No One Gets Out Alive

This was probably the worst horror book I’ve ever read. I physically force myself to finish and it was not worth it. There was a whole lot of nothing. Anything with action or interesting narrative probably altogether would’ve been like 50 pages. There is no need for this book to be this long.

No One Gets Out Alive is now on my my must read haunted house novels list! This was my first read from Adam Neville and I absolutely loved it! He creates an atmosphere and apparitions that are truly terrifying and you feel stuck with Stephanie in those veil house. Stephanie is down on her luck, struggling to get by with little available work and very little help. She finds a cheap room being rented out on an old house close to her temp work and jumps on the opportunity only to quickly realize maybe it was too good to be true when her sleazy landlords start to intimidate her. Along with real life dangers are the dangers she’s been encountering at night, ghostly voices, phantom hands, crying women, and horrific scents. This haunted house story has everything from serial killers to demonic deities and I could not put it down! The only reason I gave this 4 stars instead of 5 is that I feel it was a little too long and some parts could have been shortened. For example, there are a lot of chapters where Amber is strategizing in her head what to do and how to get out of her financial situation. While I understand the need for this, I don’t think the reader needed to have this experience EVERY chapter. Also, the end felt very dragged out to me and was the hardest part to get through. If these things had been trimmed down I probably would have given it the full 5 stars. Also, big content warning for this one!! There is rape, sexual assault, forced prostitution, gore, murder, and violence. Reading the summary on the back you would have no idea how deep this book goes into sexual assault and I feel like if that’s something you’re not comfortable with don’t pick this one up because it’s a huge part of the horror in this novel. I can’t wait to read more by Adam Neville!

Sorry friends, I simply could not get through this book.



I felt like I was dragging myself just to get through to the halfway point. This was my first Adam Nevill book and I was feeling pretty optimistic for a haunted house/ghost story and I'm leaving it feeling.... I don't know how I'm feeling? Disappointed I guess? Frustrated maybe? This book definitely had my stomach churning during particular scenes.



I felt icky and uncomfortable; Nevill did a pretty good job painting the location as a dreary, putrid and slummy place, yet I felt the story was flat, slow and not at all what I was looking for. I'm struggling with how to word why I found this book to be so unenjoyable, but I think I can sum it up in three main points:

1. Plausibility

I found it difficult to forgive the protagonist for not removing herself from the situation early on in the novel, whether that have been finding a homeless shelter, returning home, speaking with a co-worker out desperation, or another alternative. If the building was really that dodgy and her gut seemed to be screaming at her that something was very wrong so early on, surely she would have prioritised her safety and finding somewhere else to go over getting her deposit back?? Just my thoughts??



Stephanie also seemed to switch between resembling a frightened young girl and being quick-witted with a temper, saying things to Knacker that would ultimately make her situation much worse. I just feel, that in such circumstances, thinking that you were such immediate danger, you would trust your instincts and leave without any delay. At least I would. As a result of my inability to wrap my mind around why Stephanie kept ignoring her opportunities to leave-



I found it increasingly difficult to feel sorry for her or even care about what was going on. I was too busy thinking 'of course thats happening'.

2. Flat Characters

I really didn't like Stephanie. At all. In fact I can't think of a single character that I actually liked in this book. The majority of Stephanie's time was spent complaining about her situation and making plans for how she was going to get away- of which she never even followed through with. She was indecisive, immature and had next to no personality.





3. Not That Scary

And overall, aside from feeling uncomfortable with the behaviour of Knacker and his cousin whats-his-name, I was underwhelmed by the supernatural presence in the place. Yes, there's ghosts and they do ghosty things but the book is definitely not focused on that, nor was the supernatural activity particularly scary. The plot focus was a lot more on the sinister behaviour of the brothers and their dark intentions. Whilst what the brothers were up to was indeed very disturbing and horrific, it's not what I look for in my horror reads. The 'horror' element was a little too real and uncomfortable for me. Overall, I wasn't left with a racing heart, paranoia or the compulsion to leave my lamp light on at night after reading. It just left me feeling icky and thats not for me; which I totally accept as personal preference in this case. Regardless, the supernatural scares - to me anyway - were scareless.





That about sums it up I think. The writing was pretty good, and I can't really comment much on the plot overall because I only read half, to be fair. I can also see many people did seem to enjoy this book so perhaps it really is the case that it just wasn't for me.



Happy Reading Everyone!