A great take on the Fort Boyard style reality show (which I liked watching when younger) with some truly vicious tasks. Claustrophobia and twists that kept me reading.

I thought this was a good read .I am not familiar with escape rooms ,nor would I want to be after reading this book ! It was like the traitors on steroids, scary stuff. Excellent read, very entertaining.

Tense, Disturbing…
A reality show like no other. When Bonnie arrives at a remote location to take part in a televised reality show she anticipates a battle to win the coveted spots and ultimately the prize money - but does any contestant anticipate the true reality of this show? A tense, and often disturbing, dark and twisted tale with a deftly drawn cast and an immersive plotline. How far will people go to gain fame and fortune and what is the true price?

If you’ve experienced locked room games, then this is the book for you. It’s a bit like in The Traitors, in the sense that the eight strangers who arrive to film a mysterious TV show would do whatever they could to triumph. The remote sea fort is desolate and unnerving, and the strangers are aware they’ll be under the public’s eye, their decisions and interactions broadcast for everyone to see. Bonnie, one of the contestants, can’t shake the sense that they’re not alone, and gradually, begins to understand what’s really going on within the show. Because if you plan to escape the escape room, you need to beat the escape room. The pace is relentless, meaning there’s plenty to keep you entertained throughout – and on your toes.

Oh my word! I never want to do an escape room after reading this. What an incredible debut from this author, I will absolutely be looking out for more.

An escape room TV programs, 8 contestants, a large money prize. What is not to love about that? Well, what they are not told is that it is being held in an ex military fortress in the middle of the ocean off the coast of Portsmouth. And that only one will get out alive. What starts as fun and puzzles, matching their wits and brains, soon becomes a deadly game.

That is all you need to know. This book will suck you in and make you keep reading. It is tense and suspenseful, with so many twists and turns. It is shocking and very very dark. I loved it.

Thanks to Random House Uk for my advanced copy of this book to read. Publishes on February 29th and is a must read for locked room fans.

Wickedly thrilling with more twist and turns than an F1 track. Was kept guessing until the very last sentences. Loved the complex plotting. It's a 5.

As an avid enthusiast of escape rooms, I eagerly delved into this debut novel, which unfolds as a thrilling locked-room mystery set within the captivating backdrop of an escape-room style reality show. The story introduces seven strangers who arrive in a remote location to compete in a game that quickly becomes deadly.

The narrative is addictive and suspenseful and keeps readers on the edge of their seats. The follows a podcaster interviewing the main character in the aftermath of the TV show letting the reader know that something truly terrifying has happened but we are slowly brought along to find out the full extent of the horrors that occurred.

Themes of success, influencer culture, fame and money are interwoven into the plot to make this one not just a run-of-the-mill mystery/thriller. The story is fast-paced and features cleverly paced plot twists which leave the reader guessing and eager to discover the get to the next revelation.

The characters are diverse and unique enough that its not too difficult to learn whose who and to keep track of their motivations, secrets and backstories. The true personalities of the characters are uncovered amongst the backdrop of this high-stakes games making for a dynamic and engaging read. The combination of a compelling plot, well-developed characters, and skillful pacing make it a recommendation-worthy read for fans of the genre.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ The Escape Room - LD Smithson

Always good to have a pad of paper and a pencil next to you whilst reading this - not only to have a go at solving some fiendishly challenging problems, but also keep a running log of who the characters are.

8 was quite a cast list to get stuck into - but the pages soon began turning themselves.

Having never attempted an escape room before, I could quite easily be tempted after reading this.

I’m sure fans of Squid Game, The Traitors and other such reality TV shows will really enjoy this tense and twisted thriller.

WHAT AN AMAZING DEBUT NOVEL! I 100% recommand this, it was absolutely awesome!!

It's a thriller about a TV reality which goes wrong. The eight contestants are sent to a fortress in the middle of the sea and they expect they will have puzzles and riddles to solve, escape rooms too. But they probably never thought the deadly turn it was going to take! In fact, no one leaves the fortress and the Director made sure of that when the first person to lose does not go home to his family, but gets stuck to die in his escape room... The only way out is to win but how far are they going to go for wealth? Fame? Survival?
Are you ready to play?

What an EXCELLENT idea. The concept of an escape game is well known nowadays and we have already seen it explored in movies, but I think very little in books. I therefore thought it was brilliant to make it the theme of this thriller. If you are a fan of escape games like me, you should check out this book because it will drive you insane. There are clues everywhere, and as the reader, you can try to solve it too.

The characters are well described and we have access to their background which is important because it kind of exlains some of the things in this book. You are supposed to love some of them and hate others but at the same time feel kind of sorry for them. My love will always and forever go to Jacko, I love him soooo much.

Apart from it being a page turning novel, with suspense and everything, it also touches some more important things on which we can debate and I find that really interesting and very well done.
Of course, the book describes the inside of a TV show, so you can reflect on the future of these shows. We can very well imagine a show like that in future years which bring us to reflect on the dangers of these reality TV shows whose only purpose is to make peopl talk and have a large audience with juicy and scandalous images. How far will we go to make buzz?

This book also reflects on the human nature. What would we do in this kind of situation? What would we do in order to survive? What kind of person would we be?

Finally, this thriller also raises the question of religious fanaticism. I found that subject particularly hard to talk about especially in our time, but it's well documented and well brought!

I have nothing more to say apart from READ THIS BOOK WHEN IT GETS OUT! There are plot twists on plot twists, I was astounded and I couldn't stop reading until I knew the real final truth. READ IT PLEASE!

5⭐️

whole story added depth and intrigue.

It is full of some great characters, some more likeable than others as you get sucked into their quests with them.

Personally, I would be terrible at this, I wouldn’t be able to work out any of the clues! Maybe for those of you out there that have played Escape Rooms before or are great at puzzles you maybe able to solve the riddles along with the contestants. But those of you that are like me, clueless, luckily the clues are explained as they tackle them!

This is a really clever take on locked room mysteries as well as a tense thriller that will have you racing through the pages. And as for the final plot twists, they truly are unexpected, clever twists.

All in all this was a brilliantly clever read that I finished in record time. It is as addictive as a tv boxset binge.

This was a very fast paced book that kept you guessing until the end. As a fan of escape rooms, I love a locked room mystery and this ticked those boxes.
I have read a number of books with this theme but this was a unique take on it.
I will definitely recommend this book to people in the future, and I will be writing a more descriptive review closer to the release date.

Thank you so much to the publisher and netgalley for allowing me to read this great book!

Eight strangers are shipped off to live on a remote sea fort off the coast of England. They must solve a series of puzzles to survive and be crowned the winner. All have as many secrets to hide and as much of a reason to want to win the prize funds as each other. But that is just one of the reasons why this is going to make Channel 5's latest reality TV show, The Fortress, such a good watch.

I LOVE reading thrillers that have a reality TV or podcast element to them. When I discovered that this one featured both I knew I was going to enjoy my time with it but to find it also heavily featured strong puzzles, a well-thought out plot, and a truly twisted final quarter was a gladly received surprise.

Shane Fletcher , an ex-police detective does a podcast called Expect the Unexpected. He brings on a guest called Bonnie Fletcher, who tells the story of a reality tv show she participated in The Fortress. What ensues is a harrowing experience that beggars belief (see what I did there); an experience, we learn, she should never have experienced. It was her sister, Clara, who should have participated.

I loved the premise of the book. Squid Game meets The Traitors is a perfect description. Just like the contestants, you don't have a clue what's going to come next, although you know it's not going to be your typical Escape Room.

There was a really great mix of characters covering all the usual archetypes. The cocky jock, the 'unattractive' genius, the bimbo etc. Once you know what's coming, you really do feel for them. I loved the psychological elements it poses: how far will you go to win? My only negative is that I think they figured out who The Director was far too easily. But this didn't have much impact on my enjoyment of the book.

Overall, the book was a great read. Twisty, suspenseful and a fantastic premise that really twists the reality TV shows we see today into something truly horrifying.

Thank you NetGalley and Random House for sending this ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

I read a lot of thrillers, and have also read my fair share of locked room/escape room-type stories and this was a wild ride! I really enjoyed it, though at times it was a bit too brutal for my liking. Not so much in terms of graphic violence - which I don't like - but more in the form of psychological warfare.

A motley group of 8 strangers arrives at an isolated sea fortress, ostensibly to take part in a reality TV show based on solving a series of puzzles. As it turns out, the challenges they must undertake are well beyond what they expected, and the whole thing is far from "just a game". It's a matter of life and death.

Bonnie is there by accident, secretly standing in for her sister Clara. The latter qualified to participate in the TV show, but then broke her leg and therefore was unable to take her place in the competition.

But the sisters desperately need the cash prize, so Bonnie reluctantly agrees to stand in for Clara. She, like the other contestants, has no idea what she's signed up for. When the first person dies, the rest begin to understand, to their horror, that winning this game will make the difference between survival and the failure to do so...

This book has a lot to say about modern society, social media, and the desperate search for continuous stimulation that so many people are currently engaged in. And it also says something about the confusion and misplaced yearning for some ironclad form of morality that living in these troubling times engenders in some people.

It may require a suspension of disbelief at times, but the story is immensely entertaining, and the characters are acceptionally well-drawn. If you like escape rooms and/or locked room thrillers, this one is definitely for you!

The setting of this book made it feel very real and current to me! It felt very exciting as I am someone who enjoys Escape Rooms and shows based around them.

I enjoyed the premise of this book, however i feel like it has been done a few times before.
I did get a little bored at times but it was a quick read, if you are looking for a twist and a turn then this is for you

Strangely enough, this is the 2nd escape room thriller woth strangers being trapped and the same kind of theme that I've read this week! Which works for me since I love escape room thriller/ mysteries and the other themes but I have to say this book really was exceptional! From the start it had Mr invested. The escape room puzzles were genuinely complex and hard to decipher before the characters did and it all flowed perfect.y there are so many twists and turns that even when you think it's all over, another twist slaps you in the face. The characters were all original and well written. Even in the short period of time the book is set over you get such a clear idea of who they are and they all show depths and development. It's just an amazing book. Definitely one of my recent favourites

LD Smithson's The Escape Room, like a number of recent thrillers (Karen Hamilton's The Contest and Ruth Kelly's The Villa spring to mind) focuses on a set of contestants competing on a reality TV show in an isolated location. Given the success of shows like Squid Game and The Traitors, this new twist on the psychological thriller makes sense, even if the results have been mixed. In this novel, set on a sea fort off the coast of southern England, we focus on Bonnie, who never wanted to go on the show in the first place and is secretly taking the place of her confident younger sister Clara. At first, Bonnie is excited to prove that she too can be an effective puzzle-solver, but things start to go wrong after the first contestant fails a challenge and is locked up (this definitely reminded me of The Crystal Maze). Will the group be able to escape with their lives?

I thought this was a decent enough thriller. Bonnie irritated me somewhat because she felt judgmental at times and a bit dim (there's a game which relies on both people choosing the same option without conferring; Bonnie is furious at them both choosing the option which she thinks is immoral, but never considers that they may have felt forced into it because they thought they knew what the other person was going to choose). The secondary cast, however, are more distinctive than the usual set of strangers you get in thrillers, and I liked Bonnie's relationship with her sister. It's pacy, though I skimmed the details of the puzzle games - I think Smithson could have mixed it up a bit by including more 'physical' and 'skill' challenges, to borrow from The Crystal Maze. I was also bored by the motives of the evil mastermind behind all this. I was watching Speed for the first time recently and my friend commented 'This is great, his motive is just money, end of', and I think this is a lesson more thriller writers should learn rather than attempting cod-psychology. Nevertheless, this was an escapist, entertaining read and I'd recommend it to fans of reality TV thrillers. 3.5 stars.

Eight strangers arrive at The Fortress ready to compete in a reality television competition, which is in the style of an escape room, where they must answer complex puzzles. Soon it becomes clear that not all is as it seems and true intent is much more sinister than they could ever imagine. Who will survive and what is the true purpose?

This is a debut standalone for L.D. Smithson and was a good one; managing to be dark, claustrophobic and complex. I found out while reading that she has published a series under a different name, which I have also read a few of and enjoyed. I was originally attracted to the cover and the plot, as I have read a few books recently based on reality TV shoes and find these really intriguing. The Escape Room offers a unique spin on this idea, which manages to stand out in a crowded area and be entertaining.

As I enjoy escape rooms I knew I would enjoy the overall premise and although it hasn’t fully put me off doing escape rooms in the future, it has definitely made me wary! The book is focused on aspects of psychology and due to the author’s background this has been done well, helping add an extra layer to the overall story and I learnt some interesting things. I really loved the puzzles involved and found myself trying to solve the clues myself and was proud when I got a few right! This helped to engage the reader in the story and create an intriguing narrative. The characters, although not all likeable, were well written and easily identifiable. The story may have been slightly unbelievable but this helped make it intense and entertaining. Overall this is a chilling, clever, atmospheric thriller, which I will tell others to try and I will definitely be reading more from this author in the future. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this copy in return for an honest review.