The elements of a very good mystery or thriller are there, and the book takes us into the greed-filled, dog-eat-dog underbelly of the financial world in New York City, which was very interesting to experience. The setting seemed incredibly real, and it was clear the author either had experience within the world of finance or had done her research, or both. Plus, the book has a great title and hook for a thriller.

Unfortunately, this almost seemed like an early draft to me, and it made me wish there had been much more rigor during the revision process, so that exposition was trimmed to the essentials, and whatever was left was woven into the action or conveyed through dialogue. There were large portions of exposition or backstory in this that seems like the type of thing that you might see when a writer is first jotting down ideas, without yet finding a way to bring them to life. And while the main character, Sara, and a supporting character, Lucy, were very specific and well-defined, the other characters seem to fall a bit flat.

The book’s summary: In the lucrative world of Wall Street finance, Vincent, Jules, Sylvie and Sam are the ultimate high-flyers. Ruthlessly ambitious, they make billion-dollar deals and live lives of outrageous luxury. Getting rich is all that matters, and they'll do anything to get ahead. When the four of them become trapped in an elevator escape room, things start to go horribly wrong. They have to put aside their fierce office rivalries and work together to solve the clues that will release them. But in the confines of the elevator, the dark secrets of their team are laid bare, leaving the four of them dangling on the precipice of disaster. If they want to survive, they’ll have to solve one final puzzle: which one of them is a killer?

This summary sounds amazing, but I wish that the story had fully lived up to its promise. Still, it was a fun read, and I think the author has a lot of potential to write great thrillers as she grows in her craft.

Thank you to Megan Goldin, Graydon House Books & NetGalley for the copy of The Escape Room.

As this book didn't really have a "wow factor" it kept me very interested until the end. I really enjoyed how the book went back and forth between current time and past tense, it all flowed together well. If you are looking for an easy read that will keep you interested and guessing what will happen next this is the book for you.

If you're looking to be entertained by an in your face thriller- look no further! This wasn't the most well written (the dialogue for some of the characters was... Not great)- but I couldn't put it down. The characters were downright nasty, but how fun to see how it all comes together.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an advance copy of this book in return for an honest review.

On Wall Street, the means are ruthless ambitious, greed is rampant and money is the end. When a team of four money-loving and power-hungry financial analysts are lured to an elevator for an escape room outing, how will it end? Quite horribly, I’m afraid.

The story is told from two perspectives and two timelines. First, we hear from Sara Hall, past and present, and from her four teammates presently locked in an elevator. To start, Sara succeeds at snagging a coveted position at Stanhope, the financial giant that can make you millions. Sara is run ragged by the incessant work, but reaps the rewards. There are riches to be made, but at what cost? When Sara’s only friend at Stanhope commits suicide, there are questions about it really being a suicide. A little more digging, and Sara finds out just how powerful her teammates are, and that they will stop at nothing to ruin Sara’s life.

We then cut back and forth between Sara and her teammates. Can they put aside their rivalry to work their way out of the elevator? Unfortunately, suspicion and distrust rule the event, and some devastating secrets are revealed.

The book started well enough and kept me engaged almost to the end. At the end, things got a little fantastical. I won’t give away any spoilers, but some of the machinations are so wild to make the pieces all fit together, that they become unbelievable. Really, who knows anyone who can make contact lenses to match someone’s iris pattern for an iris-reader? Still, it was definitely an entertaining book, even if simplistic and kind of predictable, but still a fun escape from everyday. None of the characters are likable, so there is no hero to root for, but if you can suspend belief for a while it’s an entertaining read.

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This is one of the best books I have read in a while. The story is very well told and held my interest throughout. Unfortunately I had to stop reading so I could get some sleep otherwise I would have continued till the end. This is the first time I have read anything by this author but it will definitely not be the last. Thanks to netgalley for letting me read this book in exchange for my unbiased review.

Team building at its best or worst.....

Ruthless, ambitious, selfish, greedy, jealous, intelligent, hardworking, devious and trapped are words that can easily describe Vincent, Sam, Jules, and Sylvie. They live a life of luxury fueled by the adrenaline that comes from making billion-dollar deals. No one looks better, works harder or lives faster than these four. It's a dog eat dog world they work in on wall street. They put work first- ALWAYS. So, when a text is received announcing a compulsory team building exercise - an escape room if you will, they all show up. They get trapped in an elevator and must figure out how to escape. What could go wrong?

Now, this was a fun book to read on a rainy day. I must give it points for originality and execution. Goldin pulled off this clever tale of involving high finance, back stabbing, revenge, and ingenuity with finesse which left me not only impressed but entertained. My advice is to suspend some disbelief and curl up with this book.

Wowza, this book was good! I love reading all kinds of books and this book was a fun one which did not require much thought but had a huge pay off in terms of enjoy-ability. It sucked me and I was drawn to the fast-paced life the characters lived. The story flips back and forth between them being trapped in the elevator and events leading up to this team building exercise. This made for a fast read which had me captivated and turning the pages with a devilish grin on my face.

Highly recommend.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.

Loved this book. It’s not out for a while so posting initial feedback here, will update nearer the time with full review and blog links. Really enjoyed it though!

I would like to start by thanking Netgalley for the ARC of this book. I loved it. I couldn't read it fast enough. It grabbed me right from the start. The only negative is that I ended too fast. Loved the character development and the way that it went back and forth between the main character, Sara and the "escape room." it isn't very often that I can say that I like a book, when it is so easy to dislike the characters. I will be keeping my eyes out for other books by this author.

Gripping read with clever plot twists. The ending is a little far fetched but still satisfying. An excellent debut novel!

Escape Rooms are becoming the latest trend now-a-days! We have the actual rooms where people go and try and make it out before the buzzer, movies which depict the horror of the rooms and making it out alive, and now books! I wasn't sure how this would come across in a book- would it be believable, exciting, etc. but I was pleasantly surprised! The author has written a compulsive thriller with this one and I could hardly put it down! I think many readers are going to love this book when it releases!

Oh, this is delicious.

On a Friday night at an out-of-the-way office building in New York, four wealthy and successful investment bankers get into an elevator to attend a compulsory work meeting. Layoffs are imminent at their firm, this is not optional. Be there or be canned.

Only this isn't your average work meeting. It's an Escape Room. And it starts the second the elevator stops rising. The doors don't open, and the clues begin.

While these four abhorrent human beings work to solve the clues, we begin to discover that there's a lot more to this situation than meets the eye. Told in shifting chapters between The Elevator, and a young woman who started working for the firm many years before. Through her eyes, we see the greed, corruption, and conspiracy that ruined multiple lives and ended in many deaths.

And we start to understand why these bankers are in this elevator, and exactly what's at stake.

Excellent, excellent story telling. Both Sarah's story and the elevator scenes were compulsive reads. I never felt like the story switching was inconvenient, or like I wished one storyline would finish so I could get back to the other. I was equally interested in all sides, and desperate to see what happened to Sarah, and what was going to happen to the bankers.

The big reveal at the end was not surprising, but still delightful. There's an odd pacing to the last 10 pages or so, but it still works exceptionally well.

I must be in the minority when I read the other reviews here. I didn't care for any of the characters! I feel bad saying that because I know it was a fun read for a lot of other people but it was hard to care about the characters. Still it was really well-written and I admire the author for her talent at crafting a plot.

Thanks to Netgalley for the arc to review.

This book was exactly what I needed. A fast paced, well written story that had me immediately hooked. I could easily see this story becoming a movie. It is not the most believable of stories, but it was certainly entertaining.

I would be so happy if a sequel was written to this story, and would buy it immediately.

I highly suggest this book!

I received an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review

Thank you St. Martin's Press and Netgalley for the ARC I received of this book.

WOW! When I read the snyposis of this book, I knew I wanted to read it. Who doesn't love a great thriller, and one that has you on the edge of your seat?! This was right up my alley!

I'm normally not a fan of present and past days in a book, because it can easily be confusing to a reader. I was pleasantly surprised, as this flowed particularly well. It gave great insight into the characters of the four in the elevator!

A simply taste of revenge was well executed, but it turned out very bloody, with the person exacting said revenge, having no clue what transpired in that elevator. It leads me to wonder if they would feel bad for their part in what went down.

As I was reading, I could envision every scene as it was playing out, and that's the mark of a great storyteller.

Sara Hall has scratched her way up from her waitressing job into the cutthroat world of corporate finance. She never in her wildest dreams thought she'd be working at a company like Stanhope, where the hours are as ridiculously long as the paychecks are large. She soon realizes that her coworkers are pretty horrible, selfish people, but that's not really a surprise, so she deals with it. Until one of them winds up dead.

The author uses a clever ploy at the beginning of the novel, which is to give us the ending first. We know how this story is going to end for most of the players, but it's somehow still compelling enough to keep on.

I put this firmly in the category of "trashy thriller." That's not an insult, it's just not one of those "literary thrillers." Totally unrealistic but still a fun read.

“Let your plans be dark and impenetrable as night, and when you move, fall like a thunderbolt.” -Sun Tzu, The Art of War


This novel follows two different timelines-- the past, as told by Sara Hall-- and the present, which takes place in an elevator with Sylvie, Sam, Jules, and Vincent.

The very beginning of the novel opens up with a security guard who discovers that the building he is monitoring is not as vacant as he would have thought, as he realizes that someone is on the elevator. Not long after, he begins to hear loud sounds that he believes to be gunfire and calls the police. When the elevator doors open, someone walks out and the police discover a very bloody scene…

So we know from the beginning that something terrible happens in that elevator and that at least one person survives… but we are left to wonder about all the details that led up to this moment.

★Enter present timeline --- Sam, Sylvie, Jules, and Vincent, all investment bankers at Stanhope, hastily enter an elevator in a yet-to-be-completed building. They are all in a hurry to be somewhere else and going through their own life stressors, so they are quite frustrated when the elevator comes to a halt and they are given one instruction…

“Welcome to the escape room. Your goal is simple.Get out alive.”


Begrudgingly shrugging this message off as the introduction to a “team building activity”, the foursome gets to work deciphering clues. But they quickly realize that this is no standard role-playing game… this is a real escape room.. That may have very real consequences if they don’t find a way to make it out.

★ The past timeline is expertly woven between the escape room chapters as it follows Sara Hall’s experience at her first investment banking job at a prestigious firm called Stanhope, where she quickly meets our four elevator-bound characters. Readers get to know Sara on a very personal level and experience the high-stakes environment of her line of work. As Sara tries to work her way into the inner circles of life at Stanhope and prove she is worthy of this highly-sought-after career, she quickly discovers mystery and corruption that might be the most dangerous thing she has encountered yet…

★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

I had been in a total book slump before this novel. I would guess that I had cracked open and ‘sampled’ 5-6 books in the course of a week, without being to commit to one I loved. But when I opened up and began reading The Escape Room, I could not put it down until it was complete.

This is a unique concept for a thriller and what I really loved was that it felt like it had miniature character studies woven into it. As Vincent, Sam, Jules, and Sylvie all reflect on past events and we experience each of their internal dialogue, you realize how nasty, flawed, and corrupt these characters are, while also being utterly human and relatable at times.

While the behavior can be quite ugly in this novel--it is so important to note that the sexism that exists on these pages is all too real, especially in the ‘climb to the top’ for success in today’s careers. I think all too many women are going to relate to the women in this book and relate to that burning desire for revenge toward those who have wronged us or those that we love.

I have seen many reviewers state that the ending was predictable, but I strongly disagree. While there were several obvious ways that the ending could have played out, it still kept me guessing and there were many surprises thrown in that I was not expecting. My only objection would be that the tailend of the novel’s conclusion felt a tad rushed to me. I wanted a little more details from the ending in regards to what happened to certain characters (hard to explain really without spoiling the ending). But overall, this did not affect the enjoyment of the novel.

A must-read for lovers of thrillers!

Thank you to Megan Goldin and St. Martin’s Press for providing me with a DRC of this title via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review!

Love the psychological thrillers that have been coming out recently this book is no exception. This book is about 4 co-workers locked in an elevator for a group team building exercise. It does not go as planned. Who will turn on who to make it out alive. Very fast paced. You will not regret the time spend reading this book, the pages will just fly by.

Great, I will never get into another elevator without thinking about this book. I have a mental picture of each characters face and body language. Excellent read.

Thank you St.Martin's Press and Netgalley for a copy of the eARC in exchange for fair review.


This starts off with a security guard alone on a weekend shift noticing something strange is going on in the building. At first he things he is imagining things, but when he hears gunshots he calls 911. When the police arrive they think he has gone crazy, until the elevator starts coming down. When it opens none of them are prepared for what follows.


Told from alternating viewpoints and with one being told from the past moving towards the present. We slowly learn about Vincent and his team and the Friday evening they all come together in the elevator to go to the Escape Room. They think this is a simple team building event until the message says you have one simple goal to get out alive.


I am going to leave it that vague, I will say it took me awhile to figure it out. This isn't your normal thriller. To some degree from the first chapter you know that things don't quite end well, but you don't know who is in the elevator nor do you know why. Over the course of the book you begin to figure out as do the characters involved.


I found myself completely drawn in as the book went on. I will say I wasn't all that surprised by the reveal, I figured it out before it got there, but I still enjoyed it all.

The Escape Room describes the rise, fall, and ultimate revenge of brilliant investment banker Sara Hall. Each chapter alternates between Sara’s past, and the present, in which 4 bankers from Sara’s firm endure a grueling experience inside a locked elevator. In order to escape, they are compelled to solve clues which force them to face their awful pasts, and admit to crimes they thought were long-buried.

If you enjoyed Gone Girl, and Grisham’s The Firm, you’ll probably enjoy The Escape Room as well.