Gretchen McNeil, author of the popular #MurderTrending series, published a new book on Sept. 15, 2020. This book, titled #NoEscape, is a prequel of sorts to the series. Set 20 years before the original book, this book was a crazy ride filled with murder, mystery, and plot twists. 

It starts off with a girl named Persey who has been told by her father her entire life that she will never measure up to her golden older brother. Persey has a learning disability that prevents her from doing well in school, but her father refuses to get her any help, instead blaming it on her “laziness.”The only thing that Persey feels confident about is her ability to solve puzzles in escape rooms. Persey decides to try and crack this unsolvable escape room and is completely shocked when she becomes the first person to ever succeed. Because of her success, she is offered a chance to compete in a secret competition for $10 million. The company that is giving away this prize, Escape-Capades, flies Persey and seven others out to Las Vegas to compete. 

Right off the bat, there is something odd about the competition. When first arriving in Las Vegas, Persey learns that the owners of Escape-Capades, Melinda and Derrick Browne, had tragically died in what was perceived as a murder-suicide the year previously. No one knew who had inherited Escape-Capades after that so the mystery aspect of that was played out through the book. Eventually, the competition starts and, at first, it seems to be a normal escape room maze. But things start to get deadly and the contestants begin to get killed off one by one. Soon, it becomes apparent that all the contestants weren’t chosen at random. They were targeted. Persey has to try and escape the room before it claims her life.

This book was amazing. The second book in the series, #MurderFunding was not as good as I was expecting, so there weren’t a whole lot of high expectations going into this one, however I was pleasantly surprised. The mystery aspect was well done and it didn’t seem to be dragged out too long. There is a huge plot twist at the end that came out of nowhere, but worked perfectly. This book is a dark read, but it was mind-bending and fast paced. I would highly recommend #NoEscape and the rest of the #MurderTrending series. However, if you like escape rooms, I would possibly read this book with caution because this book will give a whole new perspective on them.