Book I Read: “No Exit” by Taylor Adams
Why I Checked It Out: On a recent trip, I had the chance to drive through the Colorado mountains during the Winter. My experience went quite smoothly, but it was certainly easy to imagine the horror of being isolated in such a remote place during a blinding snowstorm. So when I came across “No Exit,” which has this very premise I had to check it out.
What It’s About: During an impromptu trip home to visit her dying mother, a young woman named Darby finds herself stranded at a remote highway rest stop during a blizzard in the Colorado mountains where she makes a horrific discovery — a young child is being held in a cage inside a van. She doesn’t know which of her fellow stranded travelers is the owner of the van, but she knows she must act. What follows are several tense hours as she attempts to save the child, even though she knows they are ultimately trapped with a very dangerous person.
Why I Liked It: There are so many things about this thriller that made it enjoyable. Darby is a somewhat surprising, but ultimately fantastic heroine. A poor college student, she does not seem the likely choice to intervene during a kidnapping. As her backstory is revealed, though, it becomes apparent that this tenacious and scrappy girl may just be the best person to save the kidnapped child. In some ways, this may be just the thing Darby needs to help her find the inner strength to battle her own personal demons. The pacing in this story is also phenomenal. The story never drags (to the point that I managed to knock this story out with ease over a weekend). There’s lots of action in the story, which kept it moving and that kept me guessing. At one point I thought I had things figured out, but the author almost immediately threw a wrench into things making me question just what was really going on. This is a story that had me holding my breath and staying up way too late. I cannot wait to check out Taylor Adams’ future novels.
Who Will Like It: Readers who enjoyed the fast-paced and twisty thrillers of Riley Sager or writing duo Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen will want to check this one out.
