There’s just something about a rags to riches story. And what better way to go from rags to riches than as a penniless recent grad working at a greasy spoon diner, trying to find a job to not only support herself, but help pay for her ailing parent’s medical bills turned high paid financial superstar at one of the world’s most prestigious firms.

I could almost see the makeover montage in my head. This was Sara’s story. Sara? Who is Sara you might say, as she isn’t mentioned in the book’s description? The book cuts back and forth from Sara’s story as she rises in the firm to the story of the 4 executives in present day who are stuck in an elevator escape room.

I really loved this one and it was so hard to put down. And since I started it on a whim, I hadn’t set aside a considerable amount of time to really delve in and I had to keep putting it down and coming back. Oh the horror.

I don’t want to give away too much, but as you can probably guess, with high powered people who will do anything to become richer, morals do not play a huge roll. We see firsthand through Sara how things start innocently enough, but once you are on that runaway train, well, there’s no stopping it.

You must check this one out, it’s fabulous and Megan Goldin has sky-rocketed to the top of my author’s to watch list. Special thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin’s for an advanced e-galley in exchange for my honest review. This one is available July 30, 2019! This review will be published on my blog, Women in Trouble Book Blog on July, 2.

Review of advance reader eBook

The ruthless financiers of Stanhope and Sons make billion-dollar deals, live luxuriously, and have no qualms about doing whatever is necessary to get ahead . . . Vincent, Jules, Sylvie, and Sam are experts in the fine art of cutthroat behavior.

Summoned to an out-of-the-way office building one Friday night, the four find themselves trapped in an elevator in an escape room challenge. Solving the clues that will allow them to escape requires them to work together but long before that happens, tempers flare. Ominous clues result in revealed secrets, but they’ll have to identify the murderer among them before they can solve the puzzle and free themselves.

Strong [but unlikable] characters, a ruthless working environment in which greed and corruption thrive, and an intriguing plot all work together to build tension while unexpected plot twists create a compelling, unputdownable narrative. This intriguing take on a locked room mystery ramps up the suspense as it races toward an astonishing conclusion; readers will find it impossible to set it aside before turning the final page. Don’t miss this one.

Highly recommended.

I received a free copy of this digital galley from St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley
#TheEscapeRoom #NetGalley

One of the most bizarre stories I’ve read in awhile but I could not put it down! It’s confusing and a bit strange. Definitely unlike anything I’ve read before and you have to pay attention or you’ll get completely lost. The story involves a team building exercise from hell. To say much else would ruin the story but this is well worth setting aside several hours to read because once you start this book you will not put it down until you’ve finished. Thank you NetGalley for the advanced copy for review.

* A good book - different from anything else I've read in recent years :)

It does some jumping that gets confusing...you probably won't like or root for any characters..but the plot is twisted enough to keep you flipping the pages. I wasn't engrossed in the story but i did kinda of want to know what happened.

Vincent, Jules, Sylvie, and Sam - big wigs in the finance industry of Wall Street - are called to an empty office building one Friday for a mandatory work meeting. Upon entering the elevator, they become trapped and believe it is part of an escape room team building experience. Confident they'll be out of the escape room and on with their weekend plans in 60 minutes, they are surprised and then nervous when the doors don't automatically unlock after an hour. The clues they find also seem to be strangely specific to their lives, referencing former colleagues.

As the clock ticks on and buried secrets are uncovered, nerves start to fray and tempers flare. The four investment bankers start to turn on one another and it's no longer a question of will they get out - it's will they get out alive?

While I wouldn't call this a psychological thriller, the premise was interesting and it was worth the read. The story alternates between present day in the elevator and in the past from the point of view of Sara Hall, a former coworker of the group. This is definitely an ultimate revenge tale, regardless of how believable it is. I'm most curious about the lifestyles of the characters that are portrayed - is that really what life is like on Wall Street? No thanks!

This is dark mystery concerning wall street traders. There is plenty of greed and evil for all the characters in this murder mystery. The author gradually tells the story by flipping back and forth between current events and the past events that put this group of 4 co-workers trapped in an elevator. It is a story you will not want to put down and not all the questions get answered.

A quick and fast-paced read that ends in a sputter. I was so interested in the outcome of this thriller for the baddies, but the ending leaves a lot of the plot left unexplained and leaves too many questions and loose ends. Nevertheless, fun beach read if financial chicanery is your thing.

The story opens up with a very suspenseful and dramatic scene that had me engaged right away. Vincent, Jules, Sylvie, and Sam are slick, savvy, cunning, and vile people that work in the dog-eat-dog environment of Wall Street. They work hard, play hard, and they are fascinating.

This book is about greed, murder, lust, wealth, secrets, manipulation, creativity, resourcefulness, entitlement, and selfishness. It's an inside peek into the glitz and glamour of Wall Street and the pressures and high stakes of the banking world. I loved it and I couldn't get enough. The extravagance and culture of big financial firms is reflected realistically in my opinion, and made the story very believable.

Flipping between the two storylines kept me engaged, as opposed to staying within the trapped elevator for the entire book. I loved how the 2 stories were woven into each other in the past and present. It helped me to understand each character's motivations and justifications. The writing created a creepy, foreboding feel to being stuck in a hot and humid elevator, and creates a suspenseful atmosphere.

This book has all of the elements of a standout book for me: complex characters that you love to hate, great backstories, a study of sins, mystery, suspense, and multiple storylines that weave together by the end. This writing has a cinematic feel to it and I hope it turns into a movie. I highly recommend this book!

Vincent, Sam, Sylvie and Jules find themselves locked in an elevator on a Friday night for a team building exercise. There is no cell service and the emergency call button has been disabled. The changing viewpoint in chapters was highly engaging and kept me on my toes throughout. A very original idea, fast paced and very enjoyable although somewhat inplausible. I would still recommend this book.

The Escape Room by Megan Goldin is the financial thriller of the year!
With the freewheeling financial men making the investment women feel small, it’s only a matter of time before one woman rises up and there’s payback.
But can the culprits escape the escape room?
Definitely five stars.

#The Escape Room #Net Galley
Team-building, is it helpful? We start with a top Wall Street financial team, Vincent, Jules, Sylvie, and Sam. So, if everyone knows their place, why take the time? Each member of this team knows that when given an assignment by the boss, you complete it. Besides, it is just an exercise and who knows, they should be able to finish within the hour. Then on with their own individual high style lives!
But – in the dark elevator their secrets seem to scream out. The clues get closer and closer to the dark secret they all share. Yet isn’t the life style they all live worth a little underhanded lying and scheming to keep their jobs and the team on top?
In the end, it's not only their jobs on the line, but, now it is their lives! When all of the clues are answered, the ending seems most fitting! ! !

Thx to Netgalley, St Martins Press and Megan Golden for this ARC. My first read by this author, and I absolutely enjoyed this book. I read it in just a few days. The back and forth chapters of Sara Hsll and zither Escspe Room were an invitation to the constant reading. Corporate America and cut throat executives, with am ending I wasn’t sure I’d see coming. I love a devious woman character, and this had more then one. Such a good read..loved it !

WOW! This is one of the most memorable psychological thrillers I’ve read all year. Megan Goldin is a new author for me and I was excited to read a book recommended by Lee Child. Needless to say, I couldn’t put it down. Easy to read, this is a roller-coaster ride you can devour in one afternoon.

Sarah Hall’s point of view was fascinating and you can’t help liking her from the outset. In a bid to help her ailing parents, she embarks on an exciting career at Stanhope. After much a laborious job search, she has a chance encounter with a future employer. Too good to be true? You bet it is. As an ambitious MBA graduate breaking into the vicious cut-throat world of Wall Street Finance, she is immediately thrust into a corrupt and hostile environment, where greed and revenge are at the forefront. At the very start, the mood is one of high-wire suspense as millions are at risk and Sarah must navigate a smart route through the tensions and wiles of high-powered investment bankers. At times, I wanted to shake the naivety out of her, and the irritating willingness to trust. Aren’t the collusions and maneuverings of Wall Street life taught to all MBA graduates before embarking on such a career?

Vincent, Sylvie, Sam and Jules are the four game players, served to the reader in an alternate point of view. Summoned on a Friday night for a team building exercise they are expected to play the Escape Room game. But the room is a locked elevator with no cell phone service and no emergency call button to alert security. Nothing can be more frightening than being trapped in an elevator, especially with people you loathe. Clues are found to assist their escape but the longer they are confined, infighting and tension builds, and confrontations are inevitable. When past transgressions are revealed, can one person rectify the abuse that has been dished out to the most vulnerable?

The first three quarters of this book is a steaming read and I particularly enjoyed the resonant backstory set in such a small setting. But at no time did I get the impression Sarah would overcome a bunch of sociopathic analysts in quite this way. Where she suddenly got these additional skills beats me. I gave the book five stars for originality and for the staggering pace. Loved it!

Thank you to #Netgalley and #StMartin’sPress for the ARC of #TheEscapeRoom in exchange for an honest review.

Once I got a few chapters into this book I found myself totally immersed in the story that takes place in the world of high finance and is filled with all greed and corruption you expect from those working in that particular field. I found myself caught up in not only the story of each of the four characters trapped in an elevator trying to survive an escape room but also the mysterious Sarah Hall. The changing POVs and the way the narrative flowed kept me on the edge of my seat until the very end!

Megan Goldin's The Escape Room is a novel so thick with the power of greed and revenge that it will make you gasp at the lengths some will go.

Vincent, Jules, Sylvie and Sam all work for the same luxurious wall street financial company. What they believe is a simple escape room team building exercise ends in a bloody mess. As the story slowly unravels as we jump from past to present, we realize that greed will push them to disaster.

A good read that I would definitely recommend!

*I received an advanced reader's copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Greed is the root of all evil!

This is something I believe very strongly and so very obvious in today’s times. We would be a much richer and fairer world were it not for greed

Then comes along this book

Greed is at the core

This is a great read and very cleverly written It will keep the reader on edge as they go through each chapter

With thanks to Netgalley, the author & St Martins Press for ARC in return for an honest review

I love reading books that are so original I haven't read anything like it before, and this certainly fitted into that category.I also love writers who think outside the box, and this was definitely the case here.I loved this book, I liked the sound of it so much that I bumped it up my reading list and only wish I'd done it even sooner.I really couldn't put it down and stayed up way too late to finish it.I really liked the main character and enjoyed reading her story and I thought the way the chapters told two stories at the same time was clever and very compelling..I was enjoying finding out what was happening in one scenario while wanting to jump back into the other story.No spoilers but it kept me intrigued all the way through the book,and I loved it.I would love to read more books by this writer,I hope I get the chance.Thanks to the publishers and netgalley for an ARC.

(3 1/2). I generally am not a big fan of the stories that go back and forth with directions as to what each chapter is attributed to, but this book really rocks. I inhaled almost all of it on a cross country plane trip. It is fast paced, exciting and feels almost real. We have a nice entourage of fun characters and a plot that does not quit. It was hard to put down.

Four high-powered executives from Stanhope & Sons, an extremely lucrative company, have been instructed to participate in a team-building exercise consisting of an escape room in a random building in the Bronx. Not knowing exactly what to expect, the four dutifully show up at the scheduled time, complaining about this intrusion into their very important lives, and promptly find themselves trapped in the elevator. There’s no cell service, the emergency call button has been disabled, and obscure clues appear at random times. Vincent, Jules, Sylvie, and Sam must confront their demons as they try to solve the clues that will hopefully lead to their release.

This was a fascinating mystery, full of intrigue and suspense, with treachery and revenge thrown in for good measure. I really enjoyed the story, and truly did not expect the ending. I will say only that it is fitting, and I applaud that character for cleverness and determination.

This book is twisted in a fascinating, chaotic way. The story centers on a group of young professionals at a high profile finance firm. Told part in present day and part in flashback, the book focuses on what can happen when money and power erase our moral compass and the deadly consequences of crossing those in power.