No Exit by Taylor Adams
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
**4.5-stars rounded up**
Darby Thorne has just received terrible news from her sister. Their mother is dying of cancer and she doesn’t have much time left.
Rushing home to Utah to be by her side, Darby encounters a blizzard in Colorado that makes all roads impassable.
Luckily, she comes across a remote rest stop that seems like a safe space to wait out the storm.
It has to be better than being trapped alone in her car for the night in freezing conditions.
Seeing other vehicles in the lot, Darby realizes she isn’t the only traveler stuck in this horrible situation. Upon entering, she finds three people inside who seem amiable enough.
Then a fourth person pops up who creeps her the f* out.
After his arrival, Darby is on edge and seemingly for good reason. As she is out in the parking lot, she notices a little girl locked in a dog cage in the back of a work van.
One of the people stuck here is a kidnapper and god knows what else!
Now Darby has to figure out how to free the girl, keep her safe and survive the night. All the while, not knowing who the predator is. So, no pressure.
This book was hella fun. Adams did a wonderful job of consistently building momentum throughout the story.
As I was reading, I found my level of anxiety getting higher, higher and higher. In a good way. The fun, edge-of-your-seat, kind of way; not the crawl under a blanket and not leave my house for a week kind of way.
When this book was released, there was quite a bit of hype surrounding it. Happy to report, that hype is legit.
Channeling strong horror movie vibes, this story will stick with me for a while. I loved the different characters and the horrific circumstances just seemed to get more and more dire as the hours at the rest stop ticked by.
Great pacing by Adams. I am really excited to see what he comes up with next. I hope he consistently stays in this thriller/horror zone. I definitely think he’s found his sweet spot!
As an aside, perfect winter read if you live in a climate where you get a lot of snow.
Blizzard coming this weekend? No problem. Just pick up No Exit and STAY AT HOME!!!