The Never List (Wheeler Publishing Large Print Hardcover)

by Koethi Zan

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 from a seedy driver, with grave, everlasting consequences. A ride that would leave them trapped in a cellar by a sadist hell bent on torturing them. 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.

• ISBN10: 0670026514
• ISBN13: 9780670026517
• Publish Date: 16 July 2013
• Publish Status: Remaindered
• Out of Print: 20 April 2017
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Pamela Dorman Books
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 320
• Language: English

Reviews

[Jane]

"The Never List" is thrilling and exciting...except for when it's not. I think this kind of thing being told in first person point-of-view, past tense, is the problem, because when you're revealing others' details, you can only tell—there is neither no showing, nor is there any chance of it. Only the people can tell the audience. The past tense also makes it difficult to figure out which time is being discussed—the past or the "current", whatever it means in the book? Since those things mix together and complicate everything when you also have PTSD, I understand it's hard, but I feel like it should have been revealed in past tense and the rest of the book go on in present tnse, for the sake of easier reading.

I finished this book in three days, but that's my typical time now—I feel like something was missing. These kinds of stories are typically predictable; I figured the obvious prediction—I mean, it's a trope and a trick: a character can only either be dead or alive. Considering I've watched every Law & Order: Special Victims Unit episode and learned the patterns, I could figure out much of the story. The big reveal was a bit of a surprise, though, albeit quite unfortunate.

And then it ended. And it had a weird ending—strange conclusion—that was just odd and left me feeling empty-handed and disappointed. I just can't figure out what it was.

[Whitney @ First Impressions Reviews]

When I was in 6th grade I wrote a paper on medieval torture, I have no idea why I chose the topic as I was always a happy, nonviolent kid. Perhaps, it was because The Man in the Iron Mask starring Leonardo DeCaprio had just come out, still the intrigue held. I feel sick even admitting my interest in the subject, but I still find it eye-rising to this day; although now I think it is more of a psychological stand point -- what would posses someone to torture another human being? The thought repulses me.

As young girls Sarah and Jennifer created a "Never List" a safety list of don'ts ranging from natural disasters to rape and kidnapping. The list of precautions they take is extreme and leads them through college until one night they get into a cab taking Sarah and Jennifer to an inescapable Hell.

After years of captivity, only three of the four girl emerge from the cellar with Jennifer's body never being recovered. Ten years later, Sarah has formed a new identity as Caroline but the scars still remain. Sarah/Caroline never leaves her Fort Knox apartment and has an even longer "never list". When she is given the news that her abductor is up for parole she sees this as her opportunity to avenge Jennifer's death, and for her friend, Sarah fights back her phobias to learn the horrid truth.

Due to the success of Gone Girl last year, many thrillers have been touted as "The next Gone Girl" or "If you liked Gone Girl" while I would love to find a Gone Girl equivalent the promo has been thrown around so often that it feels redundant and less believable. Although there was something unique about The Never List that set it apart from the pack. This is most likely due to the fact that it did not succumb to the recent trend of spousal revenge, going off on a limb with a topic that is disturbing and rarely talked about. Whatever the reason, The Never List is a contender.

Koethi Zan's novel was set at a suspenseful pace heightening the reader's senses. My ears would prick up intently listening for a creak down the cellar stairs to a dungeon eerily described. I could feel the heaviness in the air and the dirt on the bottom of my feet, trying to itch away the bugs. My eyesight was foggy with everything coming in sepia tone, giving the time in the cellar an out of body experience. When we are removed from the cellar and it is clear how messed up Sarah, Tracy and Christine are no matter how they try to mask it, I was heart-broken.

When Sarah and Tracy decide to do some detective work of their own and are taken into another horrific lifestyle it began to fall apart for me. The scenario felt disjointed, seeming out of place and overall thought it was poorly planned. Although it found its purpose in the end.

The conclusion was marvelously creepy, going back to the house of horrors where the truth comes out, revealing that no one is as innocent as they seem. The happenings of the fateful day of escape that the novel has been leading up to is outstanding with a twisting finale worthy of fireworks. The Never List is a book that should be on every mystery-lovers must read list.

I received a reader's copy from the publisher in exchange for a honest review

View all of my reviews on my blog She is too fond of books