now
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