Reviews tagging 'Torture'

No Exit by Taylor Adams

154 reviews

yvo_about_books's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

4.0

Finished reading: February 28th 2024

"Don’t fear the pros, Darby. The pros know what they’re doing, and do it cleanly. Fear the amateurs."

I loved my first experience with Taylor Adams' work when I read The Last Word last year, and I've been meaning to dive into his backlist ever since. With No Exit fitting multiple challenges this year, I thought it was the perfect excuse to finally do so... I do love a good bout of bad weather to spice up the plot, and the premise of this thriller sounded SO good. And I have to say that it is one heck of a rollercoaster ride! Sure, it is definitely key to be able to suspend your disbelief and the plot is WAY over the top, but if you are able to sit back and enjoy the ride you are in for a wild one. I tend to love my thrillers on the high octane and dark side, but No Exit definitely goes beyond that and dips its toe in the horror genre with plenty of gruesome and gory scenes. I wouldn't recommend it if you have a weak stomach, that's for sure! That said, No Exit is basically one tense and dangerous moment after the other; the author not giving you a minute to breathe in between accute situations. I literally couldn't stop reading as I HAD to know how everything would end. The fact that the characters are trapped and Darby doesn't know who to trust only adds to the suspense... I do have to say that some of her actions were beyond stupid, and this prevented me from giving it an even higher rating. The bad guy was also a bit too much for me, and his actions and attitude almost felt cartoonish in points. BUT. The whole situation was too tense to stand still by these minor niggles for long, and it's a true pageturner indeed despite the confusing ending. If you are looking for a credible plot and thorough character development, I suggest looking elsewhere... But if you are in need of a dose of high octane, twisted and intense action and just care about being entertained, No Exit should work just fine. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Panic attacks/disorders, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Torture, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Trafficking, Violence, Animal cruelty, Gore, Body horror, Car accident, Vomit, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Cancer, Child abuse, Murder, Blood, Confinement, Alcoholism, Animal death, Medical trauma, Rape, and Abandonment

millie251's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, and Gore

Moderate: Death and Kidnapping

Minor: Gun violence, Animal death, Cancer, Physical abuse, Torture, Alcoholism, Child abuse, and Fire/Fire injury

melimar's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

This book was enjoyable for the most part. The narrator did a great job. The main issue I had with this book is that several times, it seemed like the book was about to end and all of the plot lines were going to be resolved, but then I would look at the time left and there would be hours remaining and another twist would be added. It was ok one or two times, maybe even three, but this happened more than was necessary. It was very drawn out. There were some moments that seemed a little unrealistic. But as a thriller, overall, I enjoyed the story. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Cancer, Fire/Fire injury, Alcoholism, Blood, Body horror, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Torture, Trafficking, Murder, and Violence

michelle_my_belle's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

This was a very fast paced, action packed thriller. It leaned a little too far into horror for my tastes and contained a lot of graphic violence. I will say, it was a very compelling story and I continued reading wanting to find out what happened, so it was definitely successful in drawing me in and building suspense. Overall, it just wasn’t really for me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Death of parent, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Terminal illness, Vomit, Grief, Torture, Animal cruelty, Blood, Medical content, Murder, Physical abuse, Ableism, Death, Alcoholism, Chronic illness, Gun violence, and Violence

Moderate: Trafficking, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

Minor: Cancer

brooklynlaura's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Gun violence, Death, Kidnapping, and Trafficking

Moderate: Violence, Animal cruelty, Death of parent, and Torture

Minor: Pedophilia, Sexual assault, and Racism

theplantlady's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

 This was an amazing read!!! What a way to start 2024 on the reading challenge. This was a pick from Jazzybookish book club, and Taylor Adams waste no time jumping into the plot and storyline. The characters of this book are Darby, Ashley, Lars, Sandy, and Ed. The characters are well developed, except for Sandy, she doesn't really have a spotlight in this book. Mr. Adams did a superb job on the storyline. The only con of this book is it is extremely predictable, but here is the twist, this does not take away from the plot, characters, or storyline, it is still entertaining and will have you racing through the pages to see what the end will be. And I thought I was able to predict the ending and to my surprise, I was in awe of how it ended. You will not be disappointed.

The storyline is dark with a child in the story, however I believe Mr. Adams kept this light and very minimal triggers and was tastefully done. I enjoyed this read!! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Death of parent, Violence, Murder, Trafficking, and Kidnapping

cfarron's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark hopeful sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Gun violence, Murder, Torture, Injury/Injury detail, Fire/Fire injury, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Cancer, and Addiction

Minor: Trafficking, Death of parent, and Vomit

missgrangerr's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

To me everything about this book is pitch perfect. I felt like I was there the whole time and the description made it a little too easy to visualize everything (IYKYK) This cat and mouse was dead phenomenal.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, Slavery, Grief, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Gun violence, Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Kidnapping, Stalking, Violence, and Gore

danicampbell0506's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Kidnapping, and Torture

Moderate: Trafficking, Alcoholism, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Vomit

michaelawatkins's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Kidnapping, Torture, Murder, Death, Gun violence, and Trafficking

Moderate: Cancer, Terminal illness, Fire/Fire injury, and Chronic illness

Minor: Addiction, Death of parent, and Alcohol