I was a super champ and finished another book in a relatively short amount of time (for me)! After the If I Run trilogy, I decided to stick with the high stakes running and picked up No Exit by Taylor Adams. Even though the cover art gave away that this book took place during the dead of winter, it was a refreshing surprise as I read it by the pool during a humid, 90-plus degree weekend!
We meet our main character, Darby, as she tries to drive up a mountain in a blizzard to get to her dying mother. After her car gives up on her at a rest stop, she’s essentially snowed in a building with four other complete strangers. Two seem harmless enough, one is cute and charming, while the other is a little slimy. Darby would have been fine with that had she not discovered a young child in the back of a van in the parking lot!
So her first dilemma was to figure out who the van belonged to. Then she needed to figure out how to get out and away from the kidnapper…or kidnappers. Discoveries are made early on Darby’s part, and then the twists just kept coming, and the details just kept getting gorier. By the end, I wasn’t sure who was coming out of this tale alive!
Like I said, there was a lot of information reveled early, and at over 300 pages, I was really nervous that this book was going to be boring. Darby herself is not a totally likable character, but she proves herself throughout the novel to be trustworthy and brave, which are definitely redeemable qualities! The ante kept increasing with each page, and I couldn’t really anticipate all the wild turns it took! There are some very gruesome details, so squeamish readers beware! I would love to see this adapted to film someday. So if you like suspense, pick this up!