Three stars - I liked it!

Believable, no, but fast-paced entertainment that kept me hooked? Yes. Absolutely. 

The story is told in alternating viewpoints (along two different timelines) between Sara Hall and a group of four colleagues participating in an escape room. 

Sara has landed the opportunity of a lifetime at Stanhope and Sons, a prestigious firm that boasts 10,000 applicants a month, dozens of branches around the country, and securing deals in the billions. She got to rage quit her dead end job and that was a mood right there. She will have enough money to cover her ailing parents’ health expenses and then some. Of course it comes at a price. The firm does an excellent job of throwing off your moral compass, putting dollars above people, working you long hours, and expecting you to do it all while looking like a model. Except Lucy, who with an IQ of 151 and the ability to predict financial situations no one saw coming, has a pass to be plain and socially inept in the corner. Sara befriends her, but Lucy insists they keep their friendship a secret from their colleagues. 

In every other chapter, we are updated on the progress of an escape room, held in an actual elevator. There, Vincent, Sylvie, Sam, and Jules were told via e-mails from HR that participation was required and avoiding a layoff meant doing well in this team building test. They begrudgingly show up, possibly sacrificing their marriages and their vacation plans - but what else is new? Stanhope calls, they answer. But as the time ticks away with no solutions to the room in sight, the four start turning against each other. Emotions run high and the shocking confessions just pour out of them. My jaw hit the floor. 

How do these two storylines tie together? Well, that’s the part that’s worth suspending belief for, I promise. This book has murder, revenge, greed, corruption, backstabbing, secrecy ... pretty much everything anyone could ever ask for. I definitely recommend it. 

Trigger warnings for suicide and sexual assault. 

Thank you to NetGalley for providing a digital ARC in exchange for an unbiased review.

The Escape Room is definitely a fun read for fans of the psychological thriller genre. I had trouble putting down, as I found myself desperate to put the pieces together to figure out what was going on. However I wouldn’t call it a literary masterpiece. If you’re looking for an exciting quick-read, then go for it! If you’re looking for a book that will keep you thinking critically after the fact, this might not be for you.

3.5 stars rounded up for this fast-paced, thrilling read! 

The story alternates chapters between the four Wall Street investment bankers stuck in the elevator and Sara, their former colleague, whose story shows the corruption and greed running rampant in the business. I definitely enjoyed Sara's chapters better as she was one of the few redeeming characters. The other four were such horrible people that I really didn't care at all what happened to them beyond getting what they deserved for their deplorable behavior! 

My only issues were that some of the storyline stretched the limits of believability and there were a few loose ends that I would have liked to see tied up. But overall, The Escape Room was an exciting story that I couldn't stop reading and I will definitely check out Megan Goldin's next book.

Wow, just wow. This was an incredible thriller that I devoured.  Four co-workers from wall street finance are sent on a "team building" activity in an escape room. They receive clues to help them get out- what could possibly go wrong?? A lot! This was such an entertaining and fun read- definitely unique! Thanks so much to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for an ARC copy.  Highly recommend!

The Escape Room was a thrilling book to read. The chapters were well-paced and easy to read. The plot kept me involved with the characters and I couldn’t put the book down. There were so many twists and turns, I loved that! Overall, I would recommend this book!

Thank you to NetGalley for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Reading this book felt like eating a bowl of popcorn. Once I shoved that first handful in my mouth, I thought, "Eh. This is OK, I guess." I wasn't wowed, but I wasn't turned off either. Then, hours later I looked down and found my bowl empty. 

In other words, it's binge-able and goes down easy. 

This isn't to knock the quality of this book. I think there is too much snooty judgement about whether a book is "great literary fiction" or not that people tend to look down their noses at stuff that's simply entertaining (and honestly "simply entertaining" is often WAY more fun to read.) 

Even though there weren't any breathtaking-written sentences or shocking revelations in this book, I certainly had fun reading it and that was due to some great characters, a solid premise, and extremely well-paced chapters--all a testament to the author's skill.

The Escape Room conceit is basically a MacGuffin--a very trendy one. This is more of a story about getting vengeance on awful people--delightfully awful people--by trapping them together in an elevator, thereby heightening their awfulness. (I could very easily see this being made into a movie.) 

I think this is also a very timely book. We're living in an age where the rich are getting richer and it's comforting to see them have to face a some repercussions for stepping on the backs of less privileged people while doing it. 

Thanks to the author and NetGalley for granting me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Four Wall Street investment bankers—Vincent, Jules, Sam, and Sylvie—arrive at a high-rise for what they think is a team-building escape room challenge. They soon find themselves trapped inside an elevator, trying to solve a series of clues to free themselves. But solving the clues gets them no closer to escape. As the minutes turn to hours, and the hours turn to days, the elevator grows hotter and more uncomfortable by the minute, and the true natures of the characters are revealed as they begin to turn on each other. 

The story alternates between telling the story of the characters trapped in the elevator, and telling the story of a young banker named Sara Hall who used to work with them. All of the head-hopping between characters in the elevator scenes really threw me off at first. In one paragraph, I’m in Vincent’s head, but by the next paragraph, I’m in Sylvie’s. However, I soon realized why the author made this particular choice, and once I got used to it, I barely noticed when it happened. 

Overall, I loved this book and couldn’t put it down. I had to know what happened next. My only complaint is that there were a few loose ends that I would’ve preferred to see tied up. Other than that, this was a fast, suspenseful read, and I would definitely read more books by this author!

3.5 stars! 

This book was a mind-twist, and I could not stop reading once I started because I just needed to know what the heck was going to happen next! Definitely do not read this if you don’t have a few hours to spare because you’ll want to absorb the story al last once! 

I’ve always loved elevator scenes. I read a lot of romance novels, and the elevator seems to be where things get heated, so it was nice reading about a thriller in an elevator (don’t we all have the fear we’ll be trapped in an elevator?)

I really enjoyed the characters. They’re all horrible people, but I found that all the more interesting!  

The store is a bit of a stretch in the sense that some scenes were slightly unbelievable, but that definitely did not stop me from turning the pages!

So many twists and turns. I was turning pages through the night ! 
 Power, greed and corruption oh my !

3 1/2 stars 
Well this was certainly a thrilling story! The story goes back and forth between 4 people stuck in an elevator who think they are in an escape room and a woman who is starting a new job on Wall Street. As the two stories merge into one, it becomes a dark, fast paced ride to the end as more details come to light about the characters. It was really intense and intriguing and had some twists here and there! Great book.

Thank you Netgalley and St Martins Press for this ARC.  It did a great job of describing how easy it is to get trapped in the rat race of a job and the high pressure you can be put under. The latest trend seems to be having a book with two different POVs. This can sometimes be very effective but in this case, I was less interested in one POV than the other and would be impatient to get to the POV I liked better. And a warning - some "icky" things that were hard to read happen. All in all, it was a good read. It only gets four stars because I'm not sure I would read it again.

I wanted to enjoy this book so much! I read the first chapter and was intrigued, but ultimately, the version i received to download had spacing issues and it made it difficult to read. I don't think the writing style was for me. I may revisit in the future.

I have only read a couple books with the whole “escape room” plot but I will say this is my favorite one! From the very beginning of the book, I was hooked! 

This book is told in two different viewpoints which flip back and forth to one another.
You will read Sara Hall’s story. Sara is a young woman trying desperately to make it big in her career. After getting turn down multiple times, she lands her dream job.  The long hours, hard work and horrible co-workers don’t bother her because she has a mother and father to help support.  She is living her dream until someone dies. At which point, this book takes you on a completely suspenseful ride.  

Then you get the viewpoints of 4 co-workers who are taking part in the Escape Room challenge. The deceit, lies and schemes all start to come out. No one trust the person next to them and all hell breaks lose!  I didn’t know what I was going to read next because the twists had my mind thinking one thing and then it completely flipped to something different.

Further into the book, the two versions start blending together and everything starts to add up, revealing things I didn’t see coming.
 
The ending got a little far-fetched at times but it didn’t take away from the story. It was the perfect ending for this story and I saying this with an evil grin on my face! 

Thank you to the author, publisher and Netgalley for the advance copy. I am really looking forward to more books from this author!

I have voluntarily read and reviewed a copy of this title given to me via NetGalley. This title was really enjoyable and just such an easy book to get lost in. I can’t wait to read this authors future titles.

The story switches between 2 points of view The first is you are fresh out of college with an MBA and have just landed your dream job making six figures. That is what has just happened to Sara Hall. Stanhope & Sons becomes the most important thing in Sara’s world, working 18 hour days, 7 days a week but making money she only dreamed of. She is able to take care of her ill parents by hiring a driver/house cleaner and covering all their medical bills, but at what cost. Sara finds it difficult to connect with her colleagues except for Lucy, who is brilliant but autistic and usually in her own world. While Sara is away for work, Lucy is found dead of an apparent suicide and things aren’t always what they seem. What secrets was Lucy hiding and why did she want to keep their friendship a secret?
The second point of view is when Stanhope & Sons colleagues find themselves at a team building exercise that involves an escape room set in an elevator. They must solve clues in order to free themselves from the elevator. After an hour where the elevator still does not open, they realize that this is much more than a game and the secrets of their rise to the top start to come out and bring to the light, the reason they have been brought together.

The Escape Room was a fast-paced psychological thriller with lots of twists and turns. I would highly recommend it to my library patrons who are always looking for a suspenseful, entertaining read. Some of the characters are a bit cliched or underdeveloped, but the plot more than makes up for it. I look forward to reading more from Megan Goldin.

This is one of the best books I've ever read. The link between past and present is excellently handled by the author. There are questions raised throughout and even though its possible to guess the 'whodunnit', the detail with which it is described is so worth the read. 
A clever, thought provoking read that really makes you question what you would do if you were stuck in a lift with people you thought were your friends??????

The Escape Room is an intriguing story . the characters will make you dislike their arrogant way of dealing with others. You'll find that it's hard to put down until you find out who, what and why.

Megan Goldin combines the premise of Faust with some elements of the movie “Wall Street” and even a touch of “She-Devil” in her latest novel The Escape Room.  Her protagonist, Sara Hall, covets the sumptuous lifestyle of the financial sector’s elite and sees her entry into that world as an escape from her current life of subsistence.  Sara has the right combination of desperation, ambition and naivete to be a willing victim of a system that encourages a lack of empathy and flexible ethical limits.  When an opportunity arises at Stanhope in NY, she immediately immerses herself in the competitive culture of the firm, with its grueling hours and back-stabbing colleagues.  The chapters in the novel alternate between Sara’s experiences as a new hire and a future in which the other members of her team find themselves trapped in an “escape room” situation that proves to be much more than a game. How these two scenarios tie in together is skillfully revealed as the story unfolds. The Escape Room addresses issues of sexual harassment, income inequality and gender discrimination in the workplace.  It also raises the question of how far a person would compromise his/her values in order to wrest some of the riches that are so esteemed in our culture.  Despite some plot elements that stretch credulity and some well-worn stereotypes, Goldin’s novel is a fast-paced and gripping read. This would be a great pick for a captivating beach read this summer.
Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for an ARC of this book in exchange for an objective review.

Thank you Netgalley for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Based on the description of the book I thought this would be a fun, quick read.  It was all that and more.  The story revolves around the world of finance and all of the highly ambitious people that will stop at nothing to get what they want.  Lock them in a room together and see how quickly they turn on each other.  

Megan Goldin created an immensely readable debut novel.  I loved (hated!) the characters, each with their own ambitions and vices.  I loved the mystery that slowly unfolded throughout the book.  It hooked me right in from the beginning and kept me intrigued up until the very end (which was a satisfying conclusion).  It's fast paced, readable, and a lot of fun.