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The premise of Room 706 is highly compelling: married, unfulfilled, middle-aged mother Kate gets trapped in a London hotel room with her lover when terrorists take the hotel hostage. Stuck in the room with nothing to do but think and fear for her life, with no one she can talk to, she is forced to turn within and examine her choices in life.

Room 706 is not a plot-driven thriller. It’s an emotionally tense story driven by Kate’s reflections and memories. As she finds herself in an impossible situation, there is literally nothing she can do but try and care for her family from afar, sit in fearful silence, and reflect. The terror of her situation, combined with the rawness of the emotions triggered by her memories, is excruciating. I felt anxious as I was reading this book and the feeling remained even after I had put it down.

The novel explores multiple themes, including grief, youth, parenting, marriage, love, and the mental load of motherhood. The narrative pulls us deep inside Kate’s head as she bounces around between fear, memories, emotions, mental load for her family, guilt, love, and back to chilling fear. Room 706 is taut, tense, and emotionally charged – I highly recommend it.

Thank you to NetGalley and SJP Lit for the ARC. All opinions are my own.