I received a complimentary copy of this book through Netgalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
In the world of Wall Street banking, money comes before everything and the Stanhope bankers in this book don't care who they hurt to get ahead. But after a couple deals fall through, they are invited to an escape room challenge to promote teamwork. It takes place in an elevator and as the conditions worsen and personalities clash, the truth about a co-workers' death comes out.
This book was pretty good. I liked the chapters about Sara Hall, and the alternating chapters between her story in the past and the events on the elevator made it more interesting. I thought the story lagged a bit in the middle, but the exciting ending made up for it.

Fast paced plot, but occasionally interspersed with a firehose of background information. Loved the alternating narrators/perspectives, though I didn’t necessarily like the characters. Interesting setting that somehow works perfectly with the story.

I retain advanced reader’s copy in exchange for an honest review

This one was creepy and not in a good way. The characters are pretty stock for a finance thriller and no one really captivated in a believable way. You can skip it. 2.5 rounded up.

The Escape Room is the story of how greed and the need for power turns people against each other. The team of people at the firm in the book work tirelessly to close deals and make money, sacrificing everything to remain among the rich and elite. The story is told from two perspectives: the four long time employees from the firm who are participating in an escape room exercise and the woman who had recently joined the firm. As the two stories slowly come together it becomes clear everyone is hiding something and perhaps no one can be trusted. A solid thriller with a unique setting and surprise ending.

Escape Rooms are all the rage nowadays. Work together, solve the clues before your time is up, free yourself from the room.
In Escape Room we follow 4 main characters as they are tricked into what they think is a team-building exercise, but is actually a clever ploy by someone who wants them to pay for what they’ve done.

I really enjoyed this book. Alternating between the past, and the ‘escape room’ we come to learn the sordid details each character wants to keep to themselves. And start to unravel the mystery that has them trapped.

"The main thing about money, Bud, is that it makes you do things you don't want to do." (Gordon Gekko)

Megan Goldin takes us on a whirlwind ride through the financial district of ol' New York City. She sees to it that we're immersed in the ruthless, highly competitive, cynical behavior of the rich and the powerful. Stepping over the threshold to ride the money train falls to the ticketed and certainly not to the unfortunate ticketless.

Sara Hall stares down at the golden seal on her recent MBA from Chicago. Youthful ambition may only get you a cup of coffee in this town. Sara ratchets up debt on her credit card in order to purchase the almighty "interview suit" for her meeting in New York. Didn't go well at all. But it's place and timing that gets your foot in the door. Vincent de Vries spots her in an elevator after her dud of an interview and extends his card from Stanhope and Sons. It is this mere gesture of an employment opportunity that will start a wrecking ball of giant unstoppable proportions.

Hang onto your hats, Folks. We've entered into Dante's Inferno.

Sara signs on the dotted line and so begins her career at Stanhope as an investment banker. Vincent, a former military man from Holland, introduces her to The Team: Sylvie, a former teen model who knows the business world, Jules, the lawyer with liquor on his lips, and Sam, cash-strapped by an ill-tempered wife. Later, we'll meet Lucy, an autistic financial wizard whose white noise in the background may start a tsunami of things that go bump in the night.

Four members of The Team have been called to an unexpected Friday night meeting. Each individual eyes the others as it's time for the Bonus wheel to start spinning. Who gets what and exactly how will the fruits of their labors be divided? As the elevator zooms to the upper floors, it stops suddenly and everything goes dark. The Team interprets this as a team-building activity as "clues" come to light. But as hours pass by in the oppressive compartment, The Team talons will come out to play.

The Escape Room has drawn out my Gemini proclivity. On one side, I fell head first into the fast-paced drama and electrically charged storyline. The chapters revert back and forth from Sara Hall to the goings-on in that darkened elevator. A true page turner on steroids. The literary side of me was perplexed by a constant onslaught of inserted information and explanations that tended to bog down the flow with two steps forward and one step back. I was getting squirmy each time we had to go back inside that elevator with those cold-blooded individuals. But, like me, you have to know. You have to know.......And the ending will ricochet with a one-way ticket picking up hot coals in that ol' Inferno.

I received a copy of this book through NetGalley for an honest review. My thanks to St. Martin's Press and to Megan Goldin for the opportunity.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an advanced read in exchange for this review. 

This is one of those books where you read the synopsis and you still have no idea what is going to happen.  Vincent, Sylvie, Sam, and Jules work on Wall Street finance where deception and intimidation thrive.  They will do anything to get rich and be at the top.  They are ordered to participate in a team building exercise where they have to escape from a locked elevator.  Secrets begin to leak out.  Do they truth each other enough to escape?  Also, what happened to Sara Hall, one of the top, young prospects who disappeared?

A wild and thrilling read that's unpredictable.  I won't say too much about this because not knowing is part of the fun!

Vincent, Jules, Sylvie, and Sam are ruthlessly ambitious high-flyers working in the lucrative world of Wall Street finance where deception and intimidation thrive. Getting rich is all that matters, and they'll do anything to reach the top.

When they are ordered to participate in a corporate team-building exercise that requires them to escape from a locked elevator, dark secrets of their team begin to be laid bare.
The biggest mystery to solve in this lethal game: What happened to Sara Hall? Once a young shining star—now "gone but not forgotten”.This is no longer a game. They’re fighting for their lives.

There are two sections of this book and you have no idea how the two sections of the story are related right away but I enjoyed both of the sections. There was a big twist that I didn't see coming and there's a lot of interesting psychological stuff going on that you can't help but wonder if money really is everything.

Thanks to #Netgalley and #StMartin'sPress for the ARC of #TheEscapeRoom

I don't work on Wall Street, but I have been to more than one corporate team building exercise and recently participated in an Escape Room event(fortunately, before I read this book). No dark secrets were revealed and the exercise wasn't held in an elevator, but the book description for The Escape Room intrigued me immediately since this was one of those voluntary/mandatory activities and I wondered how an author would turn it into something 'thrilling'.
Vincent, Jules, Sam, and Sylvie are not at all happy to be 'invited' to a mandatory team building event. Not only is it last minute, but it is being held on a Friday night when the last thing any of them want is more work time. Though they work on the same team, it seems like it's been a long time(if ever) that they enjoyed being together. They enter the elevator assuming it will take them to the Escape Room, but when they become trapped, they realize they must work together in less than ideal circumstances, as it is the elevator they must escape.
There was a lot that I loved about this story. The perspective shifts between those currently in the elevator as well as to events in their pasts that define who they are as individuals. I didn't find any of them likable, but I also don't think that was the intent, so if I had, something about the story probably would not have been working. Other chapters focus on Sara Hall who also worked for the same firm. How they know each other(if they do) and why Sara's story is also part of The Escape Room kept me flipping pages trying to guess what was going on before the author's reveal. There were some 'things' brought up that I would have liked to see more fully developed, but this is fiction and a work of the author's imagination, and ultimately, it was a story full of twists and turns that kept me up(way too late) reading. Megan Goldin is a new author to me and if this is any indication of her writing, I look forward to what comes next.
I received a DRC from St. Martin's Press through NetGalley.

The dog-eat-dog environment of up and coming investment banking executives takes a dark turn as their lust for power, wealth and privilege make an about face and put them squarely on the precipice of disaster. Under the guise of executive command, four greed-driven execs are about to become pawns to exact revenge and confessions for the mysterious death of a fellow employee, all in the name of greed and it all started with the closing of an elevator door. Four went in, but who will exit alive, their secrets intact?

Did the company really arrange this “escape room” trial or has a ghost from the past come back to exact payment?

THE ESCAPE ROOM by Megan Goldin will have readers riding the edge of the razor taut tension, drama and psychological bombardment as these four people learn the true meaning of fear, the power of mistrust and the lengths their mental capacities can be stretched.

Brilliant writing, a cleverly devious plot and a masterful ending that proves justice really can be served, just not in the obvious way.

I received a complimentary ARC edition from St. Martin's Press!

I wish I had escaped the tedium of The Escape Room. Another wanna be psychological thriller that is not thrilling in the least.

THANKS to NetGalley and the publisher for supplying an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review. I wish the review could be more positive, but the negatives are too numerous.

Positive:
Captivating hook

Negative:
1) poor structure
2) excessive exposition and irrelevant, wordy detail ( telling, not showing)
3) slow pacing due to #2 issues stated above
4) unlikeable protagonist
5) escaping from an escape room was not central to the plot AT ALL.

The plot is about revenge. It is not a psychological thriller. It is not about team building via an escape room. It does not hold my interest nor do I connect with any of the characters. Suspenseful tension is not present except the hook. Meh

Insane book. I really enjoyed the detail the author goes through concocting a tale that resonates with today's people that have an interest in escape rooms. This book wasn't what o expected and I found myself enjoying every second trying to figure out along with those trapped what exactly is going on.

Being trapped in an elevator is one of my worst fears, so reading this book created a tension for me throughout. The back and forth method of story telling worked very well to reveal the personalities and motives of this group of high-powered individuals However, there was no one that I really cared about, to root for. Excellent characterization, but not much of a plot.

I really enjoyed this thriller. The author used alternating narrators to really build the suspense and kept me eagerly turning pages, wondering how everything was going to come together. The story was unique and interesting, and the characters were well developed. I’m eager to read other books from this author.

Super unique book for me. Adrenaline rush, paranoia, secrets, lies, back stabbing coworkers, murder, fast paced Wall Street lives with money, power and LIES! It’s all in the Escape Room!
Very cleverly written and yes I could feel the claustrophobia in that elevator!
I’m going with 5 stars!
Thank you NetGalley, the author and the publisher for my free ARC in exchange for my honest review! Posting to goodreads as well!

It’s very rare to find a book where halfway thru I am researching the author to see what else I can read from her and that’s what I did here.
This book had me hooked early on and I devoured this book. The flashbacks really made you interested in figuring out what was happening.
I can’t say more without giving it away but just get this book
.tThanks to NetGalley and st martens press for the ARC. Thi# is one book I would definitely buy.

The Escape Room had me hooked from the opening lines. Sam, Jules, Sylvie and their boss Vincent are summoned to a meeting. The meeting turns out to be an escape room exercise of sorts but they are actually trapped in an elevator in an unfinished building. The four of them work for Stanhope & Sons a finance firm on Wall Street. They are young, ambitious, and ruthless in the workplace. As time goes on, tempers flare, accusations are made and secrets are revealed.

The story cuts between the elevator and the story of Sara Hall an ex employee of Stanhope. I’m a fan of psychological thrillers and the author did not disappoint. This was a real page turner. Loved it. Recommended.
Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review

I absolutely loved this novel! It kept me on the edge of my seat throughout the entire story and had me guessing who might be behind the escape room setup at every turn. As someone who tends to read really disturbing and gory psychological thrillers, this was a pleasant change to keep me intrigued in the mystery without the fears of walking home at night or going to sleep.

I recommended this book to a lot of my friends who like a good mystery, but can't handle the details in Karin Slaughter type books and we will be adding Megan Goldin to our book club authors to read!

This intriguing novel kept my rapt attention throughout. Ms. Goldin did an excellent job of keeping me glued to the pages.

From the very beginning, The Escape Room captures readers and holds them on the wild ride throughout the entire novel. This psychological thriller is one of the best I’ve read all year.

We begin at the end, where the horror is laid out for us in grusome detail. Then we start at the beginning, both for the lead character, Sara Hall and the 4 high powered investment bankers summoned to an abandoned building for a team building, “Escape Room”.

Sara’s character is relatable and her story is similar to most. She had just graduated college and is looking for a job that will help support her ailing parents. Finance seems lucrative, and so after months of rejection she happens upon just the right person in an elevator and lands a job at a high powered firm in New York City.

The team in the Escape Room elevator are coworkers of the firm and quickly find that this isn’t a normal Escape Room. The clues are morbid and soon the torture begins. The characters are developed here so well and we get a true sense of each one, their histories and their true motives.

This novel was one of my favorite reads this year. It was engaging, well written and the characters were well developed.