For this final assignment, I wanted to feel suspense – find myself hooked on to the book. To help find a story such as this, I thought about some movies that portrayed this feeling. I immediately thought about my favorite horror movie: Escape Room. I’ve seen this movie so many times that it has grown to be a comfort movie of mine, and no longer a horror movie. I began to search for escape room-themed books and the users of Reddit suggested ‘Escape!’ by Iain Rob Wright. They mentioned nothing but good things. And the blurb seemed intriguing as well:
Cheryl and six of her coworkers go out for a weekend trip that involves escaping ‘the room’ before the timer runs out. What first seemed like a bonding moment for the workers at the growing company of Alscon, would soon take a turn that reveals much more than invited.
Describing My Experience
I enjoyed the book but didn’t feel as much suspense as I was hoping for. However, the book had a way of making me feel moments of paranoia. It wasn’t relentless but rather intermittent. Cheryl, who’s our main protagonist, was dealt a handful after losing her father due to a sudden heart attack. She dropped out of school to be closer to her mom and had put her life on pause. So when she convinced herself to join a handful of her coworkers on this company weekend trip, she became secretly excited. It was sad to see her lose this spark throughout the book and this is when I felt empathy. Cheryl was never supposed to be in the escape room, was never supposed to experience the horrors she endured, and was not intended to find out the truth of her fellow coworkers. And because of this, I only felt more sorrow for what she would experience.
The ending was also partially satisfying, which was something I actually appreciated. I’m used to storylines having that perfect ending, but I felt that this was realistic (to this specific storyworld).
Classifying My Experiences
Cheryl gets asked to cover a spot for a company weekend trip that involves escaping a room within 90 minutes with 5 of her coworkers: John (her boss), Alfie (who happens to be John’s nephew), Leo, Monty, and Happy. Maggie, the one asking Cheryl to take her spot for this weekend trip, was no longer able to go and was hoping Cheryl would take her place. Cheryl, only having worked at Alscon for 3 months, was hesitant, but agreed after learning there would be a cash prize of 1,000 pounds (the story takes place in modern-day England) if the group escapes before the timer reaches zero. She also didn’t think it would be too bad since she knew Leo, as he worked in the cubicle next to her.
Now, from the very beginning of the book we get a sense of who Leo is. His character, at first, seemed normal so to say. In the first few chapters of the book, Leo seemed just like an ordinary guy but as I was continued reading, he seemed off.
To prove her thought, Leo leered at her, and she didn’t know if it was in jest or if he was actually trying to imagine her tits underneath her blouse. “Just say you’ll come, Cher. It’ll be a laugh.”
From this moment onwards, I grew to feel a constant eustress due to Leo’s presence. This is one of the many moments Leo would make objectifying glances or comments towards Cheryl. And, as we would learn later on, about women in general.
Leo would drive Cheryl to the location of the escape room and during their journey, they seemed to really get along. But similarly to what I was thinking, Cheryl didn’t let her self get too comfortable with him. This is when I began to identify with Cheryl. She’s smart, funny, and I found her relatable throughout the book. To continue, the way the author would word Leo’s characteristics only grew to my suspicion and overall skepticism of his character.
– and why had she not noticed how dark and brown his eyes were before? They were like pools of chocolate.
Shortly later, Cheryl would notice his eyes once more.
He gave her a warm smile to back up his claim, drilling into her with those deep brown eyes again.
I feel that the narration of Leo’s eyes was a moment of foreshadowing as a popular saying came to mind: “Eyes are the window to the soul”. They were seen as dark, and invading rather than inviting. I thought this description hinted at who Leo’s true character truly is. But not being confident, and a fear of being wrong, I pushed my feelings aside.
Once they get to the location of the escape room, this is when my feelings of paranoia begins to take rise. Once the pair arrives, they are met with their other coworkers, Alfie, Monty, and Happy. The three men are confused by Cheryl’s presence. They would soon get their answer when John, their boss, arrives with Maggie. Turns out Maggie was able to attend and had ‘forgot’ to mention it to Cheryl. [This was a lie on Maggie’s part. We learn this way later into the book but Maggie had every intention of going on this trip, she just didn’t want to be the only woman going. And so, she invited one of her only female friends at Alscon, which just happened to be Cheryl.]
With Cheryl now flustered, John attempts to look past Maggie’s lack of communication and makes light of the extra person. He and the others invite her to stay as she’s already here and also has no way of getting back home. This was red flag number one, and Cheryl and I both knew it.
But to push forward, they were asked to leave their phones and other belongings behind. And the escape room begins, underground in this tunnel. The group, or rather just Cheryl and Leo, are solving clues. As they are advancing through small puzzles, secrets of each member begins to be revealed. With the revelation of the true purpose of this ‘escape room’ coming to light, the members are starting to get worried. The group begins to realize that each room within the tunnel is designed for each of the original six members, and that if they all tell the truth, they can get out to freedom.
When this was revealed, my optimism for the group was high. Cheryl and I both thought that it seemed simple enough: have each person tell the truth and they can get out safely. But, this was near impossible as they were all willing to keep their secrets and continue to lie then confess the truth. This part was frustrating as it took John getting his hand partially severed off, as blood was needed for one of the puzzles, that the group began to realize that this is all real, and lying will not help but only hurt. Cheryl was constantly pleading to the others to tell the truth but they were still reluctant. So, she would continue playing the game to see if it could lead to a way out. With the group also wanting to live, they helped out.
Features That Prompted My Experience
The narration of this book was portraying an empathy generator through Cheryl and her point-of-view of this whole ordeal. From the moment we find out the truth of why the original six were invited to the escape room, my empathy for Cheryl only grew. But it only remained for Cheryl. It didn’t radiate to any of the other characters – that was until the mystery unveiled itself. We learn that Happy had lost his niece, Polly, 2 years ago, who also worked at Alscon. Her body was never found, and her disappearance was becoming a cold case. It would turn out Happy, through the help of a third party that calls themselves “Justice”, secretly had cameras placed in and throughout Alscon. Happy and Justice gathered all the evidence they found and pieced the story together. They meticulously designed the tunnel that the escape room is taking place in. Happy designed each room to where Alfie, Monty, Maggie, John, and Leo would play a game, confess their part in her ultimate murder, and if they didn’t tell the truth, they would be met with their fate – death.
Happy inserted himself into the game, so he can watch everything unfold firsthand. His ‘game’ was the second one to be played, in which he faked his death, after the group failed to save him because no one told the truth when asked to. While reading this, we were led to believe that he had actually died. At first, I thought this was poetic justice. But I was proven wrong, as he was only trying to get revenge for his niece.
The night of Polly’s murder, the company was having a party. Monty and Polly got into an argument after Monty stole Polly’s work and credited it as his. This prompted Polly to storm out of the party. Her whereabouts were unknown until John, who was intoxicated, under the influence of drugs, and was receiving ‘pleasure’ from Maggie, was driving down a road when he hit someone – hit Polly. She was still alive however…
“Mag, please tell me the truth. Was Polly McIntyre dead when you went to her after the accident? Did John kill her, or something else?”
“Still alive. I… I tried to help while John called for help. She was in a bad, in a bad way, bleeding all over, crying. She kept saying she needed to tell the police, that she needed to tell them what had been done to her. She kept saying it over and over again.”
“That she was going to tell the police?”
“Yes! She said he was a monster and that she would tell them everything. John was trying to get a signal on his phone, to get her some help, but all she could do was threaten to ruin his life.” She blinked her eyes slowly, beginning to fade. The talking was tiring her. “It was an accident. John didn’t deserve to go to prison.”
Maggie, feeling there was no other choice out of this, strangled Polly to death. John then called Alfie to come right away, without explaining himself. Upon his arrival, John orders Alfie to take care of Polly’s body, and if he does, he’ll get a share of the company. Alfie, not wanting to disappoint his uncle, and blinded by greed, does what he is asked. However, one person remains untouched to Polly’s murder – Leo.
From this point in the book, I had already guessed the truth of what truly happened to Polly. The opportunity to observe was a technology that I inadvertently used, particularly for Leo’s character, which would explain the lack of suspense I felt since I had that initial odd feeling about him.
*Trigger Warning* (Mentions of Sexual Assault)
It would be revealed that before the party, Leo and Polly shared some kisses at a bar. After Leo saw Polly storm out of the party, he followed to try and ‘comfort’ her. Leo ended up trying to “finish what they had started”, even though Polly did not want to. He sexually assaulted Polly and convinced himself that “she wanted it”. After the truth was revealed, it all made sense. Leo’s character seemed too innocent amongst his coworkers, as everyone’s involvement in Polly’s murder was being disclosed one by one.
Unfortunately for Cheryl, she was alone with Leo during his confession and was trying to escape from him but had no where to go. Everyone else was dead, except for the pair. Leo taunted her, beat her, and attempted to sexually assault her.
This is where Leo’s eyes reveal who he is truly was – is.
It was only his eyes that gave him away.
They were such a dark brown that they almost appeared black in the low light. Evil eyes. How had she never noticed?
And during the attack, she took note once more:
Cheryl screamed in terror as Leo raised the cleaver over his head with a maniacal glint in his eye.
I thought the author’s description of Leo’s overall features helped to establish his true identity early on in the book, confirming my first impression of him. I feel that if the author held back on Leo’s description, the element of surprise would have been more apparent. I say this as the author only spent time really describing Leo’s facial features compared to any other character in the book, which only added to my suspicions.
But to continue, this is where it is revealed that Happy was still alive, and helped to defend Cheryl. Happy shared the truth with her and mentioned an escape hatch in the ceiling of one of the rooms. He helped her access it, but Leo was able to get a hold Happy before he could escape with Cheryl. Leo beat him endlessly and chased after Cheryl once more. While climbing up the hatch, Cheryl used blood that was dripping from a wound on her face and some Vaseline that she always carried, to make the one of the final bars slippery. Once Cheryl touched the outside world, Leo was about to as well, when he lost his grip on the bar Cheryl made slick and fell down the shaft. This is when the third party, Justice, came to Cheryl’s aid.
Final Thoughts
After coming to an end with the book’s final chapter, I was randomly left confused by the last 2 pages. At the very end, while Cheryl is safe at home, she finds a letter that holds a medical report of her Dad that was dated just a few weeks before his sudden heart attack. The report showed that he was healthy in all areas, and contradicts the risk of a heart attack, leading us to believe that his death was not accidental. I thought this represented a vigilance trigger because this branch of his very brief storyline honestly had no reason to be created. Cheryl’s Dad’s death was known, but does not impact the plot in anyway that would explain the need for this information. I can only think that the author maybe had thoughts of hinting at a sequel, but other than that, I have no explanation for why this was added, and was left lost as I was reading the last words of the book. Nonetheless, I thought this book was a good read, and I liked how we had an ending that’s satisfying but not fully fulfilled. Even though we did get the poetic justice for Cheryl (satisfying), I feel that Happy was ultimately failed (unfulfilled).
Works Cited
Rob Wright, I. (2019). Escape!. Ulcerated Press.
Experiences Glossary. (n.d.). Story & the Brain. Retrieved February 23, 2025, from https://unewhavendh.org/story-and-the-brain/experiences-glossary/
Technologies by Element of Narrative. (n.d.). Story & the Brain. Retrieved February 23, 2025, from https://unewhavendh.org/story-and-the-brain/technologies-by-element-of-narrative/
Featured Image
Cover Art for ‘Escape!’ by Ian Rob Wright. All Rights Reserved.
