Review: The Never List by Koethi Zan

The Never List by Koethi Zan

Publisher: Pamela Dorman Books

Pages: 320

Format: book 

Buy the Book: Amazon

Goodreads:  For years, best friends Sarah and Jennifer kept what they called the “Never List”: a list of actions to be avoided, for safety’s sake, at all costs. But one night, against their best instincts, they accept a cab ride with grave, everlasting consequences. For the next three years, they are held captive with two other girls in a dungeon-like cellar by a connoisseur of sadism.

Ten years later, at thirty-one, Sarah is still struggling to resume a normal life, living as a virtual recluse under a new name, unable to come to grips with the fact that Jennifer didn’t make it out of that cellar. Now, her abductor is up for parole and Sarah can no longer ignore the twisted letters he sends from jail.

Finally, Sarah decides to confront her phobias and the other survivors—who hold their own deep grudges against her. When she goes on a cross-country chase that takes her into the perverse world of BDSM, secret cults, and the arcane study of torture, she begins unraveling a mystery more horrifying than even she could have imagined.


Kritters Thoughts:  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.

The twists and turns in this book were completely unpredictable and took my breath away.  There weren't too many where I was overwhelmed or tired by it.  The author held back with a great final reveal that really made the book finish strong.  

As a warning, there are bits and pieces of BDSM in this book, but as I am definitely not a reader of that genre of fiction, I didn't feel like the book completely focused on that subculture.  It was just a part of the girls' captivity and experience.  I had gone to a reading by the author while reading the book, so I am definitely thankful that I knew it was a part of the book going into it, but I wouldn't let that part of the book put anyone off from reading this great piece of crime fiction.

The creepy factor was extra high during this book and I may have lost a little sleep while reading it, but I couldn't wait to finish it and find out where these girls would end up.  A page turner with a creepy factor, a book that I would suggest for readers to enjoy during the Halloween season!

Rating: definitely a good read, but can't read two in a row

Disclosure of Material Connection:  I received one copy of this book free of charge from Penguin.  I was not required to write a positive review in exchange for receipt of the book; rather, the opinions expressed in this review are my own.