Thanks Netgalley. Believable characters. The story about Sara Hall, the individual as to her working for Stanhope, made for a compelling read. Her relationship with her co-works and how they controlled her life in the beginning to the way her life ended up in the end. Were quiet different. Yet very satisfying.

All the thought and work to extract her revenge was wonderful, well thought out and precisely executed. Loved it. After all how much trouble can 4 financial executive do to each other locked in an elevator?

They are the 1% … and they didn't make it to the top by playing nice. Nor did they wind up trapped in an elevator together under the guise of a team-building escape room exercise because they are upstanding people. The "they" we are talking about is the Wall Street investment bankers. That slimy, ruthless group of people who will stab backs and cut throats in the rat race to make a buck. A LOT of bucks.

Vincent, Sylvie, Jules, & Sam have been brought to an elevator after hours for a compulsory team-building exercise. None of them wants to be there, but they will do just about anything to climb high in their positions at Stanhope, one of New York City's top investment firms. However, they soon realize that what they thought was an activity meant to bring them together (yeah right), and score them some points with Stanhope's top executives, is really a plot meant to tear them apart. Who will escape this escape room … and who will succumb to it?

Australian author Megan Goldin stuns with her new novel The Escape Room. Readers are thrown headfirst into the callous and unmerciful world of investment banking - and let us warn you in case you didn't already know - it's a dog eat dog world. Goldin's passages about life and death behind Stanhope's secretive walls are fascinating, and provide a sardonic glimpse into a world most of us will never witness with our own eyes. The plot is outlandish, the characters are deliciously cold and wicked, and the pages turn because this novel will have you racing to the end to see who or what is behind this incredibly cruel escape room. While this novel is far from cerebral, and won't be lauded for being extraordinarily thought-provoking, it is a lot of fun. Readers who enjoy stories that border on the insane and don't make them think too much, will have a blast with Goldin's The Escape Room.

Wow!! What a page turner! I read this book in one sitting. This is a great summer beach read with compelling characters and a plot that hooks you right from the first chapter. Will appeal to fans of Harlan Coben.

The Escape Room is one of the best thrillers I have read. The characters were all well written and the plot was so well paced I didn’t want to put the book down. Loved the perspective switches between chapters. The descriptions of the different locations in the book were perfect.

Enjoyed this one overall. Perhaps dragged a little at times but I was let satisfied when I’d finished.

The story is set in the world of Wall Street and high finance. Our main protagonist, Sarah Hall is a new MBA and is looking hard for a job in one of the big firms. Having had a bad interview in one of the big ones, she bumps into one of the higher ups in an elevator and gets talking. He tells her to come back for a second interview which he will hold himself and she gets the job.

Assigned to a team of the best of the best, she has to work all hours and basically be the runner but is on a huge salary and it’s the opportunity of a lifetime. The team are arrogant and ruthless and she finds it hard to fit in.

Fast forward to present day, the company is not doing as well and the team(minus Sarah and another girl from the team) have been summoned at the last minute to meet at work late in the evening. It’s not a request.
When they get there they find that they have to partake in a team building exercise and following instructions make their way to an elevator where they have to complete a series of puzzles to complete the task in an allotted time to get out. But as the puzzles become more obscure and the time allowance passes, still trapped inside the elevator, they realize that they may be here for a more sinister reason, something to do with their past, but what can it be and who’s past will be the exposed?

I enjoyed this one overall. The story is a little fantastical if I’m honest but told well and comes to a very satisfying conclusion at the end. The pacing is a little uneven, going from quite hectic to dragging in parts, although I suppose it is part of the story and the way it is told. Present day - a small group of people trapped in an elevator and the flashback sequences - which are the pacy ones and add real meat to the story.

Some of the characters are very well written and rounded while some are a little one dimensional. I think the story took precedence here although thankfully Sarah is well written and very likable.

I’d recommend this one. It’s certainly unique and really holds your attention for the most part.

Many thanks to Netgalley, St Martins Press and Megan Goldin for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I thoroughly enjoyed this novel. It was fun, in a sort of twisted sense, and highly entertaining. I loved the dynamics between the coworkers at the investment firm. The power struggle between Vincent as the boss and his team was fascinating. I felt like a got an inside look at the high-power lives of rich, successful young Wall Street millionaires.

That said, it wasn't quite what I expected based on the title alone. I thought it would be friends or coworkers going to one of those escape rooms that are very popular right now, but the situation in the book is rather different - it's not a real escape room, and there's nothing the people trapped inside can do to free themselves. I definitely enjoyed the novel, but the title was a bit misleading.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for providing me with a review copy of this novel.

Four corporate finance think they are taking part in a escape room organized by their company. They soon find that their situation is more real than they realize. They will need to face their pasts, and reveal secrets that could tear them apart.

The characters in this novel were horrible in the best way. They are selfish, greedy, and looking to tear other down if possible if it will get them ahead. I could not wait to read the next delicious devious act committed by our characters.

The plot was faced-paced and totally consuming. I was so invested that I had to stay up all night just to find out how it would turn out. Some plot points seemed very unlikely and unbelievable. This did not bother me overall because it was such a fun ride.

The Escape Room by Megan Goldin is an addictive fast-paced thriller that shines a light on corporate greed, and is really satisfying if not unbelievable. I recommend this novel wholeheartedly to anyone, but especially fans of thrillers.

My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

I started reading The Escape Room on 6/5/2019 and finished it on 6/13/2019 at 2:22AM. This book is an excellent read! There are a lot of personalities to each character, especially the ones in the elevator. One thing they all have in common is being ruthless. The way the author portray Wall Street bankers are interesting and intimidating at the same time. One thing that bothers me is not knowing that Sylvie is a tax expert when Sara was first introduced that Jules was a lawyer instead readers will have to wait until around 40% of the book later to find out what her role in the team is. Though her personality of being a btch wasn’t failed to mention multiple times early on. I like the unique alternative perspectives in this story. I like the puzzle challenges as well as the intellectual of the characters.

This book started with a prologue, told in the third person point of view following Miguel, the night shift security guard as he called 911. He heard gunshots which confused him because he believed that he was supposed to be the only person on this construction site tonight. The story then shifted back to 34 hours earlier located in an elevator. The elevator consisted of Vincent, the team’s boss who was also invited along with the team to come for an escape-room challenge, a type of team building activity. The team members are Sylvie, the team’s tax expert and only female in a male industry, Sam, team’s leader, who tolerates his wife’s addiction for his own addiction, and Jules, team’s lawyer and the office’s gossiper. The four above share one view under elevator. The goal of being in an elevator is to get out alive. The alternative view is Sara, new employee to Vincent’s team before the escape room challenge. Her experiences working in Vincent’s team goes parallel with the elevator challenge.

The Escape Room is suspenseful and definitely a fast paced read. After reading the prologue, I was hooked. I like the surprise at nearly the end of every chapter. I like the mystery and how it drives me to make many wild wrong guesses. The big reveal is such an adrenaline rush. Sara’s complaints about job hunting and surviving her job is a bit annoying. I thought, why not aim lower instead of settling for being a waitress because she couldn’t get in the door at Wall Street. And then later, why not quit instead of putting up with being bullied and bossed around. But then I realized that, if she quit, she would receive nothing whereas if she had been let go, she would receive a pay out. I like learning this bit as well as the reminder of the importance of references to job hunting. It’s definitely interesting to have a glimpse into the big career at Wall Street and how the people and their environment are like. I highly recommend everyone to read this book!

Pro: fast paced, page turner, Wall Street finance job, mystery, suspense, intelligent characters,

Con: character details misplaced and annoying job complains..

I rate it 4.5 stars!

***Disclaimer: Many thanks to St. Martin’s Press for the opportunity to read and review. I love the packaging for the book I received. Please be assured that my opinions are honest.

xoxo,
Jasmine at www.howusefulitis.wordpress.com for more details

This is an excellent debut novel from Megan Goldin. This cunning thriller starts off with a bang, sinks it’s claws in you, and never lets go. The concept for this novel is brilliant, and Goldin does an excellent job crafting the storylines together.

Character development is essential in a novel of this structure, and this one does not disappoint. The mastermind behind the “escape room” team building exercise knows which buttons to push to bring out the best (and worst) in each participant.

Alternating storylines focus on the past and present. You begin to see foreshadowing early on pointing to a tragic event that happened in the past. This storyline from the past fuels an underlying current of suspense in the present storyline, slowly ratcheting it up as the plot unfolds.
I did feel as though the majority of the book was drawn out and moved slowly, and then everything was wrapped up rather quickly, but overall this was an enjoyable read.

This one will keep you guessing throughout. You think you have it figured out, but then another twist pops up and throws you off. I would recommend this book to fans of mysteries and thrillers.
I received this as a free ARC from St. Martin’s Press on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Be prepared for the ride of your life! The Escape Room takes place over a dizzying two days (with flashbacks from several years) with four employees from a high end Wall Street investment bank stuck in an elevator 71 floors above ground, in pitch black darkness and oppressive heat. Trying circumstances for anyone, but these are supposed to be the best and brightest-they're paid obscene amounts of money in exchange for 80 hour work weeks and cult like obedience to the firm-but cracks in their perfectly cultivated facades grow as the hours tick by without rescue. Kudos to Megan Goldin for making such a grim situation so entertaining-the backstory of how they end up in the elevator is a case study on greed and corruption-and seems far fetched, but that's the main appeal of The Escape Room. It's premise may be preposterous (at least we hope it is!), but The Escape Room is such a brilliantly done guilty pleasure you'll overlook this minor detail. And you'll never look at your co workers the same-if the worst they're guilty off is stealing your lunch from the employee fridge, you're way ahead of the doomed souls trapped in The Escape Room.

3.5/5 stars
This started out slow for me, but then picked up speed. The twists and turns were mostly unpredictable. I loved the idea of the escape room, which are so popular right now. The ending was satisfying and left me with no questions. Overall, a great psychological thriller.

3.5 stars rounded up to 4

Thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for a digital galley in exchange for an honest review.

Welcome to the Escape room. Your goal is simple. Get out alive.

Although a loss of momentum happened around the middle part of the book, I couldn't stop turning the pages. I mean four greedy Wall Street people locked in an elevator for hours. Who will outwit? Outlast? Outplay? Err....I guess you can guess where I am headed.


Until I picked up this book, I had never heard of Megan Goldin. But the Australian author definitely caught my attention as she explores sexism, the dark side of business, and winning at whatever cost. Goldin's character, Vincent, is very similar to Michael Douglas' Gordon Gecko in the 1987 film Wall Street. and his three sidekicks Jules, Sam, and Sylvie were just as horrendous. A book that I anticipate will be a go to book for summer vacation.

Goodreads review 11/06/19
Publication Date 30/07/19

An exciting thriller based on the trend of "escape room parties". The book had good characters that you get to spend time with while they try to figure out how to escape from a deadly game,

I certainly didn’t see this one coming!! This book definitely lets the reader know that Karma will certainly bite you, when you least expect it!! Sara Miller lived in Chicago and helped both of her parents as much as she could. Since she was the only child and both of her parents had health issues, she worked many doubles as a waitress. She was constantly interviewing with investment banking firms. On one occasion, she was to interview with a company in New York. But in order to fit in and look like a professional, she had to spend a huge amount on a very expensive suit, and hope that she would land this particular job. However, it turned out that the interview was really a farce, since they had already chosen a member of someone’s family for the position. Sara was beside herself wondering when she would be able to pay the huge amount that she charged on her credit card. While she was in the elevator on her way back him, a gentleman noticed her and they began a conversation. Vincent de Vries from Stanhope and Sons gave her his business card; another investment banking firm. Eventually she was called and arrangements were made for her to interview with this prestigious investment banking firm in New York. She was hired and was introduced to the group. However, she felt as if she was treated with nonchalant looks the team barely acknowledged her. Since she was the junior employee, she was sent on quite a few gopher errands. She was determined that no matter what happened, she would do what it took to climb up the ladder and gain their respect. The team was comprised of Austin, her boss, Sam, Jules, Sylvia, and Lucy. Lucy had been diagnosed as being spectrum; she was totally brilliant and helped to make the firm billions of dollars. She and Lucy became friends, but Lucy asked her to keep their friendship a secret from the team. Sara did just that. She and Lucy met secretly. Then Lucy died. The police said that she committed suicide with the evidence that they found in Lucy’s apartment. Sara did not think that Lucy committed suicide. Why did Lucy die? Was Sara right that Lucy did not commit suicide? What did Lucy know about the team? Could that be the reason for her death? Because Sara started asking questions about Lucy, she was targeted by the group, and eventually fired. Her career was destroyed. The team was sent an email from HR demanding that the team go to the escape room. This was supposedly a team building exercise that was mandatory. So Vincent, Sam, Jules, and Sylvia entered the elevator. They were to work together with clues from the control panel to finally be released from the elevator. What could possibly go wrong? The team had completed rounds of escape rooms quite a few times before. They were answering the clues, so why wouldn’t the elevator open for them? The plot was definitely genius! The character development was definitely on point. Each character was described in a very colorful way that showed the reader their personalities and all of their flaws as well. The ending was definitely worth waiting for!! The mystery and intrigue was ongoing throughout the entire book. I truly loved this book and was having a hard time putting it down!! I can’t wait for the next one from this author!!

I have to confess, this book was not my cup of tea. I couldn't connect with the characters as they all seemed a little too selfish and driven. But of course, that's how they ended up in the situation of the 'room'! The whole premise was pretty much over the top and I would consider it more of a modern thriller, or maybe even in the fantasy genre because it got pretty weird! All of that said, I am sure there are many who would find the premise appealing and even a compulsive read.

I do thank the publisher, the author and Netgalley for the opportunity to read and give an honest review of this work.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press for the free review copy. All opinions are my own.

This thriller was so needed for me. I am tired of some of the tropes that have been common lately, so I was excited to read this book because it is different. It had high intensity, a fast pace, and love to hate them characters which, in my opinion, makes for a fun book. 

I really liked how the flash backs worked slowly together to portray exactly why the team is sent to an escape room. I think that it makes for a great mystery. While I was not on the edge of my seat during this whole book, I did like how the author left the chapters as cliff hangers, so I had to continue. 

I was able to figure out the ending of the book, but I don't think that that detracted from the story at all because I wanted to know how it was set up.

Definitely a page-turner: I read it all the way through in one sitting. It's a whodunit, but the "who" won't be a big surprise. The "how" is more of a mystery. Unfortunately the explanation seems rushed and improbable – an effort to reach a satisfying conclusion that'd look good on a movie screen.

I decided to read this book because it sounded like a taut psychological thriller and it had so many stellar reviews. I read it just for entertainment value and still it fell short. The first third of the book had my attention, setting up for the thrill of the escape room challenge that we knew was going to happen.

Sara Hall, our main protagonist, is a newly minted MBA who supposedly was an incredible student with amazing recommendations from professors, those she had interned with, etc and yet she was having trouble finding a job. After failing one interview with the firm of Stanhope and Sons she meets another member of the firm, Vincent, in an elevator (get the red herring right here) as she is leaving and he gives her a second chance at interviews. She lands the job, supposedly among the best of the best. She now has an income that can help her pay down her student loans and help with her parents medical bills. However it doesn’t take long before she realizes that the other members of the loosely labeled team aren’t too happy to see her.

Vincent introduces her to the rest of the group: Jules is an alcoholic as well as a workaholic, they all are. Sylvie is a beautiful former model who is ruthless and angry, having had her modeling career cut short because of a horrific accident. Sam is constantly struggling to make enough money to keep his wife happy. Lucy is a brilliant mathematical wizard whom many of the others turn to when they need advise. Lucy is on the autism spectrum and is socially very withdrawn and awkward, she is the butt of many jokes but Vincent is the one who hired her and knows how valuable she is.

Anyway, back to our story . . . .the novel goes back and forth from the POV of the four members of the team who are trapped in the elevator to Sara Hall who details how everything came to this point.

Midway through the book I really felt that the tension unraveled and a lot of what happens in the escape room is predictable although completely unbelievable. What will four characters with no redeeming qualities do when trapped together with little water, no food and in darkness??? There are clues that they find or are displayed on a monitor which make little sense and do nothing to help them out of this situation. Considering these are supposed brilliant people they are pretty slow to realize that this is not an ordinary escape room experience.

I’m giving this book 3 stars strictly for entertainment value and for keeping me turning pages for the first third of the book. The writing at many times seemed repetitive with lots of side stories that were introduced but never really completed. The ending was explanatory but you really have to suspend all believability here.

I received a copy of this novel from the publisher through NetGalley.

I have never participated in an escape room exercise and wouldn't ever consider it. But when you work for a high flying Wall Street finance group, you join, and that is what four top-level employees of Stanhope did on a Friday night in New York. Vincent, Jules, Sylvie, and Sam went to the assigned location and found themselves in an elevator. The suspense after that is non-stop.

We learn about Standhope and the four escape room participants from flashback chapters narrated by Sara Hall, a former employee of Standhope. The group refers to her in the past tense. She died a few years ago. Sara's chapters tell us that she is from Chicago and worked very hard to attain her M.B.A. and secure a job in New York. Her parents are loving people who supported her all her life. Sara wants to make them proud and achieve a secure, stable life for herself. She works hard, puts almost as many hours as a young woman named Lucy, who later befriends her.

Vincent is the leader of Sara's team, which includes Jules, Sylvie, and Sam. None of them are easy to work with, but Sara is determined to make her mark and rise to the top. Describing the team as sharks would be an understatement. They will do anything to top each other and wouldn't blink if one moved out of the group before bonus time.

The mystery of the four in the elevator is superb as they are in a claustrophobic situation that becomes physically and mentally brutal. No one, not even the reader, knows who put them there and when they will be released. Goldin has created one of the best thrillers of the year. I recommend this book for a long plane ride or a weekend in the mountains. I couldn't put it down.

Thank you St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC (July 30th).

When you start hearing people talk about Megan Goldin’s first release in the United States, The Escape Room, you are going to hear the phrase “Un-put-down-able!” over and over again. Goldin is an excellent storyteller with a terrific knack for setting the pace that keeps her audience unable to turn away, and The Escape Room is a must-read!

We get a little sneak peak into the future, and where our story will take us, as the prologue provides us a portion of the end of the story. We are immediately taken back a day and a half earlier, when most of our cast of characters arrive at an unfamiliar building, for an unscheduled work event they have each been called to at the last minute. These four financial executives from a top-tier, high-brow, New York City firm all have different things, people, or events in their lives pulling them away, and making them consider not attending as instructed, but ultimately they all do what (we will learn) they always do and put the company before all else. Believing they are all there to participate in an escape room scenario that just might help the top executives know who to fire and who deserves a bigger bonus, they have all grudgingly turned their backs on important life events to prove their loyalty to the firm. Not one of them would consider being absent and leaving himself, or herself, vulnerable to the potential backstabbing of the others in this foursome. It’s clear to the reader immediately that there are many secrets, many lies, and much history between these co-workers and the thick, heavy tension is crowded into the tight four walls of the elevator along with them as they begin the challenge that has been laid out.

Things start to unravel very quickly as the four big personalities try to function inside the small room. Questions, quizzes, and clues bring up some of the secrets of the group and of individual members as they try to figure out just what is really going on. Throughout the chapters that take place in the elevator, the reader can feel the fear, the growing panic, the explosions of rage, the growing hopelessness, and the sense of dread. These chapters display for the reader the constant, and constantly growing, terror of the escape room participants.

Alternating with these chapters, however, is the story of Sara Hall. We know immediately that Sara has something to do with the elevator inhabitants, and as her story progresses, we get an excellent contrast between this up-and-comer and the hedonistic quartet we have already met. However, knowing Sara Hall’s story will somehow be leading us toward the disastrous climax we learned of in the prologue, we now have the one-two punch of slowly building, methodically paced, steadily mounting dread in between the razor-sharp, urgent terror of the chapters set in the elevator. It is excellent storytelling and it constantly pulls the reader further and further inside.

From her thorough descriptions of the financial firm and its seductive techniques of winning employees over to the life of greed and grandeur, complete with a winner-take-all, the end justifies the means, and zero sum game philosophy, Goldin has the infrequently seen talent of writing likeable and unlikable characters equally well.

There was only one time as I was reading that I was truly taken out of the story, but even that negative can be looked at through a positive lens. During new employee orientation at the Wall Street firm, one character makes a comment regarding being all-in on the company philosophies as “drinking the kool-aid.” I personally find this expression so distasteful and objectionable, (how did the deaths of almost a thousand people become a punchline?), that it abruptly pulled me out of this fascinating world that I had become completely engrossed in. However, at that point in the story, the reader is at the doorstep of developing a more and more negative view of this company, its staff, and its executives. Rather than remaining outside the story (and missing out), I chose to see this through the lens of how that company would have executives so unlikable that they really would use that thoughtless expression. I’ll admit, it’s a pretty minor issue, and I may be the one person in a million who would be bothered by it.

This book is engrossing, it’s exciting, and it is a great way to remember just how much fun it can be to “escape” into a great book. (Sorry, could not resist the pun!) This is an incredibly exciting debut from an author to keep an eye on! I am all in with Megan Goldin and I can’t wait to see what she releases next.

[To be published on July 2nd]