Eh, this was pretty weak. Poorly developed characters and simplistic writing. I finished it because it was easy to skim to the end rather than because I really cared what happened.
This book was so good I finished it in one sitting. It did not end like I thought it would it was better.
A nice quick read. Enough suspense to keep the reader interested until the end. You might suspect one or two of the twists but not all of them. I appreciate the covering of an awful topic without going into too much graphic detail. Too many novels try to gross you out rather than develop the characters. This would make a great movie. Definitely a stay up all night, nail-biter.
Could have been so good but had some ridiculous, completely unbelievable situations.
The combination of things that happen in this book are over-the-top unbelievable: sex slaves, money-laundering cults, S&M clubs, overly zealous academics....... However, if you can suspend any expectations of reality and have a stomach for Chelsea Cain-style torture and gore, it is a quick and entertaining thriller. Fans of Chevy Stevens and Elizabeth Haynes should enjoy this book.
The book kept me reading on. . .but, not my cup of tea.
Check out the full review at Kritters Ramblings
Sarah/Caroline lived through a horrific car accident and with her best friend made a list of things never to do to hopefully avoid any other catastrophes. Something happened one night while they were at college and they end up kidnapped and locked in a basement and tortured. The story picks up years after Sarah escapes and is thrust into a hunt for information to avoid her captor to be put out on parole. She must link up with the other two girls who survived the terror to finish what she started.
Sarah/Caroline lived through a horrific car accident and with her best friend made a list of things never to do to hopefully avoid any other catastrophes. Something happened one night while they were at college and they end up kidnapped and locked in a basement and tortured. The story picks up years after Sarah escapes and is thrust into a hunt for information to avoid her captor to be put out on parole. She must link up with the other two girls who survived the terror to finish what she started.
Oh, this book had a huge amount of promise. Actually, the STORY had a lot of promise, the book never stood a chance. Koethi Zan writes like someone half her age and with a third of her education. There's no style, no fluidity and no ear for dialog. The major rule of writing that is taught in even your most basic high school class is to show rather than tell. The Never List does the direct opposite... Intentionally maybe? Because how does a book like this get by editors and agents and publishers if the whole format and ckunker-style isn't on purpose? The story itself and the premise behind it is intriguing. Terrifying and creepy even. But the whole thing falls flat about 30 pages in. All of the horror and torture hinted at are never revealed, and because of this, because it's alluded to rather than shown, it's difficult to grasp the full spectrum of emotion that we're meant to feel. There are so many details and questions left unanswered. SO. MANY. And sadly, by the final pages, I didn't really care one way or another.
