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MurderTrending #3
#NoEscape
The #murder and mayhem continue in this prequel companion novel to the grisly, campy social media insanity that is #MurderTrending and #MurderFunding. Gretchen McNeil brings her signature wit and merciless kills to this gruesome yet hilarious, wildly topical young adult novel.
Twenty years before Dee Guerra and the Death Row Breakfast Club took down The Postman and Alcatraz 2.0, long before Becca survived The Juggernaut and Who Wants to Be a Painiac?, the murder games first began with the wildly popular "escape room" trend. Specifically, with Escape-Capades, Ltd.?
When seventeen-year-old Persey, along with five other teens, enters the latest escape room game, they're competing for a grand cash prize. But while most escape rooms are about teamwork and collaboration, this one is all about being cut-throat-literally. When contestants start being killed off, Persey must solve a series of bizarre and gruesome puzzles, riddles, and games to make it out alive. She uncovers secrets about each contestant along the way, learning they're all mysteriously related-and someone is out for vengeance.
Whether readers are new to the #MurderTrending sensation or hungrily back for more, this wickedly campy prequel companion novel delivers a read you won't want to escape.
Twenty years before Dee Guerra and the Death Row Breakfast Club took down The Postman and Alcatraz 2.0, long before Becca survived The Juggernaut and Who Wants to Be a Painiac?, the murder games first began with the wildly popular "escape room" trend. Specifically, with Escape-Capades, Ltd.?
When seventeen-year-old Persey, along with five other teens, enters the latest escape room game, they're competing for a grand cash prize. But while most escape rooms are about teamwork and collaboration, this one is all about being cut-throat-literally. When contestants start being killed off, Persey must solve a series of bizarre and gruesome puzzles, riddles, and games to make it out alive. She uncovers secrets about each contestant along the way, learning they're all mysteriously related-and someone is out for vengeance.
Whether readers are new to the #MurderTrending sensation or hungrily back for more, this wickedly campy prequel companion novel delivers a read you won't want to escape.
352 pages, Hardcover
First published September 15, 2020
149 people are currently reading
3285 people want to read
About the author
Gretchen McNeil
22 books2,162 followersGretchen McNeil is the author of the YA horror/suspense novels POSSESS, 3:59, RELIC, GET EVEN, GET DIRTY, and TEN (a YALSA Top Ten Quick Pick for Reluctant Young Adult Readers, a Romantic Times Top Pick, and a Booklist Top Ten Horror Fiction for Youth) all with Balzer + Bray for HarperCollins. Gretchen’s first YA contemporary I’M NOT YOUR MANIC PIXIE DREAM GIRL, also with Balzer + Bray, hit shelves in 2016, and her next novel will be the horror-comedy #MURDERTRENDING for Disney/Freeform in August 2018.
Gretchen’s novels have been published internationally in Chinese, Spanish, Turkish, and Czech. The film adaptation of TEN starring China Anne McClain (Descendants 2, Black Lightning), Rome Flynn (The Bold and the Beautiful), and Callan McAuliffe (Flipped, I Am Number Four), directed by Chris Robert for Rain Maker Films, premiered on Lifetime on September 16, 2017.
Gretchen is repped by Ginger Clark of Curtis Brown, Ltd. You can find Gretchen on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and on her website.
Gretchen’s novels have been published internationally in Chinese, Spanish, Turkish, and Czech. The film adaptation of TEN starring China Anne McClain (Descendants 2, Black Lightning), Rome Flynn (The Bold and the Beautiful), and Callan McAuliffe (Flipped, I Am Number Four), directed by Chris Robert for Rain Maker Films, premiered on Lifetime on September 16, 2017.
Gretchen is repped by Ginger Clark of Curtis Brown, Ltd. You can find Gretchen on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and on her website.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 324 reviews
November 20, 2022
I was not expecting the ending at all.
February 23, 2021
4 stars - would have probably been a 5 but the ending...wow
i knew kevin was a dirty liar!!! he was my number one suspect throughout the book. however, the very end twist where it is revealed that he is her brother genuinely surprised me, but makes SO much sense.
i actually really liked persey as a narrator and main character, and i think she was my favorite! i usually don’t like main characters all that much, but i thought she was great!
i also really liked neela, and riot 😭😭 rip to my librarian mohawk king
this book was so much fun and i really enjoyed it! the ending was not the most satisfying to me, and if i’m being honest, it made me a little sick. but the rest of the book i really enjoyed.
except all the, you know, killing.
i did suspect leah, but didn’t put two and two together that she was genevieve.
i was able to guess general ideas and decipher who was involved usually, but there were a LOT of things that surprised me...especially riot’s death!!! i literally gasped out loud.
there was suspense, mystery, murder, all that jazz and i had a fun time! i read it very fast ://
but anyways, FUCK KEVIN/LINCOLN i hate ur guts
it’s sad too cause i did like kevin, but i had a very strong suspicion that he was bad and i was really hoping he wasn’t 😭😭
but i digress
this book was a jolly good time and i think i will probably read the other books in the #murdertrending series at some point, as this was the first one i’ve read
i knew kevin was a dirty liar!!! he was my number one suspect throughout the book. however, the very end twist where it is revealed that he is her brother genuinely surprised me, but makes SO much sense.
i actually really liked persey as a narrator and main character, and i think she was my favorite! i usually don’t like main characters all that much, but i thought she was great!
i also really liked neela, and riot 😭😭 rip to my librarian mohawk king
this book was so much fun and i really enjoyed it! the ending was not the most satisfying to me, and if i’m being honest, it made me a little sick. but the rest of the book i really enjoyed.
except all the, you know, killing.
i did suspect leah, but didn’t put two and two together that she was genevieve.
i was able to guess general ideas and decipher who was involved usually, but there were a LOT of things that surprised me...especially riot’s death!!! i literally gasped out loud.
there was suspense, mystery, murder, all that jazz and i had a fun time! i read it very fast ://
but anyways, FUCK KEVIN/LINCOLN i hate ur guts
it’s sad too cause i did like kevin, but i had a very strong suspicion that he was bad and i was really hoping he wasn’t 😭😭
but i digress
this book was a jolly good time and i think i will probably read the other books in the #murdertrending series at some point, as this was the first one i’ve read
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 5, 2021
Yay! We are getting a third book (this time a prequel) and it is set in an escape room. An escape room with death and murder and humor. What more could a girl ask for?
March 29, 2021
This series is basically a guilty pleasure. It's nowhere near the best thing I've ever read, but they're so campy and fun that I'll gladly read anything that comes out from it. With that being said there's a book 4 and I'm thrilled for that.
December 29, 2021
1.5 disappointing stars. #Murdertrending was so fun and fast-paced and I had a blast reading it. But #NoEscape? A complete and utter letdown. The puzzles of the escape rooms were fun at the start, and I did laugh once or twice, but the twists weren't exactly surprising and the major reveal was lackluster. The connection between this installment in the series and the original story is flimsy and very confusing. Persey's character in particular frustrated me. I kept searching for reasons to like her and root for her, but she was flaccid. And all the other characters were annoying and repetitive. I so badly wanted the magic of #Murdertrending and I am so, so, so disappointed.
October 21, 2020
The name Persey it the most ridiculous thing I've ever read. Distracted me the whole dang book.
October 14, 2020
This is the third book in the #Murdertrending series and operates more as a prequel.
Percey (Persephone) is a teenager who participated (and won) an escape room challenge and is invited to join a even bigger escape room challenge with a huge award. But as she as her fellow contestants go through each room the stakes get higher and higher and bodies start to pile up.
There are plenty of twists and turns (some easier to figure out than others) in the novel and it flies by at a record pace.
This isn’t a particularly heavy book (despite all the death and mayhem) and even when someone is lost along the way no one feels particularly bad about it or does much mourning. Percey is probably the only relatable character amongst a few larger and quirkier personalities and you can’t help but root for her. Like the other books in the series her parents (told in flashbacks) are very over the top villainous and cartoonish in their terrible parenting.
I recommend this one to readers that want a fast paced “closed room” mystery with snarky young people and gruesome deaths.
Percey (Persephone) is a teenager who participated (and won) an escape room challenge and is invited to join a even bigger escape room challenge with a huge award. But as she as her fellow contestants go through each room the stakes get higher and higher and bodies start to pile up.
There are plenty of twists and turns (some easier to figure out than others) in the novel and it flies by at a record pace.
This isn’t a particularly heavy book (despite all the death and mayhem) and even when someone is lost along the way no one feels particularly bad about it or does much mourning. Percey is probably the only relatable character amongst a few larger and quirkier personalities and you can’t help but root for her. Like the other books in the series her parents (told in flashbacks) are very over the top villainous and cartoonish in their terrible parenting.
I recommend this one to readers that want a fast paced “closed room” mystery with snarky young people and gruesome deaths.
January 25, 2023
The first half had me really bored but then it got interesting
I’m also gonna need some time to process the ending because the plot twist was SOOO good
I’m also gonna need some time to process the ending because the plot twist was SOOO good
April 4, 2022
Not gonna lie, I had forgotten this was a prequel when I went into it. I was like why are we in an escape room? Who are these people? Go me. But once I figured out what was happening, I was able to go full in.
While I did enjoy this book, it just didn't have the same feel as the rest. I get that it was a prequel and was set in a different time, but I missed the social media aspect that the other two books had in full force. That aspect was also such an integral part of the other two stories that it was just weird not to have it here.
One thing that I do really like about McNeil's writing is how visual it is. I could see every aspect of this escape room so vividly, it felt like I was watching a movie. But what I was missing was the character connection. And honestly, I only ever felt that with the DRBC way back in the first book.
Since this was a prequel, I kept trying to figure out how it connected to the 1st & 2nd book. I had a few theories and once I figured it out, just wow... and creepy.
Overall, this series was a lot of fun to read and I recommend it to anyone who loves the teen horror movie genre because this just fit right in with those.
While I did enjoy this book, it just didn't have the same feel as the rest. I get that it was a prequel and was set in a different time, but I missed the social media aspect that the other two books had in full force. That aspect was also such an integral part of the other two stories that it was just weird not to have it here.
One thing that I do really like about McNeil's writing is how visual it is. I could see every aspect of this escape room so vividly, it felt like I was watching a movie. But what I was missing was the character connection. And honestly, I only ever felt that with the DRBC way back in the first book.
Since this was a prequel, I kept trying to figure out how it connected to the 1st & 2nd book. I had a few theories and once I figured it out, just wow... and creepy.
Overall, this series was a lot of fun to read and I recommend it to anyone who loves the teen horror movie genre because this just fit right in with those.
October 11, 2021
It's hard to put my feelings into words when it comes to this book, it was AMAZING! The ending was so unexpected and I was overwhelmed with emotion when I finally got to the end. Overall I love this book and I would 100% recommend it to anyone.
April 8, 2025
3.5 stars
October 16, 2020
This book may not have been what I wanted, but it was what I needed. I wanted the end to the trilogy and to have all my questions answered. Instead I got something better, and another wait for book 4. This book is back to form for McNeal. It has all the excitement and the guessing of #Murdertrending, but none of the things that caused #Murderfunding to suffer from a second book slump. This time, we are trapped with contestants in an Escape Room that no one is meant to escape. I had most the main points figured out close to figured by 2/3s in, but I loved how it all came together that had my mind going “oh s*#&, oh s*#&. The only thing I hate is the wait for book 4. I’m on pins and needles and want to know what can possibly come next. This book contains lots of blood and guts, just like I wanted, and will make any fan of the first book happy, and newbies entertained.
October 25, 2020
I have adored Gretchen McNeils books and writing style since I first read Murdertrending. You know its going to be deadly, gruesome, and make your heart jump out of your skin a few times. You just never know whats coming, how bad its going to be or when.
I didn't pick any of this really. I thought I knew who was behind it and I was right about that but I was only half right and I got all of the motives completely wrong. Plus that twist at the end. I should have seen that coming after they explained it.....but no. I was stunned.
Love it!
I didn't pick any of this really. I thought I knew who was behind it and I was right about that but I was only half right and I got all of the motives completely wrong. Plus that twist at the end. I should have seen that coming after they explained it.....but no. I was stunned.
Love it!
February 8, 2021
One of my favorite YA thriller authors is Gretchen McNeil and with the new popular trend of Escape Rooms, I figured to read this book as also it was Book #3 in the #murdertrending series. This one though takes us twenty years before the hit killer TV show #MurderTrending - Survivor for Prisoners. This book introduces us to the stories and childhoods of Abe and Kimber Bolton. For those who have read the first two books, you will find those names familiar as The Postman and Kimber was the foster sister/ best friend who did Abe's bidding. The book starts with Persey aka Persephone solving an escape room and then along with her newfound friend Kevin being invited to a massive escape room competition with a select few who have also solved the impossible. When Persey arrives though, she is the youngest one there and the one people seem to be misjudging. For her, this competition is to prove to her father that she is just as intelligent as her brother and that she can make something for herself as he constantly puts her down. As the escape room begins though, it seems danger is at play as this reminded me a bit of a psychotic version of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory tour where instead of being harmed during the tour, this one the escape rooms are deadly, and as the rooms progress one by one the contestants start to vanish. Will Persey and the crew make it out alive or have they landed in an Escape room scenario where there is #noescape? Find out in Book #3, a YA that all thriller fans will love and enjoy and may give you second thoughts about entering your escape room competition.
August 19, 2021
Do you read YA books? I definitely read more adult books than YA, but there are just some YA authors that I can’t get enough of.
Gretchen McNeil is one of those authors I can’t let go of. #NoEscape is the 8th book that I’ve read by her. #NoEscape is the prequel novel to the #MurderTrending series. Long before the main duology takes place Persey ends up in an escape room that is way more dangerous than it appears.
❤️Review❤️
I could not put this book down. I was just as stressed as Persey in this escape room that it propelled me forward with pages that I couldn’t turn fast enough. Gretchen McNeil doesn’t shy away from being gruesome. These books are just so much fun that I get lost in them without over analyzing anything or thinking too much. Oddly enough they make the perfect escape haha. I will say that when the connection was finally made to show how this book relates to the main books, I couldn’t really remember how it connected. I read the first two books in 2018 and 2019. I didn’t realize this came out until this spring. So it’s definitely my fault, but it prevented me from having the full 5 star feeling for it. I ended the book like ooooo, but didn’t fully get it, which left it a little disappointing. Again totally my fault, but still can’t help that feeling. Now I kind of want to go back and reread the rest of the series.
4 stars! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
#Books #YABooks #QuickReads #PageTurners #FastPaced #Bookstagram #SuspenseBooks #EscapeRooms #BookSeries #Mystery #Dark #Horror
Gretchen McNeil is one of those authors I can’t let go of. #NoEscape is the 8th book that I’ve read by her. #NoEscape is the prequel novel to the #MurderTrending series. Long before the main duology takes place Persey ends up in an escape room that is way more dangerous than it appears.
❤️Review❤️
I could not put this book down. I was just as stressed as Persey in this escape room that it propelled me forward with pages that I couldn’t turn fast enough. Gretchen McNeil doesn’t shy away from being gruesome. These books are just so much fun that I get lost in them without over analyzing anything or thinking too much. Oddly enough they make the perfect escape haha. I will say that when the connection was finally made to show how this book relates to the main books, I couldn’t really remember how it connected. I read the first two books in 2018 and 2019. I didn’t realize this came out until this spring. So it’s definitely my fault, but it prevented me from having the full 5 star feeling for it. I ended the book like ooooo, but didn’t fully get it, which left it a little disappointing. Again totally my fault, but still can’t help that feeling. Now I kind of want to go back and reread the rest of the series.
4 stars! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
#Books #YABooks #QuickReads #PageTurners #FastPaced #Bookstagram #SuspenseBooks #EscapeRooms #BookSeries #Mystery #Dark #Horror
September 21, 2020
Probably more like 4.5. First I feel like I should note that while this book is categorized as book three in a series it's actually a prequel and thus can be read all by itself. It's been long enough since I read #murdertrending and I've yet to read #murderfunding, so I don't remember much about the first book, but I had no problems enjoying this book and everything about it. If you're looking for a great book to read this Halloween season might I recommend this one? I'm not sure how she does it, but McNeil is a star when it comes to writing twisty thrillers with wonderfully gruesome, not to mention inventive, kills. Seriously, if Hollywood is looking for great horror/thriller teen slashers I don't know why they don't look at the handful of YA horror that's out there, because there are some very good ones out there. Now down to the nitty gritty. The main character was wonderful, she was more of an underdog, and she wasn't traditionally "smart" in the academic sense, but she was smart in other ways. It was really great following her through the puzzles and attempting to work them out as she did (I totally would have died). The supporting characters were great too, were they a little over the top sometimes? Sure, but that's not unusual in a horror/thriller story. I think my favorite was Neela, but they were all amusing and they all added things to the story instead of just being there as set dressing to die later. Twist wise I was also pretty pleased. Did I catch some of them before the reveals? Yes, but I didn't get all of them, and the big ones were mostly the ones I didn't see coming. Seeing all of the little threads come together in the end was very satisfying, and I have to applaud McNeil for her tight plotting. I think the reason this wasn't a 5 star read all the way through was, 1, I think the format could have been changed some; it would have been nice if the flashback chapters were delineated in some way, and 2, as stated above I guessed a few of the twists, but I'm more or less nit-picking here. If you've read #murdertrending I would highly suggest you check this out, and if you haven't (you should really get on that) you should still check this book out. I feel like it's gotten so lost in all that is happening, even here on goodreads, but horror fans, as well as a good who-done-it, will certainly find something here to enjoy.
July 21, 2023
I was all about this book until the very last chapter lol.
Persey, a teenaged rich girl with mediocre grades, is good at an Escape Room puzzle deemed unsolvable and is invited to compete with other Escape Room pros to try and win millions.
Spoilers ahead!
We get glimpses of her fucked up family dynamics- her brother is a psychopath on the run from Columbia U, her dad is loaded but verbally, mentally, and emotionally abusive to Persey, who is a crap student and likely won't be attending college, and her mom is a drunk.
We meet a group of teens who are all very smart in their own ways, and they start this naive Escape room very promisingly. That is, until people start dying one after the other.
Now for the issues and positives.
Like the other Murdertrending novels, this one has a great pace and keeps you intrigued right up to the end. But that ending?! Come onnnnnnnnn.
Firstly, from what we know about crazy Kimber from the postman works, Persey doesn't seem the type to be able to go absolutely batshit like Kimber eventually does. It just doesn't jibe.
Secondly, if the Brownes were so well known in the Escape Room community then why the funk wouldn't anyone have known their kids? They'd have been recognized for sure, if not by the teens than by the cops who were connecting the dots since it was explained to them that those dead teens were responsible for the Browne deaths.
Then the postman apparently was Lincoln, who was not Kimber's dad but her brother?! It's all so fucking weird and I was really taken aback by the reveals...
Persey, a teenaged rich girl with mediocre grades, is good at an Escape Room puzzle deemed unsolvable and is invited to compete with other Escape Room pros to try and win millions.
Spoilers ahead!
We get glimpses of her fucked up family dynamics- her brother is a psychopath on the run from Columbia U, her dad is loaded but verbally, mentally, and emotionally abusive to Persey, who is a crap student and likely won't be attending college, and her mom is a drunk.
We meet a group of teens who are all very smart in their own ways, and they start this naive Escape room very promisingly. That is, until people start dying one after the other.
Now for the issues and positives.
Like the other Murdertrending novels, this one has a great pace and keeps you intrigued right up to the end. But that ending?! Come onnnnnnnnn.
Firstly, from what we know about crazy Kimber from the postman works, Persey doesn't seem the type to be able to go absolutely batshit like Kimber eventually does. It just doesn't jibe.
Secondly, if the Brownes were so well known in the Escape Room community then why the funk wouldn't anyone have known their kids? They'd have been recognized for sure, if not by the teens than by the cops who were connecting the dots since it was explained to them that those dead teens were responsible for the Browne deaths.
Then the postman apparently was Lincoln, who was not Kimber's dad but her brother?! It's all so fucking weird and I was really taken aback by the reveals...
October 27, 2020
AHHHH I can't wait to afford to buy this book. NEED IT NOW
October 29, 2021
I didn't realize this book was a prequel to the other two until the very ending. But it worked really well! I'm still a little confused by the ending....but I liked it nonetheless!
October 6, 2020
What a read! Not as great as the first book but better than the second
October 22, 2020
These books are just too fun idk. I'd kill for a tv series.
June 1, 2025
This book was AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!
April 15, 2021
i cant even explain how i feel right now. you know i never expect that's ending and oh my my my. i was so shocked honestly this was a great book.
February 1, 2022
This book was literally so good and it connected to the first books so well. The ending gave me tingles because I realized how much everything made sense. One of my favorite series for sure.
December 30, 2020
I loved #MurderTrending and felt #MurderFunding was a little derivative; #NoEscape is a prequel of sorts but follows virtually the same formula of gory, strange deaths awaiting people for seemingly no reason. There's a strong And Then There Were None wiff here as well. Who is behind it all is part of the mystery, but there are clues. Likewise, Persey's identity is hinted at strongly throughout the book but there is one identity that clever readers will suspect but the actual revelation should be a surprise. It looks as though there will be another book, and I really hope the author breaks out of her innovative death routine.
July 9, 2022
Great book! Even though this is a prequel it could definitely also be a stand alone. I read the other 2like 2 years ago. So especially after that big twist I want to reread them to see how it fits in. I guessed a few of the twists but definitely not any of the big reveals. It also ends seemingly to hint at a book 4??? I'm definitely keeping my fingers crossed!! 🤞🏼
March 4, 2024
THAT WAS INSANE. The whole book I wondered how it tied into the first two books, and the connections were so unexpected and crazy. This book was just as thrilling and suspenseful as the others and I highly recommend!
August 25, 2024
4 stars.
if you loved the 2019 movie escape room, this is definitely the book for you. i love a good mystery/thriller and this was no exception.
also - that ending????????? i had to reread the last two chapters 3 times to properly comprehend it.
if you loved the 2019 movie escape room, this is definitely the book for you. i love a good mystery/thriller and this was no exception.
also - that ending????????? i had to reread the last two chapters 3 times to properly comprehend it.
June 29, 2021
That ending gave me chills
July 3, 2023
I liked this one a lot more than the first two!!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 324 reviews