a very bold and impressive debut novel, centred around the main protagonist's dealings with her abduction and captivity 10 years prior, with the abductor now up for parole.

The Never List reads like any gripping, fast paced crime novel and i read most of it in about 2 sittings. Whilst the plot dares to take you on an unimaginable journey of suffering and life after, not to mention the seedy underworld of trafficking and BDSM, the characters are well-rounded. if a little unrealistic when faced with traumatic, horrifying circumstances.

I spent a good deal of the latter part of the book not actually believing the ex-abductees would put themselves in such remote, unimaginable danger for the sake of finding clues to the whereabouts of a suspected body. But, in this case, I went with it - as without it there would have been no conclusion and no answers.

Overall, the book is a great read, an interesting perspective and a few plot twists to keep you guessing.

Interesting premise, but felt rushed. Entertaining, but not using it's full potential.

It's a page turner and well suited for a beach read but overall very annoying and predictable.

I liked the concept of what happens AFTER a person is held in captivity but this was just like reading the script of a bad Lifetime movie. I guessed the twist early on and kept hoping to be proven wrong but that wasn't the case. The more the network of evil was exposed the more ridiculous it seemed (like everybody in the book was involved) and it was reminding me of that bad TV show called The Following that was on this year.

It's not a total waste of time but its close.

3.5 stars rounded up. I had to think about this one a bit after I finished. It was definitely an engrossing book - I found myself unable or unwilling to put it down for the most part. I read it very quickly and was never disinterested in what was going on.

That said, I feel like it started better than it ended. I know that these types of stories are slowly becoming a dime a dozen, but I admit that I am one of those people who spends far too much time watching Investigation Discovery and is therefore always interested in them.

My main quibble is that it got to the point that there was just too much going on. I was very fascinated by the idea that this woman was trying to look into things to find some closure for herself after such a traumatic event, but when

Spoiler

she gets kidnapped a second time and you learn that there was much more to the kidnap/torture thing than just her abductor

I began to feel like the author was just throwing loads of stuff at the wall to see what stuck. I was also fairly unimpressed with the major reveal at the end.

Either way, it was a fast and mostly interesting read. I would probably read something else by this author.

Note: I received an ARC of this book from the publisher to read and review.

3.5 stars. An intriguing story, not the best characters. An interesting plot; not, at times, the most believable. I liked it. A good story, but some plot points were a little out there, a little too rushed, a little too much. I also think that you can't write a book that is supposed to feel "dark," yet describe the darkness simply as "torture." What exactly do you mean by torture? What did these girls endure?

Peguei a dica pra esse livro na Bienal de 2016 e só agora consegui fazer a leitura. Demorei, né? Mas, apesar disso, infelizmente achei o tema bastante atual. A violência contra mulheres parece crescer cada vez mais. É um tanto perturbador ler sobre as coisas horríveis que essas personagens enfrentaram durante 13 anos, porém a história se torna bastante interessante pela busca por justiça. Gostei!

I don't read thrillers or suspense books. They're just not my thing. The fact that they're usually coupled with "mystery"--possibly one of my LEAST favorite genres ever--makes me hesitant to read them. I just don't give a damn about murders. Stories like those are literally a dime a dozen, like the vampire series nowadays or teen love stories.

This book was surprisingly competent and giving me a dark, psychological ride of kidnapped young ladies, their eventual escape, and the echoes of the emotional and physical scars that were inflicted upon them in those terrible, terrible days in the cellar.

This story was a runaround in a sense, but entertaining so that it didn't feel like a wild goose chase. Our 1st Person Point of View character, Sarah, was consistent in her PTSD and overall cowardliness. Tracy was a brassy broad who still hurt from the horrors of Jack Derber and his campaign of nonconsensual sexual sadism + torture for the sheer fun of it.

Which I think is Level 22 on Michael H. Stone's "Levels of Evil". See [b:The Anatomy of Evil|6387180|The Anatomy of Evil|Michael H. Stone|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1365462799s/6387180.jpg|6575423] to get what I mean. Very good book. Anyway!

I found the ending not rushed, but...the pieces falling into place were just systematic. Bam.

Spoiler

It WAS Sylvia who did this!

Bam!

Spoiler

Sarah had actually HELPED Jack Derber with his crazy torture!

BAM!!!!

Spoiler

Jennifer was alive all this fucking time!!!

Say whaaaat?

The ending was very abrupt to me. Like a mishmash of a chapter that was leading to another chapter and the last page of the very last chapter.

Other than that, this book was actually a fun read for me, despite it being one of the genres I regularly avoid. Hm... Not gonna read anymore books in this genre unless they're set up with this kind of vein of "darkness", though.