“One of my favorite books of the year.” –Lee Child “Cancel all your plans and call in sick; once you start reading, you’ll be caught in your own escape room–the only key to freedom is turning the last page!” –Kirkus Reviews (starred) “A sleek, well-crafted ride.” –The New York Times In Megan Goldin’s unforgettable debut, The Escape Room, four young Wall Street rising stars discover the price … The Escape Room, four young Wall Street rising stars discover the price of ambition when an escape room challenge turns into a lethal game of revenge.
Welcome to the escape room. Your goal is simple. Get out alive.
In the lucrative world of finance, Vincent, Jules, Sylvie, and Sam are at the top of their game. They’ve mastered the art of the deal and celebrate their success in style–but a life of extreme luxury always comes at a cost.
Invited to participate in an escape room challenge as a team-building exercise, the ferociously competitive co-workers crowd into the elevator of a high-rise building, eager to prove themselves. But when the lights go off and the doors stay shut, it quickly becomes clear that this is no ordinary competition: they’re caught in a dangerous game of survival.
Trapped in the dark, the colleagues must put aside their bitter rivalries and work together to solve cryptic clues to break free. But as the game begins to reveal the team’s darkest secrets, they realize there’s a price to be paid for the terrible deeds they committed in their ruthless climb up the corporate ladder. As tempers fray, and the clues turn deadly, they must solve one final chilling puzzle: which one of them will kill in order to survive?
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If the corporate world is like this–do we want to participate? It’s easy to imagine people with unrealistic salaries — even our echelon in school districts make 6 figure salaries. The escape room is a concept in today’s world…but not as portrayed in this book. For a different view, and a surprising outcome, read this book.
Whoa! Couldn’t put this one down. A page turning frenzy of a psychological thriller.
One of the best books I’ve read this year. If I could give it more than 5 stars, I would.
Thank you to St. Martin’s Press for the opportunity to read the ARC.
This book revolves around 4 Wall Street investment bankers – Vincent, Sylvie, Sam and Jules. They all work at the firm of Stanhope & Son. They put in grueling hours and have had to work on holidays and not be able to go on vacations with family because work comes first.
When the 4 of them get a message that they have to attend a team-building, they all go. When they arrive, they get in the elevator to be delivered to their escape room team-building challenge. They quickly realize that the elevator is their escape room.
The book is written by alternating stories. One is the escape room and the other story is of Sara Hall, an employee of Stanhope who has died. The book is very well-written and pretty intense. I really, really liked this book and highly recommend it.
I didn’t want to put it down. Kept you wondering what was going to happen next.
A investment baker searching for that first job, lands one with a prestigious New York firm. What could go wrong? Working closely with a team of 5, Sally soon learns just exactly how wrong things can go! But, nothing’s sweeter than revenge – for herself, for Lucy, and for Lucy’s mom. Watch how the other members of the team try to figure out the Elevator escape room
I loved the idea behind this, and finally got really into the book at about 75%.
I am happy I stuck it out.
The originality of it was great. The repetition and all the ins and outs of the job put me off. I found my mind kept wandering and I would have to pick up a different book for a bit.
Thank you to St. Martin’s Press for this copy in exchange for an honest review.
The Escape Room starts with a prologue that will draw you in immediately. Miguel, a night security guard, is working at a luxury office tower that’s almost completed. He’s doing his nightly rounds when he hears what sounds like a scream. Thinking he misheard as he is the only one in the locked building, he continues his rounds. He sees the elevator light switch lit up and then heard gunshots. He calls 911 and waits for the police to arrive. As the police arrive and they all see the elevator approaching the lobby, they wait with guns drawn. The elevator arrives, opens and the police yell “Police” and “Put your weapon down.” Shortly thereafter, a barrage of gunfire erupts and Miguel looks up to see more blood than he’s ever seen in his life.
The book alternates between the beginning of our current story, 34 hours earlier, and Sara Hall’s story. The current situation is that 4 employees of Stanhope and Sons, an elite Wall Street finance company, are summoned to a mandatory evening “meeting” at an office building. Vincent, Sylvie, Sam and Jules arrive without knowing much. Vincent explains that he’s been told they are to do an escape-room challenge. With bonuses due the next week, no one is going to turn down the invitation and jeopardize their bonus amount. They all step into the elevator together.
All 4 have issues of their own. Sam’s wife, Kim, is slowly spending every dollar Sam brings home. Sam tolerates her compulsive spending because the time he spends away from his family while working is excessive and he can’t afford to lose his wife and twin girls. They are due to fly to Anguilla that night and Sam missing the trip might be the final straw for Kim.
Sylvie has struggled as one of the only senior women at Stanhope and Sons. She uses her beauty and femininity to help her when she can but she has sacrificed so much for this company that still treats her as less than just because she is a woman. She is supposed to fly to Paris to meet her boyfriend, Marc. He warned her the last time she stood him up for work that the next time would be the end of their relationship. She wants to solve the escape room and get out of there so she can catch her flight.
Jules has an MBA, a law degree and comes from a privileged, pedigreed family. However, he’s paying alimony and child support and is concerned about layoffs at the firm. He needs the lucrative income this job provides. Jules has been drinking excessively, which could be affecting his job performance. Is his job at risk?
Vincent is their boss at Stanhope and Sons. He should feel secure but his team has lost some big deals recently and their revenue is down. The executives couldn’t even look him in the eye at the last meeting so he is wondering if his job is on the line. Vincent is a mystery to everyone. He keeps his private life private. They know little about his past other than that he was raised in Holland, served in the Dutch army, got his undergraduate degree in London and his MBA in Boston. The other three wonder if maybe Vincent is behind all of this and if their performance will determine whether they keep their job, what bonuses they receive or whether any of them gets promoted to Eric Miles’s job, which he left under a swirl of rumors and allegations.
As their story progresses, we also learn about Sara Hall. Sara is a recent business-school graduate who should have no problem getting a job. She has the unfortunate timing to be searching for a job in a bad time for the financial market. She interviews for a position at Stanhope and Sons but it quickly becomes clear that her interviewer has no intentions of hiring her. His behavior is vulgar and rude yet she is so desperate for a job that she has no choice other than to finish the interview. She leaves his office feeling disappointed and frustrated until a chance meeting in the elevator with Vincent de Vries, Senior Vice President at Stanhope and Sons. Could this lead to a job that will ensure her future success? Could this be the answer to her father’s mounting medical bills as well as the pile of debt she has accumulated through her education?
It seems the elevator is the escape room. As they struggle to answer various questions and search for clues, tensions escalate between the four. The reader is witness to an escape game that reveals the secrets these four have hidden while getting glimpses of Sara Hall’s time at Stanhope and Sons. How is everything related?
I was riveted by this story and read it in one day. While the plot is implausible at times, it’s worth it to just give yourself up to the page-turning story. As pieces of the puzzle slowly click into place, we see how far some people will go in a world where money is everything. The world of Stanhope and Sons is one where favoritism and nepotism are key, gender and appearance can make or break you and the people you step on while headed to the top are the very people you will see on your way back down. This is a wonderful, quick read that you will not be able to put down.
/ 5
Wow, The Escape Room by Megan Goldin wasn’t what I expected, but it was an enjoyable and at times pulse-pounding read.
What it’s about: Four people from a ruthless Wall Street financial company go into an elevator to do a team building exercise, only to find out there is much more at stake than just completing an escape room. Soon they realize they are fighting for survival, and the dark secrets the team has been hiding are about to come back to haunt them.
I want to be purposely vague in both my summery and review because I don’t want to risk giving anything away. The synopsis of The Escape Room is clearly also vague on purpose, and I highly recommend going into this book blind if at all possible. The book mostly switches between the elevator, which is viewpoints from all four people trapped inside, and a woman named Sara Hall who is ‘ now gone but not forgotten’. There were twists and turns that I didn’t see coming and although some people may anticipate what is going to happen, I spent most of the book wondering how things would play out.
The Escape Room is what I would call a slow burn, and you are thrust into the world of Wall Street to see just how cutthroat and corrupt it can be. Most of the characters aren’t very likable, but Sara was, and I really liked reading from her viewpoint which was the majority of the book. I felt a lot of emotions while reading this and was very angry by the time everything is revealed. The Escape Room will make you feel all the feels, and I liked that it was very dimensional.
Song/s the book brought to mind: Funhouse by Pink
Final Thought: I was highly satisfied with how The Escape Room ended, and I would recommend this book to thriller and mystery lovers that like a slow burn. This book will make you mad and then leave you satisfied. Even though the jacket says this is Goldin’s first novel, I do see another one that was published in Australia and I am definitely going to be tracking that down to read it. If you read The Escape Room it will make sure you never look at an elevator the same way again!
Thank you to the publisher for my advanced review copy via NetGalley. All opinions and thoughts are my own.
Fantastic story. It’s 3:30am and I just finished. I have known, in my career, a personality that fit every character in this compelling story. The culture of a business can test your morals to the max. Just how far comes to fruition in the “escape room”. Thankfully I never lived through the group dynamics as this team of employees.
This was somewhat repetitive, but still very much a page-turner for me – I definitely wanted to see how it all played out in the end. There was a little too much head-hopping for my liking during the elevator chapters, but that’s a bit of a pet peeve of mine and probably won’t bother most readers. Given the title, I would have liked for there to be more “escape room” clues for the folks in the elevator to have to solve but it was still an interesting concept. The only other thing that bothered me was that the ending for one character was left somewhat ambiguous – I would have liked to have seen something a bit more concrete in that regard.
The Escape Room was so good! I was mesmerized by the whole concept of the story and found it hard to put down! I enjoyed the way the story was written, the way the story started, and the whole scary idea of the escape room challenge. Vincent, Jules, Sam, and Sylvie are top financial executives for the Wall Street firm they work for. One night, they are summoned for a mandatory work meeting. When they arrive, they realize it is an escape room exercise. And it is in an elevator. Once they get closed inside, they start to realize the horrible extent of the challenge’s circumstances. Eventually as the hours go by, they begin to fall victim to their true feelings towards each other. They find out secrets about each other they didn’t know. And they begin to wonder if they will get out alive.
Clang! Your trapped in an enclosed space and only your wit and the cooperation of three other people you don’t trust will get you out! Would you survive the challenge? Do the characters in Megan Goldin’s book survive? This gripping story will take you into The Escape Room to find out!
Goldin does a masterful job guiding the reader into the minds of those trapped inside an escape room, or is it? Yes they are trapped, yes there are clues given to help them figure out what is going on but just who is in charge of this game?
A mysterious and suspenseful time will await you if you choose to partake in this tale of these twisted events within this book! I enjoyed Goldin’s discriptive writing style and how she revealed the reasons behind each character’s actions to accomplishing their goals. If this sounds like your ‘cup of tea’ then drink up and enjoy this novel!
Totally blindsided by the ending!
At the heart of the story The Escape Room is Sara Hall. In a compelling first-person narrative, Sara relates her experiences at Stanhope and Sons. She is hired shortly after completing her MBA summa cum laude, but not from an ivy league school. And that leaves her scrambling despite her grades, excellent references, and successful completion of an internship. But she survives the rigorous interview process and lands the job. During the new employee orientation, the firm’s message is clear. Money is what counts. And soon Sara is making a lot of money, but without having a life.
Sara’s narrative alternatives with a third-person moment-by-moment description of what transpires in the elevator. Vincent is the manipulative team leader who initially attempts to reassure his three subordinate employees that the exercise will last only one hour, at the end of which they will all be released whether they have solved the riddles presented to them or not. An hour elapses during which hot air blasts into the elevator in which a screen lights up with messages and clues. The door cannot be opened, there is no way to escape the influx of suffocatingly hot air, and the participants’ cell phone batteries are being drained as they use the flashlight apps to illuminate their surroundings. One hour turns into many hours, as the clues become more troubling and their fear more pronounced.
Sam Bradley has served as Sara’s mentor over lengthy, expensive lunches. He wanted to be a human rights lawyer, but has over time transformed into a cynic, sacrificing his ideals and values in the name of making money. He knows that he has become a slave to his demanding wife, Kim, as well as his own ego. And he is going to miss the flight to Antigua that Kim has made “a test of his commitment to their marriage.” Sylvie is enmeshed in an affair with a married man who has made it clear that if she fails to meet him in Paris their relationship will be over. She is beautiful, stylish, and has learned to navigate a male-dominated profession by perpetually displaying an expression “a few degrees short of a resting bitch face.” She is not a friend to other women. Jules is an alcoholic whose job performance has declined as a result of his drinking. All four of them are aware that the firm is considering layoffs due to recent failures to cement critical deals. They are all aware that they have “red targets on their backs” and, accordingly, not appearing when summoned for the escape room exercise was not an option.
As the hours drag on, revelations of secret machinations, betrayals, and resentments ratchet up the tension and potential for dire consequences in the elevator. The mystery at the heart of the characters’ dilemma? Who has ordered them there and why? Are they going to be released? Or is the mastermind behind the deadly game determined to eliminate the players?
Sara is an empathetic character — idealistic and committed to her career. Close to her parents, her desire to succeed is motivated not only by her own ego. Her father has been ill for many years and her earnings make it possible for her to ensure that his medical costs are covered, as well as care for her mother. Sara describes the friendship she develops with Lucy, a brilliant member of the team who is mentored and protected by Vincent. He tells Sara that she is “on the spectrum” and “awkward in social situations.” But the two women develop a camaraderie as Sara comes to realize that Lucy is “the most sincere person in the entire team” which “said more about the team than about her.” Goldin credibly and heartbreakingly demonstrates the evolution of their friendship and its profound impact upon several characters, primarily Sara.
The Escape Room is engrossing and clever. Aside from Sara and Lucy, Goldin’s characters are despicable and morally bankrupt. She explains how some of them devolved to their current loathsome state, and challenges her readers to consider whether they can or should be redeemed — if they survive. The story is replete with shocking revelations about the characters’ behave that explain and inform their circumstances. It is a captivating mystery, but it is also a savvy exploration of the characters’ relationships, alliances, and motivations that have delivered them to the challenge they must face together. The Escape Room is an unvarnished, unapologetic indictment of the misogyny and sexism that still permeate American workplaces, and a morality tale about greed, competitiveness, and an obsession with success . . . at any cost.
The pace of The Escape Room is unrelenting. The jaw-dropping conclusion may likely disappoint readers Goldin skillfully convinces to emotionally invest in her characters and their well-being, but it is undeniably inventive and, on some levels, deeply satisfying. There are many themes worthy of discussion which makes The Escape Room an excellent choice for book clubs. It has already been deemed one of the best books of 2019 for good reason, and bodes well for readers anxious to read more from Goldin, a talented and provocative new voice in fiction.
Thanks to NetGalley for an Advance Reader’s Copy of the book.
A fabulous, terrifying book if you’re in the mood for one!
Worth a read….interesting plot.
I wasn’t sure where this book was going at first. When I see “escape room,” I think of the “for fun” rooms that are so popular right now, so I guess I was expecting that. While there were hints of an escape room, this wasn’t the way I pictured it. In some ways, it was much more interesting. I liked how the author alternated time frames, so I was kept off-balance. Once the first reveal occurred, I shifted into trying to figure out the connections. From that point, the author did a great job of leaving hints along the way as the characters also tried to figure out what was happening. My only complaint was that the ending seemed a little bit hurried, especially given the length of the setup. However, I liked that those who were “powerful” had to scramble, while those who were on lower rungs truly held power. That was a significant aspect of the story. I would recommend this book as a good page-turner. Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press, and the author for a complimentary, pre-release digital ARC of this book.
4 stars
I have never done an Escape Room, and quite frankly, the idea is just not appealing to me in the slightest. I get that it is just a puzzle solving / team exercise, but what can I say, Saw ruined the whole concept for me.
However, the premise of this book sounded pretty interesting and I took a chance on it; I am really glad that I did. The story is told in alternating perspectives of what is happening in the elevator (the escape room) and Sara Hall. While I was way more into Sara’s story, the whole book kept me on the hook as I devoured the pages.
I really liked how the book started with the end and then told the story of how the characters got to that point. While it might sound like knowing the end at the beginning doesn’t work, it really does. The Escape Room is well written and Goldin pulls off a few good twists, even though you know what happens from the beginning.
I highly recommend this book to anyone who likes a good mystery, whodunit and a suspenseful drama.
Thank you to St. Martin’s Press for my copy of this book via NetGalley
Personally, I have never done an escape room. I do not have any desire to do one. I couldn’t take being stuck in a place with 4-5 other people and need to decipher clues to get out. Nope, not for me. BK, on the other hand, has done one. He said it was exciting to do.
So, when I saw that the plot of The Escape Room centered around an escape room in an elevator, I got interested. Talk about the ultimate escape room. Think about it. You are crammed into a small space. There is no way out. No water. No nothing. No thank you. That is one of my phobias, being stuck in an elevator. Even reading the scenes when they were stuck in an elevator freaked me out.
I liked that Sara’s chapters of the book were written in the first person. I got a better sense of how she was as a person. I understood what drove her to take that position on Wall Street and what kept her there. I am not going to go much into her story from that point on because I will be giving away some major spoilers.
The escape room plotline was very well written. Each person in that elevator deserved to be there. I wouldn’t go as far as to say that they were terrible people, but I will say that money doesn’t bring out the best in people. The longer that they were in the elevator, the more I got to know their demons. I will say that each person showed up in Sara’s POV too. Not going to say how but they were a significant part of everything that happened to her.
The storyline with Lucy broke my heart. I couldn’t believe what she was put through. I don’t think I truly understood what she went through until it was brought up (by a clue) in the elevator. Let’s just say that it was a despicable thing to do to a coworker.
I am not sure if I agreed or liked how The Escape Room ended. I will admit that the whole plan to get those people into the elevator was well thought out and executed. As was getting that money. But I didn’t agree with the mastermind not knowing what happened after that person left the country. There was no closure. Only a scene in the water and a sense of a job well done by the mastermind.
Excellent page turner. Well-written. I highly recommend it.