No Exit

Mr. Adams you just don't miss!!!!!!!!!

3.75*

Adding to my Favorites List

I have not read many thrillers lately, but this is definitely the best thriller I have EVER read. Every time I thought the action was finally done, another twist would happen. The best part was how many times my expectations were subverted. Also, who doesn't love a strong female protagonist?

I am so excited for the movie adaptation to come out later this year on Hulu.

Boy that was exhausting!

Woah, okay! I wasn't sure at all what to expect from this novel, mostly because it's beloved on bookstagram and I haven't seen many bad reviews about this novel whatsoever and I gotta say, it did not disappoint. It was one hell of a rollercoaster ride and even when I felt like it was over, it revealed another humongous drop and it became clear that it wasn't. The shock factor is definitely at an all-time high with this one and it doesn't really take a break, like at all.

To begin with, No Exit is about a woman, Darby, who is driving home a long way to see her mother ,from college, because her mother is sick. However, she gets caught in a snowstorm and pulls over at a remote rest stop, where she finds a child locked in a cage, in a van. A lot of things happen after this and it's hard to ever be bored with this book because the pacing is on the faster side and the plot just keeps you guessing because nothing is as it seems in this story. I enjoyed the plot immensely, however it was a bit too much for me at times and I wish it would have slowed down sometimes, even if for just a second. I usually love fast paced thrillers, but this one felt a bit too fast paced for me and I felt like I didn't have even a moment to catch my breath because the action just kept coming. It definitely feels more like an action thriller than a mystery thriller, so if that's what you prefer I don't think you would be disappointed whatsoever.

Further on, the characterization was pretty spot on all throughout the book. Even though it was super fast paced, the author was still able to take us into the minds of the main characters and show us how they see the world. I would have liked to see a bit more into their souls but what we were given was amazing, especially given how much action was packed into this novel. I liked that all the characters had backgrounds and flaws and they all seemed like potentially real people to me. I felt like I could relate to certain aspects of most of the characters, which at least made me slightly care what would happen to them.

Finally, the writing style was precise and to the point, exactly as it should be in my opinion, especially in an action thriller. I was able to picture things as they were happening and could even get a sense of the setting surrounding them, so it was definitely a very atmospheric read and I enjoyed almost everything about it.

In conclusion, if you want a super fast paced, action thriller, then this one is definitely for you. For my personal preference it was a little too action packed and didn't have enough of the mystery aspect to it. I did, however, have no problems getting through this book because it's also packed with some intricately flawed characters and the writing just flows without any effort on the reader's part. Glad I finally got to this one!

This book had me shouting and groaning and all around freaking out. It had me on the edge of my seat practically the whole book.
100% recommend if you're looking for a stuck in a snow storm with strangers thriller.

Super engaging, fast paced, and great writing. Definitely a horror moreso than thriller but wow this was amazing

Such a good book. Stranded a rest stop in Colorado. When it's discovered that there is a kidnapper among the group. The child is in a dog crate in a mini-van,but who does the van belong to? This is an action packed thriller. I don't think you will be disappointed.

Thrilling, suspenseful – and completely over the top


No great quotation comes to the rescue in this case which could actually be good because “No Exit” promised to be a fast-paced thriller with a highly interesting premise: Darby, a college student takes refuge in a rest/service area during a blizzard. There she meets four other travellers who are stranded. When she finds a girl, Jay, in a van in the parking lot, she knows she's going to have an interesting night ahead of her...

“It was all really happening, right now, in vivid color, and a little girl's life was really on the line, and tonight's title match would be between a sleep-deprived art student and a human predator.”

This outset got my hopes up high – after several books that taxed capacity for prolonged complexity (especially during a holiday!) I just wanted some action-flick-look-alike of a book. And, admittedly, I got one. So, why only three stars out of five?

Well, worst of all: Pretty much every single plot twist was foreseeable. Early on I guessed at two completely different possible story lines but once the first “big revelation” about a certain relationship has occurred, it was rather obvious in which direction we were heading. Not that it was a completely bad idea but it has been used so often before, I was slightly disappointed.

My next gripe is with Darby, our “sleep-deprived art student”, herself: Not only is she fairly sporty, ingenious with improvised weapons, full of wild ideas (in the vein of “if I mix this, put something in the toaster and run fast enough...”), no, she is willing to sacrifice herself for a complete stranger. Oh, and she's really fast or so she thinks:

“She wondered — if he went for the .45 under his jacket, could she yank the Swiss Army knife from her pocket, retract the blade, and cross the room quickly enough to stab him in the throat with it?”

Riiight...

Which leads me to another huge issue: Especially towards the end of the book, Adams goes bat-shit insane with his story. While I'm absolutely willing to suspend my disbelief there are so many totally crazy things happening that I just can't help it and think it might have been better to just let the book end.

Last but not least, the gore: It was just as over the top at times as those crazy ideas I mentioned before. Yes, the perpetrator is a sadistic psychopath but there's no need to describe in gruesome detail how he kills a certain person.


It's sad so much went wrong with this book because at its core, it was a decent thriller and could have satisfied my needs for some shallow fast food entertainment. As it is, I'll have to “cheat” and read another thriller before moving on towards deeper waters again.