When Kate goes to meet her lover in a London hotel one morning, she has no idea what the day has in store for her. She expects it to be just like all the other times: an hour or two with James, then back home to pick up the kids from school and pretend to her husband, Vic, that nothing has happened. Switching on the television in the hotel room, however, she is horrified to discover that terrorists have taken control of their hotel and it’s not safe to leave the room. She doesn’t know how she’s going to explain this to Vic – that’s if she and James even make it out alive.

As the afternoon unfolds and they remain trapped in their room, afraid to even turn on a light or run water in case it alerts the gunmen to their presence, Kate begins to reflect on her life, her marriage and the choices she has made that have led her to be in the hotel on this fateful day.

Room 706 is Ellie Levenson’s debut novel. I enjoyed it overall, but it wasn’t really the exciting thriller I thought it would be. Every chapter set in the hotel alternates with one describing the early days of Kate and Vic’s marriage and another explaining how she came to be having an affair with James. This means only a third of the book is set during the terrorist attack and the rest is Kate’s backstory. Some of the hotel chapters are genuinely tense and suspenseful, for example when Kate and James hear other guests in the corridor, unaware of what’s going on, and are unable to warn them, but I would have liked more of this, more information on the terrorist group, what they wanted and what was being done to stop them.

The thoughts that go through Kate’s head during the hostage situation are both fascinating and believable. Thinking she may only have hours left to live, she makes a note of the online shopping password for her husband, empties her inbox in case someone finds her phone, writes on a piece of paper because her children might want to see her handwriting in years to come. In contrast, James makes no provision for his death at all, spending what could be his final moments working on a report for work on his laptop.

I loved Vic, although we only meet him through flashbacks and the texts he sends Kate while she’s under siege in the hotel. He seems to be the perfect husband and father and I couldn’t understand why Kate was cheating on him with James, who comes across as cold, aloof and completely unlikeable. We do get an answer to that, but it’s not one that made me feel sympathetic towards Kate! We don’t get answers to much else, though, so be prepared for that. I was frustrated by the way the book ended, although I think I understand what the author was trying to do.

Although this book wasn’t quite what I had expected, I did like it and as it’s Ellie Levenson’s debut novel, it will be interesting to see what she writes next.

Thanks to Headline for sending me a copy of this book for review.