THE ESCAPE REVIEW alternates between the story of four investment bankers with Stanhope and Sons and the first-person narrative of Sara Hall, a recent MBA graduate who had tried unsuccessfully to work with them despite the Wall Street firm’s emphasis on competition and profit rather than cooperation. Vincent, Sam, Sylvie and Jules find themselves locked in an elevator in a high-rise office building and welcomed to “THE ESCAPE ROOM. YOUR GOAL IS SIMPLE. GET OUT ALIVE.” Is it a team-building exercise or a life-or-death showdown? Getting to know the four better, I found that their careers at Stanhope seem to be as cutthroat, claustrophobic and confining as the elevator they find themselves trapped in.

Guys! I just finished reading Megan Goldin’s book The Escape Room and OMG! Pick it up!! It is a must read psychological thriller. I promise. My first 5 star read for 2019!!!! Available from @StMartinsPress on July 30, 2019. Thank you @NetGalley for the DRC.

I was a little lost and confused at the beginning of the book. The book is told from a couple points of view and until I got my bearings, I was lost. Once I got a sensitive e of the voices in the book, things started to build. This book was hard to put down. I was guessing all of the way through. I usually pick up on clues pretty quickly, but this once really had me surprised. I definitely plan on picking up more books by this author!

I enjoyed this book. This book wasn't profound or deep -- I enjoy those too -- but this was a simple, enjoyable read and kept me hooked. As a slow reader, who only reads a bit when retiring for the day, if the book doesn't hold my interest, I cut my losses and abandon it, even if I am more than half done with it.

I enjoyed how the story was set up and structured.

The Escape Room was a slow building mystery puzzle. The interest level definitely bumps up a couple notches once there's mention of people who died. This group has many many secrets and no idea what the escape room is for, what the reward will be, or how hard it can be to be cooped up in a small space of like-minded, cut-throat coworkers. The way the story was set up with different perspectives and a mix of past and present kept me intrigued, trying to figure out what was going on. The beginning sets you up to be pulled in right away. I enjoyed the story.

An excellent story. I was caught up in the story line from the beginning and did not want to put this book down. The intrinsic meanness and greed of the “Circle” made me wish for revenge, along with the main character. Don’t miss this one, the inventiveness and conclusion is brilliantly done. This book is added to my list of top reads.

I really hate it when authors think a book can be saved by an ending which is the case here. Who wants to slog through a boring book with insufferable characters so the author can write an ending that is supposed to make it all worthwhile? Not me. These Wall Street characters are just awful. Each one is worse than the last. This story is told on alternating chapters between the elevator and a character called Sara Hall. The elevator chapters jump around with different character POVs, even within the same chapter, and can seem too jumbled. Nothing is gained by this perspective. It’s pretty obvious how vile these people are. That would have been just as obvious had they stuck to one narrator or at least switch perspective in different chapters which might have better built suspense (of which there is none in this novel).

Which brings me to another issue with this book, it’s not suspenseful. Yes, the group is stuck in an elevator but that by itself is not suspenseful. The action is limited to them in a box. The writing is such that we don’t care for them or really care what happens to them. It’s just not very interesting and certainly not suspenseful. Plus it’s pretty obvious what’s going on.

The alternate chapters show Sarah Hall starting at the firm in the past and bringing her character forward with information on those in the elevator. Sarah is mostly a more sympathetic character but she does fall prey to the greed that ensnared her co-workers. This juxtaposition just continues to highlight how annoying the group in the elevator are.

As I said the ending is obvious and hardly saves the novel. In fact there is not the payoff that could have felt more satisfying. It ends too quickly for that. Unfortunately this novel could have been much better than it was. It does not even pick up its pace or become interesting until it’s almost over.

I didn't love it but I also didn't hate it. I felt like The Escape Room as a whole had some really strong points but some really weak ones as well. I really enjoyed the concept of the book and the past/present POV but the rest of it all fell short for me.

The idea of the story was something that was new and exciting to me! After I read what it was about on Netgalley, I was excited that it was a thriller that was based around something we don't normally read about: an escape room. While the concept and plot of the book sounded 100% interesting the story itself, unfortunately wasn’t what I had expected. As a reader, I wouldn't count it as a mystery or even a thriller mainly because it didn't thrill nor excite me. But I really appreciated how original the plot was.

The story as a whole was slow-paced and dragged as there was just too much information that wasn’t necessary to the story. I feel like the author did this so that the reader wasn't able to pick up on easy clues and details but it really was more of a distraction to me than it was helpful. If you read and follow this story closely-- you're going to guess the outcome, the "who did it", and the ending no matter how often the author tries to add new information or details in to distract you. It was just one of those books.

The ending was a little too far fetched IMO... that was the best the author could come up with? After all of that? 

I went into The Escape Room with high expectations but unfortunately, it just wasn’t as good as I thought. Overall, it was an okay read. There is just enough in there to keep you going until the end to see how everything plays out.

I enjoyed this book for what it was - fast paced mystery/thriller. Also, I just did my first escape room a week ago so I thought I might have had some insight (hah). I was hooked from the prologue. Couple of twists and turns but I could guess a few things. I liked how we learn about each character in a sort of flashback way and get to see maybe why they each were picked to be in there. When it got to the end, it all happened so fast - I do wish that part was longer or more detailed. I actually had to go back and reread a few things to understand what happened in the elevator. But ultimately a good quick read.

Although the last third of the book
stretched credulity a bit, this is a high concept , original thriller.. Very enjoysble.

Omg this book! I love it! It is gripping right from the beginning. The suspense has you on edge and the characters make you yell out loud. Definitely one to be read!

The Escape Room where a game goes terribly wrong for the four characters, storylinewas gripping and I thoroughly enjoyed the protagonist.

The Escape Room by Megan Goldin
The Escape Room
by Megan Goldin (Goodreads Author)
M 50x66
Lou Jacobs's review Mar 10, 2019 · edit
it was amazing

A psychological thriller tour de force exploring the devastating lengths one will plummet to achieve success. Enter the cut throat world of Wall Street finance and delve into the corporate world of Stanhope ... one of the world's most prestigious houses. Their Holy Trinity involves only MONEY! ...
making, accumulating and spending it. After the young finance graduate is indoctrinated into the fold ... and received lavish gifts: silk ties / Italian scarves/ leather organizers/ monogrammed suitcases/ fitness memberships / Broadway play tickets ... " I feel like I just joined a cult!"
The compelling narrative skillfully reveals the dubious and nefarious means in which four members of the Stanhope team... Vincent, Sylvie, Jules and Sam ... have climbed to the top of the corporate ladder ... and alludes to the bothersome involvement of Lucy and Sara Hall in their machinations.
At one time, Sam was Sara's self appointed guru, helping her navigate the confounding complexities of the corporate ways. It is quite obvious the firms senior executives only give token lip service to diversity and social responsibility ... their only mission is to make money.
The "four" are mysteriously summoned to a mandatory meeting and find themselves trapped in an elevator ... and are presented with an Escape Room Challenge in order to free themselves... the ordeal is initiated in an unlighted and uncooled environment with temperatures and tempers rising. They are called upon to solve cryptic clues to escape, which shed light on their past actions. Goldin ratchets up the tension to an unbearable degree to culminate in a twisted and unexpected denouement .
Thanks to NetGalley and St Martin's Press for providing an electronic ARC of this riveting page turner in exchange for an honest review.

Very compelling mystery, told in alternating perspectives. A bit slow on take off, by midway it was a roller coaster ride to the end.

What happens when 4 employees from a financial agency get called to an immediate meeting in a warehouse and end up locked in an elevator on the 70th floor with no way to escape? Clues appear that they must solve to get out, but what do they mean? The Escape Room keeps you on your toes and wondering how long they will be locked in without water or food. Who is responsible? Don't pick this one up is you are claustrophobic....or do pick it up and lead your life better.

I do like a suspenseful drama and this book was in my wheelhouse. Take 4 financial executives from Stanhope, a top rated NYC investment firm, and trap them in an elevator masked as a team building escape room challenge. Conflicts, distrust and drama ensue as they look for clues to escape, finally coming to the conclusion that this was no ordinary team challenge.

The pacing does bog down a bit when the author dives into past history and relationships of the characters, all of whom are unlikeable and have their own twisted personalities but there's a reason for this. The reader needs to know what's going on in their heads as they attempt to deal with their situation.

Meanwhile, the other story unfolding is that of Sara Hall, an ambitious financial graduate who gets hired by Stanhope and embarks on what she believes is a dream job. She joins the team and as the newbie, isn't exactly warmly welcomed and is worked to the point of exhaustion She befriends team member and fellow outcast Lucy, a numbers genius who is on the spectrum and doesn't fit the corporate mold.

Once you learn from Sara's story that all is not exactly as it should be at this firm, if you've read enough revenge tales you can figure out where this story is going. But that doesn't mean it's not an enjoyable and engrossing ride to get there.

What a plot! A young woman finishes school and is rejected for a job with a prominent investment bank in NY. While she is leaving the interview, another executive with the same firm speaks to her in the elevator, asks to see her resume and then tells her she will be hearing from them within the next couple of weeks for an interview. She gets this job as an Investment Banker and puts in the many hours of non-stop work they require for some amount of years. Every other chapter of the novel deals with Sara Hill and her story. The other chapters deal with four members of the team she worked with who were trapped in an elevator at a building where construction is being completed. They are there purportedly en-route to an escape room exercise. It turns out the elevator is the escape room. They are trapped in there and unable to get out. These are all strong Type A personalities, driven to succeed at whatever cost, have no trust whatever in each other and that is the positive side of their behavior. It is intense reading and the reader comes out of it with the old phrase “what goes around, comes around” in mind. Thanks to Net Galley and St. Martin’s Press for an ARC for an honest review.

Have you ever participated in the new rage, "escape rooms?" I haven't, because I'm super claustrophobic. BUT, I hear they're super fun for people who don't fear confined spaces. 

But if you're Vincent, Jules, Sylvie and Sam, your escape room may end up being your worst nightmare. They all work in Wall Street finance and will do anything to make the next deal. But when the four of them are told to participate in a company team-building exercise similar to an escape room, the four of them will end up in an elevator together.

This book is super fun! Reading it made me feel claustrophobic FOR them, but it added to the intensity of the situation. It had some unexpected twists, and a lot of suspense. Read it!

The Escape Room by Megan Goldin started slow for me, but quickly became a story I could not put down. From the first moment of the story, I questioned which characters were indeed trustworthy, and this created a great mystery for me as the plot unfolded. Goldin did an excellent job of portraying the fiercely corporate characters as barely likable. I think this is the reason it was a slow start. I did not like the characters, and wasn’t sure that any of them had redeeming qualities. By the middle of the story, I was so eager to determine each character’s fate that their horrible personalities no longer mattered. I enjoyed the way the story flipped between the perspective of a young business woman climbing the ladder and that of her business teammates. The story highlighted evil and greed, so well that I raced through this book hoping that good would prevail in some capacity. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an advanced reader’s copy of this novel in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the advanced readers copy of this book.

The best way to describe this book is it’s like a roller coaster. There is a lot of build up at the beginning that lets you get to know the characters but then the drops and twists and turns and rolls start happening and the pace picks up and you just hang on for the ride as it brings you back down to reality. It was a great thrill to read and I will definitely be keeping an eye out for this author.

Highly successful colleagues Sam, Vincent, Sylvie and Jules are no strangers to the competitive world of high finance but after they become trapped in an elevator escape room, much of their fierce and cut-throat behavior is abandoned. The four quickly decide to work together using their astute thinking and acute perception with the hopes of freeing themselves. With todays popularity with escape rooms, this book will most certainly appeal to many. This is a fast paced, suspense thriller.