No Exit

Ashley Garver is the novel’s primary antagonist, and his narration increases over the course of the novel. In the first two parts of the novel, Ashley is presented as a charming, gregarious, and fun-loving young man who teases the assembled travelers and performs magic tricks for their entertainment. This facade leads Darby to initially trust him to help with her rescue plan; he plays along for a short time before revealing that he is actually in on the crime—and, as Darby will eventually learn, the leader of the plot.

Unlike Lars, who is willing to do violence at his brother’s command, Ashley is cruel and calculating and enjoys causing and witnessing the humiliation and pain of others. Despite this, he regularly asserts that that the violence he commits in the novel isn’t “really him,” though Darby remains unconvinced that Ashley himself believes this claim. He believes himself to be supernaturally lucky, frequently stating that his toast always lands “jam side up,” a quality he believes in up to the moment when he realizes that the shot from Jay’s gun has struck through his face. The injury leads to his death moments later.

Larson “Lars” Garver is the secondary antagonist and occasional narrator of No Exit. Darby often thinks of Lars using the moniker “Rodent Face,” due to his nervous, gaunt appearance. Lars is violent and willing to commit any cruelty at his brother’s command, though he makes few plans to engage in such misdeeds on his own accord. Rather, the only desire that Lars expresses for his own sake is that he wishes to play a new video game when he and Ashley reach their uncle Kenny’s home.

Lars is highly attached to Ashley, whom he regards as a protective big brother, despite the many times that Ashley has deployed his “yellow card” punishment against Lars, which involves shooting a nail gun through Lars’s hand. Lars has suffered this punishment so many times that his hand is mottled with scars, though he believes this to be a fair response from his brother. Darby kills Lars.

Ed Schaeffer is the only one of the four strangers that Darby encounters at the Wanashono rest stop who does not ultimately prove to be involved in the plot to kidnap Jay. Ed is an ex-veterinarian who has an alcohol addiction. Ed regrets his drinking, ruing the many choices that led him to his misuse of alcohol, but continues to drink. When he learns of the plot unfolding at the rest stop, Ed tries to help in keeping Jay safe, including offering to ambush Ashley as he comes through the bathroom window. When Sandi, his cousin, reveals herself to be part of the crime, however, allowing Ashley inside, Ashley shoots Ed through the jaw with his nail gun, injuring the man. Later, Ashley kills Ed with the nail gun.

Sandi Schaeffer is the tertiary antagonist in No Exit. She is a religious woman who has a Bible verse embroidered on her handbag and, per Ashley’s potentially unreliable admission, planned to donate her portion of the ransom money to women’s shelters in California, where she lives. Sandi is outraged that Ashley has permitted the kidnapping to become violent, repeatedly insisting that he promised that nobody would be hurt in the crime. Of all the conspirators, Sandi’s role in the plot remains hidden the longest; she is only revealed as an antagonist after Jay escapes the van and recognizes her, whereupon Sandi pepper-sprays Darby. Her trust in Ashley is proven misguided when he kills her by breaking her neck.