The Escape Room, by Megan Goldin

ISBN: 9781250797148
Amazon ID: B07NLCJMK3

The premise (see the Amazon description) seems intriguing.

The chapter list tells you "oh no, this is going to be one of those tedious books with interleaved but dissociated storylines". It's even methodical about it: every odd-numbered chapter from 1 to 47 is entitled "The Elevator"; every even numbered chapter from 2 to 48 is entitled "Sara Hall". There are only 3 more chapters after that, and the titles don't change, it's just that chapter 49 disrupts the sequence.

Once you get into the book, the tediousness of interleaved independent storylines is confirmed.

We meet the four people in The Elevator in chapter 1, and by chapter 10 we understand the connection between them and Sara Hall, however the storyline in the odd chapters has absolutely nothing to do with that in the even ones, and I can only think that the author is trying to whittle out readers who can't hold two ideas in their head on a continuing basis, for no good reason.

All the people work in city finance. If that doesn't immediately tell you enough about how selfish, shallow, competitive, insecure, unpleasant and sociopathic they are, the first few odd-numbered chapters will explain it to you.

I'm pretty certain that by the time I get to the end, I'm going to wish I'd read all the even chapters first, followed by all the odd ones.

Update: the further I get through this book, the more I think I'm going to wish that I hadn't read any of the even chapters, followed by not reading the odd ones.

Final thoughts: by the end of the book, I've found the six chapters in which there is a story, and the rest has made me feel quite exhausted. I've read 45 pointless chapters in which almost nothing happens to people I don't want to read about, and I think it's a real pity that the author didn't write a film screenplay instead of a novel.

I see from the "about the author" page that she lives in Australia fostering labrador puppies as they train to be guide dogs. I'm very pleased to hear that she's doing something useful, especially as I really like guide dogs.

In chapter 3, you find the somewhat surprising sentence "He'd never considered himself claustrophobic, but he'd had an issue with confined spaces ever since he was a child."

So, what does he think his "issue" is called, then?

In chapter 51, a character is on a cruise ship. "I tell the bursar that I will be disembarking early and flying home due to health issues."

I'm pretty sure the word should have been "purser".

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