Darby Thorne, a young college student has been called by her sister to rush home in order to see her mother before the lady passes away. We meet up with Darby as she is caught in an immense snow blizzard while driving into the Colorado mountains to get to her mother in time to say goodbye. She happens upon a rest area and is forced by the weather to drive into it and take shelter with four other people in the area's building. Anxious to tell her sister that she was stopped by the storm she leaves the building in an attempt to find a source of a possible signal on her cell phone. Unable to get a signal to use her phone and while walking back to the shelter she happens upon the vehicle of one of the other people caught by the storm. Looking through the window by chance she sees a young girl held in a cage on the inside. The realization that she has stumbled on a kidnapping galvanizes her thoughts and succeeding actions in attempting to free the captive and gives us one of the most exciting novels I've read in a long time. Which of the four people currently in the rest area is the kidnapper and how Darby can get help from the others in effecting the girl's release is the crux of the matter. Mr Adams moves from one set of circumstances to another in developing the situation for the reader and arriving at the conclusion. We are drawn into the story and along with Darby change our minds about what is happening and where it will go several times in enjoying a well done novel. A definite incentive for any reader to be looking for other books by the author.

Darby Thorne is driving home for a Christmas she'll never forget. The weather outside is frightful, and it only gets worse from there. Darby's car fails in the terrible wintry weather, and she finds herself stuck at a rest stop with four strangers. Seeing as she can't get home, Darby is desperate to speak to her dying mother, and stumbles upon a horrifying scene: one of the strangers she's stuck with has abducted and caged a child. As she’s cut off from the world due to the treacherous weather, what can Darby do to save the kid, and herself? No Exit is a suspenseful novel that will have the average reader full of angst, hoping and wondering if the heroine survives the night. What. A. Book! This reads like a movie, and is really, really enjoyable. I found it really difficult to put this page-turner down. This book had my stomach in knots. I was completely invested in the characters, the plot, just everything about it. The author successfully made me sad when I was meant to be sad; scared and nervous when I was meant to be scared and nervous. Mad, glad and so on. The point is, this was easy to engage with. I LOVED the setting of this book, and it undoubtedly contributed to the chilling nature of this story. The snow is falling and piling up, up, up, and the air is bitter cold with a night sky that is as dark as can be, and Darby is stuck in a quaint rest-stop with four strangers, with practically no exit due to the unforgiving nature of the weather. I mean, this setting was always going to pull me in. It’s one of my worst nightmares. The characters were likeable, devilish and all round effective in connecting with me as a reader. Darby was a hardcore heroine that I couldn’t help but root for all throughout. The big baddie was mediocrely vicious, but it still unnerved me, because you don’t need to be all that clever to be a bad guy capable of horrific violence. Overall, I read this within two days and I’m rating it 5 stars; what an awesome and nerve-wracking read this is. Sometimes when you read a book, unlikeable narrators, plot holes or what not can cause issues, but the truth is I didn’t notice any such problems because of how fast paced this book was, and how riled up I was to see how it all finished. I thoroughly loved this, and recommend it without hesitation for all mystery/thriller lovers. Hopefully it won’t leave your nerves in tatters, but if it does, hey, you aren’t alone! I’ll definitely pick up whatever Taylor Adams writes next.

This book turned out to be an adrenaline - fuelled rollercoaster of a ride and an edgy, unsettling read. Darby Thorne was driving home to Utah to visit her mother for Christmas when her windscreen wiper broke during a snowstorm and she was forced to stop at a run down rest area miles from civilisation somewhere in the Rockies. While trying to get a phone signal she spots a child locked inside a van. There’s only four people in the cafe at the rest stop, so which one of them does the van belong to ? Who is the little girl? Why has she been taken? And how can Darby save her?What comes next is a brilliantly told, tightly woven thriller, taking place over the course of less than 24 hours, and which kept me on the edge of my seat. It’s pacy, it’s sharp, it’s a quick read and with its setting in a blizzard - torn, run down rest stop,its sense of isolation and uncertainty made it compelling.If you want a story that’s guaranteed to get your adrenaline flowing then pick up a copy of No Exit by Taylor Adams.

⭐️ 3.5 ⭐️ I absolutely flew through this book because it really was hard to put down. It’s well-written and the characterisation is excellent. It’s a dark, chilling read with plenty of edge-of-your seat, heart pounding moments and the heavy, claustrophobic atmosphere adds to the sense of foreboding. Unfortunately I found some parts slightly far fetched and I had to suspend my belief (particularly at the end). A good read. I liked it, I just didn’t love it.