This is a book that demands attention at the headline (or book title) - What Happened on Floor 34??? Never reading Caroline Corcoran before, she had me picking this book up and immediately being transported with her synopsis:

"My name is Rose, and I work for one of the country’s biggest newspapers. I was the Day Editor. Will Frost was the Night Editor. When I got to the office, Will had already left. When I left, Will arrived. We were two sides of the same coin. Last week, Will disappeared from floor 34 without a trace. Now I am the Night Editor. And I have a feeling I’m next."

What happened.... is a slow burn. While Will disappears immediately, figuring out whats going on is a much slower experience. Stick with it - you won't be disappointed! Corcoron spins a workplace thriller that will have you guessing what happened. I enjoyed learning about the news industry, never before understanding what goes on behind the scenes. While I get news is a 24 hour business, I never gave thought to a night editor being alone each and every night working in solitude. The atmospheric sense of being alone up high in a building at night gave me several "feels."

Corcoran addresses workplace violence, denial and obsession. It's also about alcohol abuse, mental illness and learning about yourself. Many characters are unlikable, but that doesnt take away from the need to know what happenend on floor 34. The twists and turns come fast and frenzied right up to the very end, leaving me shocked and thinking wow...

Many thanks to NetGalley and Avon Books UK for the reminder that all is not what it seems.

This book was unique, interesting, and fun to read. While I enjoyed reading it for personal reading, I will not be adopting it for my classroom. Thank you to the publisher!

Great book that had me turning the pages well into the night! I couldn’t put it down until I finished and I would recommend this to friends.

Rose is thrilled to be the day editor of a large news operation. The night editor is Will and Rose has never met him in all the time she has worked there. He just leaves notes for her after his shift. Rose’s boss is Douglas, an arrogant misogynist and total jerk, who constantly belittles her making her job even more difficult than it already is.

Rose is engaged to Patrick and their wedding is coming up in a few weeks, but she is so wrapped up in her job she can’t seems to concentrate on anything else. In addition, she drinks way too much and often wanders into the office fighting terrible hangovers.

One night Will vanishes and no one can find him. The police are looking into the case and say that the night he vanished, he called Rose and talked to her but she had been so drunk she can’t remember talking to him.

Now, Douglas wants Rose to take over Will’s night editor job and, hopefully, work some of her own day editor job. While she is hesitant, she agrees to the dismay of Patrick.

Oh my. This was a very difficult book that I pushed myself to finish. So much trauma and Rose’s drinking was terrible. Why she continued with her job and left Patrick hanging is beyond me. Sexual assault is part of this as is men who think they are gods. I have enjoyed others of this author’s books, but this was one that I didn’t care for.

Copy provided by NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

I didn’t enjoy this story as much as I had hoped. I was looking for an exciting mystery but the direction the plot took was unexpected and not something that made for an exciting read.

I found the subject of Rose’s job to be fascinating. The way that Corcoran describes the world of digital journalism was really interesting and I like to think that it was an accurate representation. Rose’s role as editor of the web page of a news outlet has lead to her being obsessed with her job: to ensure the site gets the most clicks and reader engagement at all times. Focussed on the data and real-time feedback that is the result of her editing, Rose believes she is living her best life and thriving off this all-time pressure. Yet, it is clear to readers that this is not the case and I started to recognise the warning signs that Rose was not actually as happy as she had convinced herself to believe.

Life as a journalist is presented as heady, exciting and fuelled by alcohol. There does not seem to be any rest for Rose, at least, and I was disturbed by the way she carries herself. A lot of alcohol is consumed and I think this is cleverly reflected in the style of the narrative. With long, rambling sentences, it felt like Rose was lacking control and reasons for this are gradually revealed. At first, I put it down to the excitement and constant movement of the news world, but Corcoran eventually shows that there is more to this erratic and unpredictable narrative voice.

When the Night Editor disappears, the story takes a darker turn and this becomes even darker at a late-night party that Rose attends. When Rose steps up to be the new Night Editor, she becomes consumed by this role and determined by her twilight role. Everything else falls by the way-side and she becomes as obsessed with the Night Editor’s disappearance as the police seem to be with Rose herself. Realising that the police are questioning her far more than her colleagues, it felt like the narrative disappeared down a rabbit hole of confusion, fear and paranoia.

I understand why Corcoran developed Rose’s character and, having completed the book, realise why Rose behaves in the way she does. However, the narrative style and the way the story progressed left me feeling quite uncomfortable. I also experienced inexplicable feelings of lethargy and I wonder if this is a result of Rose’s detachment from society and working in an isolated office whilst the rest of London sleeps. It certainly was disarming.

Yet, I thought the plot to move quite slowly (again adding to the lethargy). I wanted there to be more excitement but don’t think this was at all possible with the eventual direction that the novel takes. In all honesty, the story was the opposite to what I was expecting and I think the blurb could have been a bit clearer about what this book is about – it is certainly not the thrilling murder mystery that is implied.

With thanks to Avon books and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks to NetGalley, Avon Books and Caroline Corocan for the ARC of What Happened on Floor 34?

I really liked the setting of this book - Rose is the day editor of a national newspaper - one side of a team. The other, Will - the Night Editor. she has never met. One night, Will goes missing, appearing to vanish midway through a night shift and never come back. Will left just one cryptic note - Ask Rose.

Soon Rose finds herself being questioned by the police and being roped into covering the night shift herself - a dark, empty office working different shifts to her friends and coworkers. The mental strain starts to take its toll on Rose, but someone knows what happened to Will and what if they come for her next?

I loved some of the detail around some of the mental and physical impact on Rose when she started doing the night shift, the effects of being constantly on edge, constantly scrolling and constantly waiting for the next piece of breaking new - "like an addict but the drug didn't hit the spot anymore' = I could really relate to that.

The plot builds well with the perfect balance of tension and suspense and there are numerous satisfying twists that I didn't see coming and really enjoyed.

Overall a great thriller that I devoured pretty quickly.

Lucy

Wow this book took me on a journey and turned everything on its head at the end as I had completely missed all the clues. It’s dark and twisted just as I like a book to be but I couldn’t put it down. As we delve into why Rose is now working the night shift on the paper on the day she should have been getting married due to the disappearance of the normal night reporter. As Rose obsesses over what happened to her counterpart her whole world explodes in a way she and the reader never expected.

Good book which kept me turning the pages into the evening. Would recommend to friends and family, and look forward to more by this author.

The premise for this one drew me in straight away - I was immediately intrigued and needed to know more!
I found it quite a difficult read due to the bullying and the misogyny throughout but overall was a fairly enjoyable thriller. I think it needed the pace to be slightly faster but I did love the twists at the end for sure!

I received a complimentary copy from Avon and all opinions expressed are entirely my own.

The book follows Rose who works for one of London's largest newspaper. The newspaper is set up in a way that there is a day editor and night editor. Rose is promoted to day editor and is shortly promoted to night editor after Will the night editor goes missing. Like every editor with journalistic instincts she becomes engrossed in finding out what happens to Will and oh boy what a ride it was. The twists, the pace, the characters and the turns made this a good read. I look forward to more thrillers by Caroline Corcoran .

What Happened On Floor 34? Was a 3.5⭐️ rounded up to 4⭐️
Rose is a day editor for a big daily newspaper, she is about to get married and life couldn’t be better until Will Frost the night editor goes missing. Rose has never met Will as their shifts don’t overlap. Rose has to step up to night editor and taking that position comes with a lot of life adjustments and some not for the better. Will has gone missing and Rose feels like she is next!
This was a decent read and I enjoyed finding out about working for a paper and that it’s quite a cut throat affair. I didn’t gel with the characters like I have done in previous books by Caroline Corcoran but it was still an enjoyable read.
I would like to thank Netgalley and Avon Books UK for this ARC I received in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 stars

What Happened on Floor 34 by Caroline Corcoran  is a psychological thriller.

First, let me thank NetGalley, the publisher Avon Books and of course the author, for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.


My Synopsis:    (No major reveals, but if concerned, skip to My Opinions)
Rose is the Day Editor for a large newspaper, and it's her dream job...although her boss derides her mercilessly.   Mind you, arriving late, sometimes hungover, doesn't really help her case.  Her whole mindset has changed since what happened last June, but not even her fiancé has noticed the changes.  He is full steam ahead with the wedding, but Rose is hesitant, and growing more anxious every day.  She loves Patrick wholeheartedly, but she is falling apart.

After another very late night drinking, Rose arrives at work (late and confused), to find out that the Night Editor is missing.  Will Frost  apparently left the office around 2pm, after talking to Rose.  Rose remembers nothing of the conversation, nor most of the previous night .

But Rose is intent on finding out what happened to the elusive Will.  She agrees to take over the position of Night Editor.  Perhaps it will help her find out what happened to her predecessor.  This is not helping her relationship with her soon-to-be husband.


My Opinions:
It's really difficult to enjoy a book when you strongly dislike the protagonist.  Rose was a self-centered woman who solved all her problems with alcohol (and coffee).  She needed therapy, but self-medicated instead. I'm not saying that she didn't have issues to deal with, just that she took the easy way out -- and that annoyed me.  So initially, I really struggled with the book.  Eventually I could see past Rose and look at the bigger picture, but it took a while.

The book is about sexual abuse, denial,  and obsession.  It is also about love, anxiety, and mental illness.

The plot was really good, although at times I felt I was being pulled along -- slowly and somewhat painfully.  It dragged occasionally.  With an unreliable narrator, and with the author providing details at the pace of a snail, it was sometimes a difficult read.   However, the twists in the book were really good.....although a long time coming.  And then suddenly it was over.

So, overall, I have mixed emotions with this one.  Despite the faults I mentioned above, it was still a good book.  I will look for more from this author.

Meet Rose. Rose seemingly has it made, with a fab partner and her dream job as the Day Editor of a daily newspaper. But Rose’s life begins to unravel when Will Frost, the Night Editor of the paper, goes missing. What has happened to Will and how does it connect to Rose?

The tension really heightens when Rose begins the Night Editor shifts, on her own, on Floor 34. This is when the story becomes really claustrophobic as you become completely entangled with Rose’s life and the thoughts spinning round her head.

As with Caroline Corcoran’s other novels, all is not what it seems, and there are some excellent twists to leave you speechless!

This book left me with rather mixed feelings to be honest!
It's an intriguing read, with some great twists and turns.
However it's also a difficult read (I'd suggest there needs to be a trigger warning for SA) not just due to the subject it tackles, but with the way it is written. It's sometimes a little hard to know who's narrative you're reading (one very small part in particular - but unsure if that's due to it being an arc)
I understand why the main character acts the way she does - but it makes it difficult to root for her at times. It's also frustrating to read at times - there's things constantly alluded to - snippets of information she's apparently been told, yet it takes forever for us to find out what that thing actually is!
Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for the arc ebook.

This is the first book by this author that I have read. The premise of the book was super interesting however, I thought the book dragged too much for me. I did finish the book but skimmed at the end. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read.

A tense and intriguing book that starts very strong and drags a bit in the middle.
There''s a sense of dread, an interesting character like Rose and a lively description of the work of journalist.
I enjoyed it and it's recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this arc, all opinions are mine

An interesting premise and title which made me pick it up. I liked the setting and the intrigue teased in the synopsis. However, it is a slow burn thriller which takes a while to settle into. Go for it if you are ok with slow burn reads as it does get interesting as we dive into the story.

Thank you NetGalley and Avon Books UK for the eArc in exchange of my honest opinion.

This is my first Corcoran book, while I do own two other books I am yet to read them.
I have mixed feelings about this. This had so much potential but was lacking in some areas.
The writing felt a little all over the place at times. While I did enjoy parts of this book, I was trying to figure everything out throughout the book. I also found myself a little lost at one point. Trying to figure out what it real due to how unreliable Rose is as a character.
The Will twist I didnt see coming. Just like the epilogue felt like a final twist which leaves the story open.

After having read Caroline Corcoran's book 'Through The Wall' I was excited to read more by this author so was excited about the synopsis of her new book released this month, 'What Happened On Floor 34?'

Rose has her dream job working as the Day Editor on one of the country's biggest newspapers, Working alongside her colleagues every day she doesn't really give any thought to the Night Editor, Will, who single-handedly runs the office overnight. Will who does this every night, alone in the building, without any colleagues really knowing much about them. But then when Will disappears without a trace on shift one night, questions are asked and suddenly Rose feels as it someone is coming after her too...

I really enjoyed this book, the description of the job, the life Rose has and how these changes happen to her are very detailed and allows you to see just how easily emotions can be hidden and situations ignored. There is a 'oh-my-god, I didn't-see-that-coming!' twist about 3/4 of the way through the book and the last 1/4 has you literally tearing through the pages to see what could possibly come next - and wow does it keep giving! You won't be disappointed by this read and am looking forward to reading more of this author's back catalogue and future releases.

I was intrigued by the title of the book, however as I was reading it, I was able to put the book down and pick it back up. Rose, who was the day editor takes over the night shift when Will, the night editor goes missing. She starts looking into what happened to him. The premise is good, and overall the book was good if you are looking for an interesting read, pick it up but it was not one that I couldn't put down.