“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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A recent college graduate decided to change career paths while beginning her college education to make life a little easier for herself and her parents. Little did she know that the investment market would crash leaving her to working double shifts at a small restraunt to make ends meet.
She submitted her resume to some large firms while traveling on train for 7 hours each way to make the interviews, she knew she did not get the job based on the aspect on how the interview went. While leaving and heading to the train for the 7 hour return trip she bumped into someone taking the elevator down…..
This changed her life, she recieved a call for an interview with another firm which offered flight and hotel accomendations during the interview process. She sat through a whole day of 4 interviews all in one day, she thought thing went great, but waited for weeks and ended up thinking that the call was never going to come!
The career offer came and it totally changed her life, for what she thought would be for the better, but was it really. Long hours, secrets kept, very little of a social life, major changes in personal life.
And one day, her peers were faced with the challenge of an Escape Room – would you come out dead or alive? But wait, who was behind all of this? Why would they be challenged with an Escape room? Money as so many motives!
I wanted to read this book because I really like doing Escape Rooms and enjoyed the Escape Room movie. So I wanted to see what Megan Goldin would do with the premise in a book. While the escape room clues themselves were easy and didn’t play a huge part in the story, they still helped to add another layer to the novel.
Goldin really excelled at describing the characters, which makes sense, since most of the book takes place inside of an office building or an elevator. But with these two main environments, she was able to write an atmosphere with a sense of stress, menace, and dread.
And with the characters themselves, Goldin did such an amazing job at making you feel for them, but then dislike them, but then, maybe feel for them again. Only to turn it back into hate. She engineered the roller coaster of emotions like a master.
One of the things that makes if difficult to write reviews for mysteries and thrillers is that I don’t want to give too much away. I want you to experience all the red herrings and twists that I do. For me though, The Escape Room, had twists that I saw coming and clues that were easy to solve. Normally this would make me give the review less stars, but Goldin kept me intrigued, and the story was so well put together that I not only want to give it five stars, but highly encourage you to read it.
Wow! What a crazy nightmare of a story. I was so enthralled I could not put it down! This was my first by this author and it certainly won’t be my last! This is a very different kind of book from what I normally read. I generally want to like the characters I read about, but there was no way this was happening with this group.
This book grabbed me from the start and kept me interested til the very end. I like how the main character evolved, I found myself pulling for her. I loved it!! Great book!!
The Escape Room by Megan Goldin
What are you willing to do to succeed? Is money everything? Who would you step on or perhaps even kill to come out on top? And, what about revenge? What would it take to make you seek it?
Such a well-crafted book this book proved to be! It begins with the nightwatchman hearing something then moves on from there to move in alternating chapters that tell of the four in the elevator and of a woman named Sarah Hall. It took a few chapters to figure out what part Sarah had in the lives of the other four but as the story unfolded her part and that of another member of the team, Lucy, became abundantly clear.
What I liked about this book:
* It drew me in little by little
* I was invested in the outcome
* I was given insight into the corporate finance world
* It made me think about values
* It was intriguing
* I just liked it – and am thankful that I cannot see myself as a character in this book
What I did not like:
* Most of the characters
* What happened to the innocent (there were a few)
* Probably exactly what I was meant not to like
I am not sure about the ending. I saw it coming…eventually…but knowing it was coming still left me unsettled and wondered how those that may have survived would carry on in the future.
Did I like this book? Yes
Would I read more by this author? Yes
Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC – This is my honest review.
5 Stars
It took a bit to get into, but I loved how the revenge played out. It was interesting and not straight out obvious. I recommend this story.
I received a copy of this story through Netgalley, and this is my unsolicited review.
THE ESCAPE ROOM is a fast paced, brilliantly written thriller that revolves around the greedy world of Wall Street’s investment bankers where lavish lifestyles need to be maintained and profits are used as justification for ruthless behavior. Megan Goldin writes an amazingly, addictive story involving a deadly game where the plot twists and turns and has you on the edge of your seat until the very end. The Escape Room immediately captures your attention, pulls you in and makes it impossible for you to put this book down. Trust me, you don’t want to miss this thriller!
The Escape Room begins with Miguel, a security guard working the night shift in a luxury building still under construction. While listening to his music and waiting for the next song to begin, he hears what he believes is a scream followed by gunshots. Although the building is supposed to be deserted for the entire weekend, he feels that something is very wrong and calls 911. When the police arrive, an elevator starts descending to the lobby and when the elevator bell chimes the police react. This Prologue gives the reader a sneak peek into the path this story takes and hints about how it will end. Thus begins The Escape Room adventure!
This book is written with alternating chapters, one titled SARA HALL and the other titled THE ELEVATOR. SARA’s chapters follow her on her journey as she first tries to get a job on Wall Street and then struggles with the demanding 18 hour days to keep it. These chapters follows her transition into the lavish and greedy world of investment bankers and are written in her point of view. When Sara gets a job at Stanhope and Sons she spends the first week being indoctrinated into the “Stanhope Way” of making money, accumulating it, and spending it. During that first week, the firm seduces her with expensive gifts, company perks and lavish lunches. By the end of the week she feels that whatever ideals/notions she had before were easily wiped away by greed. She wonders if some would even willingly kill for Stanhope. She works with Vincent, Sam, Jules, Sylvie and Lucy. She is quickly exposed to unreasonable deadlines, humiliation, ruthlessness and sexism. Her only friend is Lucy Marshall who doesn’t conform to Stanhope’s standards but is incredibly smart and the reason behind the group’s success. However, she is warned by Lucy that their friendship must remain a secret. Soon, Sara learns exactly what happens to those who don’t conform to the standards and discovers just what her coworkers are capable of doing to protect their world of greed.
The chapters titled THE ELEVATOR follow Vincent , Sam, Jules and Sylvie- four investment bankers that are all successful executives at Stanhope and Sons, a prestigious investment firm. These chapters vary in point of view as each person evaluates their own circumstances and reflects on their past hopes and sins. Each of them is surprised by who they were willing to become in order to maintain their status and lavish lifestyles. These four have reached the top of their investment world and have grown accustomed to expensive lifestyles. They are ruthless and driven and willingly use profits and bonuses as justification for trampling others into the ground. They are brought together on a Friday evening to a high rise building, currently under construction. They are instructed to participate in what they believe is a team building exercise that will determine their futures with the firm. They are then informed that they will take part in an Escape Room challenge. As they step into the elevator to head up to the seventieth floor they soon discover that the elevator is their Escape Room challenge and that they must solve different puzzles and riddles in order to get out. They believe that they have one hour to complete this challenge. They stand in a dark, cramped elevator trying to work together but when the elevator walls reveal their deepest and darkest secrets they are no longer a team and they begin to turn on each other. When the hour is up and the doors remain shut, they realize that this is no longer a game but a fight for their lives. Soon panic, fear and paranoia set in. As they remain stuck in the elevator, they experience thirst and hunger and are subjected to extremes in temperatures. They begin to question if they will make it out alive. In the end they’re forced to face the fact that their situation is an act of revenge and a consequence of their manipulative and ruthless behavior.
The Escape Room is a truly outstanding and intriguing story. Megan Goldin is an amazing author whose talented, descriptive writing style makes you feel like you are in the story, trapped in the elevator, trying to get out and the only way to survive is to keep turning the pages. This book is without a doubt one of the best psychological thrillers I’ve read. I highly recommend it.
Thank you St. Martin’s Press for providing me with a free ARC in exchange for my honest, unbiased review. I truly appreciate it!
This was a hard book to put down, once I started reading it. I love thrillers and this one certainly was that in my opinion. If found it to be very well written, had lots of twists and turns. The greed of people is the root of all evil. I would certainly recommend this book to others.
A sharp, slick, utterly engrossing thriller. This knockout debut hooked me from the first page and didn’t let go.
This was a chilling book! Very well written keeps you guessing until the end. It begins with four Wall Street workers stuck in an elevator. It is a murder mystery where they have to solve problems by the killer to stay alive.
the writting goes back and fortj to tell you how they all got to be where they are now and the why of it all. I litteraly couldn’t put this book down as I tried to untangle the mystery. great thriller.
Smart and compelling… I devoured this novel!
Wow, what a ride! I devoured this book from a debut author.
The premise of using an elevator as an escape room was an original twist, and I’ll probably never look at another elevator the same way again! This book is a well-written, tightly-woven thriller that flowed effortlessly and kept me on the edge of my seat! There’s everything from greed, jealousy, infidelity, revenge, questionable ethics and criminal activities included in this one. And except for being disappointed by one detail that I felt was left hanging, I highly recommend it!
Thanks to #StMartinsPress for the ARC! The opinions are strictly my own.
#EscapeRoomBook
If you’re at the beach and the heat index is 108 degrees Fahrenheit, you can consider yourself very fortunate to have an intriguing book to read, and The Escape Room by Megan Goldin certainly fits the bill!
Four highly ambitious teammates for a Wall Street financial firm find themselves commanded to attend a non-negotiable Friday night team-building exercise. Used to having to cancel personal plans for the give-us-all-you’ve-got-to-stay-employed demands at the firm, they each feel they have no choice but to attend; especially when a corporate restructure looks to be around the corner and their jobs may be on the line. They are nonetheless understandably annoyed to find themselves, once again, in the position of disappointing those dear to them. Just to play a game!
They expect the Escape Room exercise of trying to find a way to get out of a locked elevator to last an hour. When the hour is up and they are not released, they begin to realize this may not be a game after all. In fact, they may be lucky to get out alive.
Full of characters that you will love to hate, Goldin keeps the suspense building as the people in the elevator lose their professional poise, begin to unravel and show their true selves. A very entertaining, if unbelievable read this gets a 3.5 star rating rounded up to 4 stars from me.
My thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for allowing me to read this book in exchange for an unbiased review. Opinions stated here are my own.
So the Escape room revolves around the cutthroat world of finance and investment banking.
Four colleagues find themselves stuck in an elevator in an empty office building all participating in what seems to be a team bonding escape room challenge.
Vincent, Sam Jules and Sylvie all employees of the firm Stanhope ruthless go-getters whose greed corruption and killer instincts all worship their god the almighty dollar.
These savage individuals are all prepared to do whatever it takes to stay ahead in the game.
As this well-crafted thriller unfolds everything starts to fall apart as the suspicion paranoia and close quarters all start to feed into everybody’s individual insecurities and things start to unravel at the very seams.
This is told in two time frames an ongoing story involving an old work colleague Sara Hall and the elevator itself.
Meanwhile, the unfolding story threads while seemingly unrelated start to form a picture of sorts.
This book exposes the dark underbelly of human nature on both sides.
This was a well written thrilling journey my only slight criticisms are that I did think the ending was slightly rushed and somethings things did get a tad far-fetched.
I still really enjoyed this and it was an entertaining thrilling read.
I voluntary reviewed a copy of The Escape Room.
Reviewed By Beckie Bookworm
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4.5 stars. This was my first book by Megan Goldin and I really, really liked it!
What an awesome cast (Vincent, Sylvie, Sam, Jules, Lucy, and Sara) of characters. Five of them are money hungry cutthroats, one is beyond brilliant. Put them all together and you don’t know who can be trusted and who can’t.
There is greed, revenge, borderline rape, lying, cheating, murder, which, of course adds up to an awesome page turner!
While I’m not usually a fan of multiple POVs, I found that it worked in this book. The ultimate revenge is in setting up the escape room team building exercise.
#StMartinsPress #MeganGoldin #Lovedit
5 out of 5 stars
I would like to thank Netgalley and St.Martin’s Press for allowing me to read an advanced copy of this wonderful thriller.
When I saw the title of this novel I knew I would want to read it even before I read the blurb about the book. The book weaves a story between the past told to us by Sarah Hall, a recent graduate who is desperate to get a well paying job in the world of finance so that she can take care of her ailing parents and the present with four coworkers trapped in an elevator escape room.
As the story goes on we find begin to find the breadcrumbs that tell us what exactly Vincent, Sylvie,Sam and Jules did to bring them all here together. As they try to figure out the clues to be freed they begin to figure out that there is something insidious about the escape room.
I really enjoyed reading this and often couldn’t wait to get back to the novel to find out what would happen next.
Escape rooms are supposed to be fun. They are supposed to challenge its participants. Make them think. Make them work together. But sometimes… sometimes, if you don’t escape, the consequences can be deadly.
Sara Hall is a hardworking, ambitious woman who wants to make her mark in the financial world.
Vincent, Sam, Jules, and Sylvia are her cutthroat, money hungry colleagues who will walk over anyone to reach the top, regardless of the consequences.
When summoned to a team building exercise, Vincent, Sam, Jules, and Sylvia arrive determined to outshine the others in the hopes that a promotion and raise await him or her. Too bad this isn’t your “typical” escape room. Will they escape before all their secrets do?
I, myself, was barely able to escape this book; I often found myself reading it when I was supposed to be doing something else. It is a gripping page-turner with well developed, realistic characters.
If you like thrillers, I highly recommend this novel. It keeps you guessing as much as it keeps you turning the pages.
I received an ARC of The Escape Room from St Martin’s Press in exchange for an honest review.
WOW, this book was a FANTASTIC READ!!! I received an ARC of this book and all I can say is that you really NEED to order it as soon as it becomes available. This read trapped me from the first page and didn’t let go til the last page. I am so glad to have gone on this ride with Megan Goldin and her cast of characters. So, take this book, lock yourself in a room with only food and water. No phones, no computers, no husbands and just settle in for a really good read.
Great book. Gives good look at wall street life. Interesting plot. Twisted ending making you ponder about the outcome.
I’m left with questions!!
I can’t imagine being stuck in an elevator after reading this book! I think I might faint.
I got the first clue when it was given, then I was shocked, told myself you have to keep reading to find out what’s going on.
You read about Sara and how she began at Stanhope and how crazy it is there. Then you are brought to the elevator where 5 people are stuck and they are trying to work through puzzles or questions to get out. You read back and forth, everything leading up to the end!
Once you’re done reading about Sara you go to the elevator, then back to Sara. I didn’t want to adult at all. I needed to know what was going on. I read until my vision was blurry, that’s how much of a page turner this book is.
Besides the 4 people in the elevator and Sara there is another character you learn about, and how different she was, but also how smart. That in the end was bad for her altogether.
I will say that you won’t believe what happens in the elevator, and the beginning to the end of Sara’s story, her life. I am still asking myself what did I just read?
I also have questions about the elevator, it states who made it out kind of, but nothing else. I need more!!