A non-stop thriller and revenge, among the Manhattan elite, financial players in a cutthroat industry. Mix in a sweet revenge plot and you have a gripping and chilling novel. Exciting, suspenseful and great storytelling from a new author I discovered, Megan Goldin. I was skeptical, at first when I read the description of the story, but I chose it and stuck with it, and I was disappointed.

The beginning of the story begins with an alarm at an elevator in Manhattan high-rise. The cops are called and when they arrive, shots are fired at someone in the elevator who dies. The story than proceeds to go back to an earlier point in the past to set up the incident and the story begins.

The four key characters trapped in an elevator, thinking they're participating in a team building exercise, soon deteriorates into an escape room scenario. Slowly, they begin to turn on one another, as time drags on. Even going as far a committing murder.

Unbeknownst to them is that they are the unwilling participants in a revenge plot, designed by Sarah Hart, a former employee. The design of the revenge must be withheld from this review, so readers may relish in an ingenious plot.

A must read for those who enjoy a modern day murder, revenge, betrayal, greed and how the human behavior can sharply turn and become selfishly deadly, set against the financial high rise towers in the greedy city of Manhattan.

Twists and turns galore! This novel set in the high stakes, intense, money making field of acquisitions and mergers feels completely believable and factual but the author throws so many curveballs (to mix metaphors) here that you are kept guessing until almost the end. I enjoyed all the characters of the main group and felt they were slowly developed through the back and forth points of view in the chapters just enough to keep us interested. I was also interested in the minutiae of the work setting and the indoctrination of the main character into the mindset of money, money, money. If you want to explore the high finance of Wall Street in a mystery novel take a look at #theescaperoom by Megan Goldin. Thanks to #netgalley for the opportunity to read this ARC.

Megan Goldin’s latest novel starts with an ominous scene: a blood soaked elevator in an otherwise abandoned construction site. As we go back in time to find out how we ended up where we are today we are introduced to the cut throat finance world of New York City. Goldin’s thriller was a refreshing change of pace in the thriller realm that kept me on the edge of my seat the whole time I was reading. I thoroughly enjoyed the book and will be recommending it to my friends once it is published.

Thanks to Netgalley, for a copy of this book in return for a fair and honest review.

The only way to describe this book is a page turner! Ignore any niggling questions about whether there's any real way any of this could have happened - just enjoy the adrenaline rush!

Four characters trapped in an elevator - four characters with no redeeming qualities. Clearly someone is out to get them, and they seem to be deserving of anything bad that happens to them. The only real questions are, first, who has set up this situation, and, second, is there any way they'll get out of it?

It's an interesting way of telling the story - we alternate sections describing the elevator scene with an earlier story line told by another woman, who worked with them before all this happened. It's an effective way of letting us know about the four people in the elevator, and serves to heighten the tension about what's going on here.

Some nice twists as well.

I found The Escape Room to overall entertaining, but found the plot to be predictable. This story was told from varying perspectives, within colleagues. I did enjoy the story, but as someone who reads a lot of thrillers, I didn't find this one to be super great.

Thank you to the publisher, St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for sending me an ARC of this book.

YIKES!! What a twisted tale! The Escape Room by Megan Goldin is a mystery/thriller that had me thinking twice about getting into the elevator when I went to the doctor yesterday. Ms. Goldin has produced a book that is well-written, even though it's part 3rd person and part 1st person, it totally works in this story. The characters are such a variety and your feelings for them will change throughout the story.
Sarah is a business school grad that is having a hard time finding a job. When she lands a job in NYC, she's happy that she'll be able to help her parents with all the medical bills from her father's long illness. Her story is loaded with drama, a few bits of humor, murder and edge of your seat suspense. I enjoyed reading The Escape Room and would happily read more from Megan Goldin in the future. Even if it does mean I'll have no nails by the end of the book.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book that I received from NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I received a free copy from NetGalley. A young women trying to find her way in the world while worried about her aging parents. An over working power team stuck in an elevator in what they think might be an escape room team building exercise. Their stories slowly come together. Interesting twists and turns. A good summer read.

Hold tight for this thrilling ride. The Escape Room revolves around four Wall Street employees who are summoned to participate in a team building exercise. It's told in alternate POVs. An employee who gets caught in the rat race of getting ahead to earn more money and the team participating in the team build.

Vincent, Sam, Jules and Sylvie are the high flyers who would do anything to best each other. Now that they are stuck, they have to work together to get out of the rut that they are facing. The cryptic clues are not usual and neither is their situation. Will they work in harmony to get out unscathed?

Sara is new to the firm and the treatment she receives from her colleagues is abismal. Their cruel behaviour is her downfall. Will she seek revenge or will she just accept what she has been dealt?

During their ordeal, dark secrets are revealed. The characters are immoral, over ambitious and greedy for money. The extent of their machinations is unbelievable, but what goes around comes around!

The plot on its own is unusual. The dual POVs works wonderfully well. There is greed. Victimisation. Bullying. Back Stabbing and Fraud. I like the portrayal of this story and the revelations of the true nature of the characters. The twist at the end is amazing. One that I didn’t see coming. It's a hair raising read which I would recommend to all readers.

I was kindly issued with an eARC from Netgalley and the views expressed are my personal opinion.

Such a great book! I was hooked from the first chapter. I couldn't put it down, I had to know what was going to happen next.

I found The Escape Room to overall be a fairly entertaining read, although I did find the plot fairly predictable. The book is told from two different perspectives; present day in the escape room with 4 work colleagues and then chapters from the past that are narrated by a former employee. I would definitely put The Escape Room in the category of thriller or suspense. The plot is fairly simple and easy to follow, there are no major twists or turns. Overall, it was an entertaining read, I just am more of a fan of a different type of book in this genre.

Thank you to the publisher, St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for sending me an ARC of this book.

I regularly run escape rooms at my job, so I had to request this title as soon as I saw it. I was hooked right away and could not stop reading! I will never look at escape rooms the same way again.

I received an ARC of this novel from Netgalley. I requested it because the synopsis of the book sounded very suspenseful. The first couple of chapters I had a little trouble getting sucked in because this one does have several characters. And everyone is important to the story. But I caught on to the who's who fairly quickly and from there I sped right through it. It kept my attention and it kept me guessing. There was one thing that I felt wasn't answered in the end. But overall I enjoyed it and will be interested in future books by this author.

I read this book over a weekend. I would definitely recommend it. I was originally intrigued because of the escape room aspect. Having done a couple of escape rooms myself, I thought it sounded like an interesting premise and something I might recommend to my sisters, who have completed every escape room in town.

I really enjoyed the structure, which alternates between the escape room action in the elevator and another story. Their relationship becomes clear as you read the book, and I found it very compelling and wanted to keep reading to find out what would happen next. The characters are vividly painted and the world they inhabit felt realistic and rich.

However, I found the ending a little unsatisfying. No spoilers here, but it didn't seem to live up to the momentum that had been building through each chapter. My rating would have been a 5 if it had been more consistent throughout. But pick it up and get in the elevator!

Note: I received an egalley from NetGalley. (Review posted on Goodreads.)

Welcome to the world of fast-paced, high stakes finance. This book is told from a 3rd point perspective-- all set in an elevator, which has been changed to an "escape room" for 4 unsuspecting employees of a big time Wall Street finance firm. The other point of view-- Sara Hall, new hire right out of college-- shows her navigating this new world and making friends with the out-of-place math genius, Lucy.

The opening of this book is certainly gripping: the 4 people go into the elevator and are thrust into an escape room-like situation. We know that someone ends up dead from the beginning chapter. The rest of the book? Silly and fantastical. And the writing definitely left something to be desired. Parts were so rushed; it was almost like Goldin forgot to add a plot point, and pasted a summary in last minute for it. Overall, I would not recommend this book.

So glad to have found this author. I think I held my breath throughout this whole book! Such a GREAT read!!!

An exercise that is supposed to be a fun, team building event turns into a super thriller when the "team" realizes their lives are at stake. After being locked into an elevator, the team of 4 high profile financial wizards must work together or all die together. A unique story line with very well developed characters who must reveal more of themselves to each other than anyone wants. As the tension builds and the story line makes a couple of 180 degree twists, Megan Goldin sets the scene for one of the best endings I've read in awhile.

It takes a lot to make me miss sleep on work nights - but this book was one of them. I’d say the majority of readers will want to finish this in the one sitting like myself. It peaks your interest from the very start and plays to stories parallel until they collide at the end. A must read for any thriller fan, highly recommend.

This was a thoroughly enjoyable and brilliant book. The revenge scheme was masterful. The book centers on a top financial firm, Stanhope, were only two things matter to the executives and the high-flying financial analysts -- appearance and making lots of money, regardless of who might be hurt in the process. One of the high-flying teams is composed of Vincent, Sam, Jules, and Sylvie, although their luck and that of the firm had not been the best lately and layoffs were pending, with all of them hoping it was not their head on the line. Late on a Friday afternoon they are told to attend a last-minute evening meeting at an out-of-the-way office building. Upon arriving, Vincent, the leader of the group, informs them that the four of them are participating in an escape room challenge. The escape room turns out to be the elevator of the office building, which starts ascending and then suddenly stops with the lights off and a message on a small TV monitor welcoming them to the escape room. However, this is not the standard one-hour escape room challenge where everyone gets out at the end whether you succeed or fail. This is a finely crafted work of psychological terror.

The book alternates between the events in the elevator and events at Stanhope in past years, focusing on the lives and deaths of two female employees (Lucy and Sara) who had been part of the same team, but not really members, both being taken advantage of by the four high-flyers.

I predict that this will be a very successful book. Not only is the plot creative and the revenge scheme masterful, but many people have worked with or for individuals like Vincent, Sam, Jules, and Sylvie -- people who use and abuse their influence and power to live a high-flying lifestyle, taking the credit for the hard work of others who are below them in the corporate/office power structure (and whose actions often prevent costly mistakes by the high-flyers), ignoring those they consider beneath them, and not caring about how their actions will affect others so long as they continue receiving bigger bonuses and better perks -- and many people will enjoy reading about their downfall.

I received a review copy via NetGalley.

***4-4.5 Stars ***
Publication Date: July 30, 2019

I read this entire book in one sitting during a long flight because I just couldn't wait to find out what would happen next. Not so much suspenseful but I took such an interest in Sarah Hall and needed to know how everything plays out. Sarah Hall is an only child, trying to get a six figure salary in the financial industry to help pay her parents medical bills. She eventually finds an entry level position with a desirable financial investing firm and thinks she has achieved her dream goal however, we shortly see the corrupt and manipulative behaviors of her colleagues. The story flashes back and forth between Sarah's journey with the company and her 4 colleagues stuck in an elevator that they believe to be an escape room adventure. I highly recommend this for anyone wanting a fast paced story that you won't be able to put down until you find out how this ends!

Special Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for allowing me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

When I first began the escape room I was not sucked in but as the story progressed I could not put it down. The author does a great job of writing a suspenseful read that keeps the reader guessing.

Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for an arc copy of The Escape Room in exchange for an honest review.