REVIEW:

I don’t think it’s a spoiler to say this cage is unlocked.

If you read the publisher synopsis, you may think this is a locked room mystery. Two women enter an elevator together, but only one comes out alive. That’s just the first chapter - of 34 - though. What follows is a roller coaster of a plot that at times reminded me of The Firm (which the synopsis also references), Orange is the New Black, and a hundred psychological thrillers with possibly-unreliable first-person female narrators.

Above all, this is a LEGAL thriller. There is a lot of legal talk. A lot of legal paperwork. A lot of legal situations. Legal legal legal. If these sentences bored you, your eyes will gaze over for a good half of this book.

Despite the plot being much broader and all over the place than I anticipated, I did find author Bonnie Kistler’s writing to be a cut above her peers. Some sections were so insightful that they felt more literary fiction than thriller, so I am looking forward to seeing what she writes next.

I had fun buddy reading this with some of my Goodreads pals (Jayme & Holly), and I think we all agree that a strong start got a little sluggish and convoluted as the pages turned. The epilogue was a nice surprise though!

My thanks to the author and Amelia at Harper for the gifted copy to review via NetGalley. The expected US publication date of The Cage is February 15, 2022.

PUBLISHER SYNOPSIS:

Combining the propulsive narrative drive of The Firm with the psychological complexity of The Silent Patient, a gripping and original thriller about two professional women - colleagues at an international fashion conglomerate - who enter an elevator together… but only one is alive when they reach the ground floor.

On a cold, misty Sunday night, two women are alone in the offices of fashion conglomerate Claudine de Martineau International. One is the company's human resources director. Impeccably dressed and perfectly coiffed, she sits at her desk and stares somberly out the window. Down the hall, her colleague, one of the company's lawyers, is buried under a pile of paperwork, frantically rushing to finish.

Leaving at the same time, the two women, each preoccupied by her own thoughts, enter the elevator that will take them down from the 30th floor.

When they arrive at the lobby, one of the women is dead. Was it murder or suicide?

An incredibly original novel that turns the office thriller on its head, The Cage is a wild ride that begins with a bang and picks up speed as it races to its dramatic end.