Wednesday, July 31, 2019

A Team Building Exercise Turns Nasty


The life of Wall Street bankers is luxurious, but cutthroat. The job is so demanding that you must be on the top of your game, or suffer the consequences. When four top level executives are called to a meeting in an isolated building, they know they must comply.

At the building they crowd into the elevator. It ascends part way, stops, and the lights go out. This is supposed to be a team building exercise. They must work together to solve the problem and get out, but it isn’t that simple.

The story is told from the point of view of the characters in the elevator and alternatively by Sara Hall. Sara was a finance graduate who worked for a time with the four. She wasn’t welcomed in the group where all members were secretive about their personal lives. Sara finds the long hours grueling and consuming. Now Sara’s past history intersects with the four trapped in the elevator.

The characters in this book are not likable. The four in the elevator are obsessed with perks and money. Their conversation revolves around investment banking. If you’re not interested in corporate greed, it can become tedious.

The plot moves back and forth between Sara’s review of the past and the tension in the elevator. This relieves some of the boredom. However, it also means that there are few twists, and you know early where this is heading. If you want a thriller that revolves around a specific corporate culture, you may enjoy this one.

I received this book from St. Martin’s Press for this review.

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