Co-workers find themselves in an elevator escape room plugged as a team-building exercise. As they look for clues, each action uncovers information about the others, revealing secrets.

I love psychological thrillers. This one was told in alternating POVs, and it was just okay for me. I enjoyed the ending and premise, but some parts were unrealistic, and the story line dragged at times. It had a lot of potential, but it didn't quite deliver as much as I'd hoped.

How far would you go to live the life you’ve always dreamed of? Would you work 100 hours per week? Put off all of your personal relationships? Miss weddings, births, and funerals? For the people of Stanhope, this is considered to be the price of success on Wall Street. Those who survive it can easily make 7 figures per year, and they all daydream about retiring at the age of 40. But if someone gets in their way... well, let’s just say that some people will do almost anything to be rich.

The Escape Room casts a harsh light on the NYC finance world. The book bounces back and forth in time, between one of the only relatable characters, Sara, and the present, in which four of Stanhope’s most ruthless employees are trapped in an escape room.

Sara and Lucy aren’t like the rest of the finance herd, although Sara does allow herself to get sucked into it for a few years. Lucy - who continues the recent trend of slipping at least one autistic character into books - is brilliant and misunderstood. Sara switched from her dreams of working in medicine to a finance jobs in the hopes of helping pay for her ill father’s medical bills.

Everyone else in who works at Stanhope is a truly awful human being. I was rooting for their demise, and the ending was very satisfying. My only complaint about this book is that the author felt the need to keep reminding readers about details that had been revealed in previous chapters. If some of that repetition had been removed, this probably would have been a 5-star thriller.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing an ARC. This review contains my honest, unbiased opinion.

Do not miss this thriller! I loved it! This book drew me in from the very beginning and enthralled me all the way through until the final page. The setting and plot were so unique and the characters were captivating.

A big part of what made this such a great read for me was how the story was structured and revealed. The book begins with a huge and shocking end of story situation, and then the story goes back to the beginning, and how the characters arrived at that end point is played out. The story unfolds with chapters alternating between the present situation in the elevator and the backstory point of view of a main character. The entire time the reader knows things are ultimately going to be unsettling. It is the journey to discover exactly what the situation is and how and why the characters got there that is so engrossing and thrilling.

This was so entertaining! I can't wait to see what comes next from this author!

This ended up being an enjoyable read.
It was more of a mystery than a thriller.

Four people living it up in the financial district. It is all fine suits and fine food. Anything or anyone that does not fit into their perfect world is removed....ruthlessly.

But someone came back. Now their perfect world is smashed and secrets come leaking out of the cracks.

Basically all of the events that lead up to 'the elevator' were pretty convenient.
Putting those doubts aside this was a fun ride featuring some pretty poetic justice.


e copy provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
review posted on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2738249321

From the beginning, The Escape Room drew me in. Don't let the title deceive you- this is not a cliche book about your average escape room. It's an addictive story with unlikable characters, mystery and layers of deception that come together for a quick and enjoyable read that will keep you guessing until the last page. Sara is both manipulative and sympathetic at the same time - not always easy to achieve with female characters . The unique format and character development make this a thriller you don't want to miss.

Thanks to Netgalley for the advanced reading copy. I loved this book. A bunch of cutthroat banker types are called to work for a compulsory meeting that turns out to be an escape room challenge. Turns out its something much more sinister. Nice build of suspense while slowly uncovering the details behind why they have been trapped. The chapters switched between their situation and the events in the escape room which kept me unable to stop reading.

A good read about revenge. Some parts of it are not believable but it is still a good read. There was enough suspense in it to keep me reading.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy.

New author for me but pleasantly surprised. Thank you for the approval and look forward to a book relationship with other reads in the future,

If you are looking for a fun page turning read then this is the next book you should read! A psychological thriller filled with greed, lies, death, and consequences. What happens when four colleagues with secrets are trapped in an elevator... nothing good! Not the kind of Escape Room I want to try but definitely one worth reading about. I was looking so forward to reading this and was so thrilled to receive an ARC from St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley. Thank you!!

A novel so addictive that I resented having to stop reading for boring stuff such as work, food or sleep. A deadly game of manipulation and revenge that would make Sun Tzu proud. Four despicable Wall Street executives go to an escape room to try to save their jobs (and keep making money, insane amounts of money). I once did an escape room with my coworkers as a team-building exercise and it was tons of fun, as we all knew each other's strong points and used them to complete the challenges. But this is not a normal escape room and the players not just despise, but hate each other. Also, there are no easy clues and fun tasks to perform. To win, they must exploit each other's weaknesses and get out alive. We also see the story of Sarah Hall, an ambitious young woman who is trying to make money to help her parents. As commendable as that is, it's not long before she gets caught in a web of greed and backstabbing. What does Sarah's story have to do with the escape room? It doesn't take long to learn, even if it's hard to tell what's really going on. From the beginning we know that the "game" did not end well, so fitting the puzzle pieces together is a delight that the reader gets to explore as the plot unfolds. The Escape Room is gripping and impossible to put down.
I chose to read this book and all opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased. Thank you, NetGalley/St. Martin's Press!

I loved, loved this novel. THE ESCAPE ROOM was a great novel of revenge, but full of twist that kept you guessing until the end. It kept me reading well into the night.

Thanks to NetGalley for a copy of this book for an honest review.

. The short premise is that four top tier financial executives are ordered by their company to engage in a last minute team building exercise of working together to get out of an 'escape room' which takes place in an elevator. With lay-offs looming in the company, none of them dare refuse to participate, despite being a last minute compulsory exercise and wreaking havoc on their plans. They soon realize this isn't any ordinary team excursion.

The book vacillates between the first-person narrative of Sara Hall, a junior employee at Stanhope and Sons; and a third person narrative of Vincent, Sam, Sylvie, & Jules, the group taking part in the escape room exercise. Sara's chapters are in the past and tell her story; while the others takes place in the present. Most of the characters were well developed and distinct in their 'voice'. The present day plot, incidentally takes place roughly over only a 1-2 day period.

I found the book engaging & suspenseful. More and more details were gradually given as the story progressed. The tension was always high & it never let up throughout the book. It was a page turner. I found the style in which Megan Golden wrote this novel was unique. Sometimes switching between points of view can be confusing and slow the read down. She has done a nice job of blending the two to keep the narrative flowing an a good pace. The way the book was laid out, was unique for my reading experience.

I give it four stars instead of five; because based on my standards bar, I don't think I'd read this again; BUT I would highly recommend it to others!

Started well, but there were no big twists, no surprises and it all petered off in a fairly ridiculous manner. Just one clever spin or unexpected reveal would have made it great fun

Clever and twisted and a thrilling rollercoaster of a book. First published in Australia, it’s being released in the US at the end of July.

Reading this brought back all the memories - backstabbing, being judged and overworked, gender inequality, humiliation.... all the things i don’t miss about working a 9-5 job!

We alternate between the past as Sara Hall lands her dream job at Stanhope, the pinnacle of investment firms where billions are made and lost and the present as we see four of Sara’s coworkers being forced to participate in what they think is a team building exercise- an escape room.

Sara and Lucy were great characters. I wanted Sara to succeed and not lose her moral compass. Lucy was more of an enigma- I wasn’t sure what her role would be but she was the only one who was nice to Sara.

The scenes in the elevator were my favorite. The author did an excellent job of building tension and painting the scenes so vividly! I have always been curious about Escape Rooms since they’ve become popular outings for groups and parties. I was pretty sure who was behind the escape room, but even so, this title was entertaining, fast paced and a nail-biter!

The next time I’m in a high rise elevator watching the numbers flash by, I will be looking at the other passengers and thinking about this book!

First sorry for the late review I put it last on my tbr list without noticing when no received it.
The Escape Room is truly a Thriller. I absolutely loved this book.I MAY NEVER GET IN A ELEVATOR AGAIN. MEGAN GOLDIN is a fantastic writer.
Thanks again Netgalley.

I really liked the concept of this book - felt this was quite a unique setting for a thriller. The twist of the set up being for revenge was not completely unexpected, but still fun. Towards the end, the flashbacks did get a little repetitive and the ending felt a bit abrupt and underwhelming. Overall, this was a good, fast paced read and kept me hooked for the most part.

This was such a fun thriller! There were a few scenes that made me gasp! Such a fun premise of an elevator escape room, and I loved the different narrators/settings

What a wonderful way to spend a few hours! I was totally absorbed by this book. One of the best revenge books I’ve read in a while. I loved the perspective of Sara’s chapters the best. This is going to be a summer blockbuster. I couldn’t put this book down and loved the premise so much! A solid 4 stars and very entertaining!!

Sara Hall thinks she has it as when she gets hired on at Stanhope. She's making the big bucks and feels on top of the world...until her only work friend Lucy commits suicide. Suddenly, Sara isn't so sure of anything anymore.

Meanwhile, Sylvie, Sam, Jules, and Vincent show up for an escape room that is just a bit harder than the average one. Locked in an elevator, they have an hour to escape. Despite their efforts, it seems they might not have what it takes to crack the code.

This book was well-written. I had conflicting feelings about the characters at various stages of the book and wondered what really was happening behind the scenes. The ending was fantastic! This was a book I didn't want to put down. I will definitely suggest this book to my book club as well as purchase a copy for checkout in my high school classroom library.

Somehow, the two books I read this weekend both focus on elevators. And both were creepy AF. In Megan Goldin’s debut novel The Escape Room, four young investment bankers are summoned to what appears to be some kind of team-building event set in a Manhattan skyscraper. They board an elevator, thinking they are being whisked to some penthouse or other event space, only to find that the challenge is to escape from the elevator.

As the story unfolds, the cutthroat nature of investment banking is revealed in all its ugly reality, and the soul-killing reality of the lengths to which these four have gone to “make it” and experience lives of luxury is exposed.

These four are extremely competitive, and part of the challenge is to work cooperatively to solve the challenge…but as the story unfolds, the mystery as to the reason they are trapped in the elevator gets deeper before it is resolved.

They expect to be rescued in an hour…then as hours and days go by, it gets even uglier. As the lights go off and the doors stay shut, they realize they have been caught in a dangerous game of survival…but why?

Lots of good suspense, and very entertaining. Not exactly literature, but it doesn’t pretend to be—just some nice escapist fiction. Four stars.