I found this book to be a bit cliche. It seemed like one of those C horror movies on t.v. Darby is stranded at a rest stop in a blizzard and finds a kidnapped girl in a car outside. She has to figure out which of the people inside the rest stop stole the girl and try to outsmart them to save herself and the girl. Quite a bit of violence ensues.

My heart soared into my throat from the first page and never left. Don’t read this book right before you go to bed. Your adrenaline rushes will be too high. It’s like watching Code Black and then trying to sleep. Not going to happen.

In the beginning Darby is trying to navigate a mountain pass in Colorado during a snowmageddon. That was terrorizing enough. But when she has to stop and stay at a rest stop until the snow plows get through, a whole new level of terror ensues.

She sees a little girl trapped in a dog crate inside a van. Which one of the people inside belonged to that van? Darby played process of elimination to figure it out.

That’s all I’m giving away because I really, really want you to read this thriller. It is so good.

About the author: I looked up the author to see if she’d written other thrillers I’d want to read. Well guess what, it’s a guy. And most of the time he’s writing from the female viewpoint and he nails it. Really hard to do. Another plus, he’s from my home state so hopefully, I can meet him some time soon.

Darby Thorne is on her way to Utah after learning her mother has stage four pancreatic cancer. Darby is driving her old car from Colorado to Utah when a snow storm hits when she is up in the mountains. She makes it, just barely, to a rest stop where there are 4 other people snowed in there. She goes outside and tries to get a signal on her cell phone without any luck. As she is walking by the van in the parking lot she sees a small hand . At first she thought she was just seeing things, being tired and living off of Red Bull for awhile. She goes back out there and looks again and sees the girl's face! Oh my and the girl is in a dog crate! Darby unlocks the van and manages to help the girl escape, but little did Darby know that she has no one she can get to help her! The roads are closed, no cell phone, no help! Can Darby save this girl from what she finds out is a sex ring? Read this chilling book to find out! I received a copy of this book from Net Galley so I could give an honest review.

2 and 1 / 2 stars

College student Darby Thorne is traveling to Utah to visit her very ill mother in the hospital. She runs into a snowstorm going over the pass and is stranded in a rest stop. As she finally exits her dying car, she notices a child’s hand in a cage in the back of a van. Is she imagining things?

She trudges inside the rest stop that is nearly abandoned save for four persons. A very strange young man named Lars, an overly talkative young college student and a man and a woman who are cousins. Who owns the van? Why is Lars acting so odd? He must be the owner of the van.

With no cell phone, no landline and no way to contact anyone from the outside, she comes up with a “sort of” plan to free the child. Little does she know what is really going on.

I liked this book, although I had a few problems with it. What was Darby going to do with the child once she got her out? Her method of breaking into the van was a little weak. Her planning skills were almost funny. She breaks into the van and forgets about the dome light. Lars shows up at the van to warm it up for the child with Darby trapped inside also and he never notices her? Where did he think she was? It was all kind of hokey. The book was fairly well written, but the plotting leaves something to be desired. If this is a typical novel for Taylor Adams I don’t believe I’ll read another. There are far too many books out there – and far too little time to read them.

I want to thank Netgalley and Joffe Books for forwarding to me a copy of this book to read.

In a scene reminiscent of a horror movie, five strangers are trapped at a roadside rest area in a blizzard. College student Darby Thorne was on her way home to see her mother when she ended up stuck in a frozen nightmare. Now, she’s found a little girl locked inside a car parked at the rest stop, and she believes one of the people she has been stranded with has kidnapped the child. But who? With no cell phone reception and no way out with the snow piling up, Darby will take matters into her own hands. There’s a nightmarish, claustrophobic feel to this thriller where things are not always what they seem

Darby Thorne is a college student who just received the worst news of her life getting a phone call at school that her mother had been diagnosed with cancer. Fearing the worst Darby rushes off to return home hoping to make things right with her mother before it becomes too late. However what Darby didn’t count on was a blizzard hitting the area that she needs to drive through to make it home.

Darby unequipped for the weather finds herself slipping and sliding her way along the highway when her windshield wiper breaks heaping one more issue onto her perilous journey. Having no choice but to seek shelter and wait out the storm Darby spots a sign for a rest area ahead and makes her way to the building.

After arriving at the rest area Darby finds a few other stranded travelers also seeking shelter from the storm inside the building. Taking the advice of one of the travelers Darby tries to go back outside to find cell service to check on her mother but when passing a van in the lot Darby thinks she sees something inside. Was that really a child or was it her imagination? Just what should Darby do in the middle of nowhere with no way to get help?

I can easily give my first warning when it comes to reading No Exit by Taylor Adams…do not pick this book up thinking I’m just going to read a few chapters before bed just to check it out. Once starting this story I just could not put it down, call it engrossing, engaging, intriguing or whatever you’d like it truly turned into one of those reads that I couldn’t break away from and today I really need a nap.

No Exit asks that question of what would you do if you saw something wrong and Darby becomes the heroine in this story that you hope exists in all of you’re fellow humans. Not knowing who to trust or if help would ever come Darby’s night becomes a true nail biter after she gets that first glimpse of a little girl in trouble.

My only small complaint leaving me to rate this book at 4.5 stars instead of a full five came with I paid a bit too much attention to detail in the beginning and the first twist was expected when it came to me. However that didn’t bring the story down in the least as there was plenty of action and intensity to come in the following pages that I would definitely recommend checking this book out.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

Darby Thorne made a mistake. She started out late to get to her mother's. The falling snow becomes a blizzard and she loses a windshield wiper. She does manage to make it to a rest stop. The good news is that she is off the road. The bad news is she is now stranded overnight ... with no telephone service.

There are only a few cars in the parking lot and she finds people, coffee and cocoa waiting on the inside. People there seem friendly enough .... they are all in the same situation.

Strolling outside to see if she can find a place to get her telephone going, she passes by a van. To her horror she sees a small hand wave from inside. Trying to open the van, she finds it locked. But what terrifies her most is that the child is in something that resembles a dog crate and she has duct tape across her mouth.

One of the people inside is a kidnapper .. or worse. She doesn't know who to trust. All she knows is that she must try to save the child.

And then she makes another mistake ...........

This is a new author to me, and one I intend to read more of. I was glued to my kindle ...could not wait to see what happened next. This is a well written thriller with characters the reader won't forget easily. The first twist left me breathless. The suspense starts at the very first page and only becomes more compelling until the explosive ending.

I wish to thank the author / Joffee Books / Netgalley for the advance digital copy of NO EXIT. Opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.