YA book review: Ruthless by Carolyn Lee Adams

Ruthless by Carolyn Lee Adams

Ruthless is a non-stop adreneline rush. Ruth is a strong, driven young woman who is a champion equestrian rider who simply doesn’t care whether she makes friends in her quest to be the best. As a result, others have dubbed her “ruthless.” At the start of the novel, Ruth wakes up in what she realizes is the bed of a pick-up truck with the cover drawn over it. She’s been kidnapped, and she fears she is about to become someone’s sex slave. She promises herself she’ll die fighting before she lets that happen.

Ruth’s captor takes her to a cabin deep in the Blue Ridge Mountains, where Ruth realizes that she is not the first, or even the fifth, victim. None of the others have made it out alive. Ruth formulates a plan to make it out alive and get back to her fueding parents, but it will take everything she has -- and a little luck.

Carolyn Lee Adams has written a twisting thriller that will leave readers gasping for breath. Ruth escapes. But not for long. And escapes again. But not for long. Every time you think Ruth has made it to safety, her captor comes back. The suspense is intense and non-stop, and like a classic horror movie, readers will want to look away but simply won’t be able to. It’s a dizzying suspense thrill ride that will appeal to both reluctant readers and upper level students looking for a guilty pleasure of a read.

The story is told with flashbacks to Ruth’s past, which helps fill in the backstory of Ruth’s motivation as well as her parents’ troubled marriage. Adams provides readers with plenty to think about in the hypothetical of, “what would I do in this situation?” While many readers will likely yell at Ruth for mis-steps, or doing things that seem like a bad idea at the time, they’ll still enjoy the ride that takes them up to the book’s final pages.