Barclay never disappoints.

Some book titles can leave you bewildered. Not this one, Elevator Pitch goes to the heart of what this book is all about. Here’s how...

In Manhattan, a group of people are waiting for an express elevator in an office block, including a budding script-writer who is trying to get his script accepted by a top-level showbiz producer. The passengers all select their floors, but the elevator continues non-stop to the top, 40th floor, then plunges, to the bottom of the shaft with fatal consequences.

Meanwhile, the mayor of New York, Richard Headley, is holding a short press conference when news of the accident reaches him and he rushes to the scene. He takes his entourage and offers a ride to a surprised online reporter, Barbara Matheson, who has plagued him in her previous reports. En route, he asks her to ghostwrite his memoirs. After she turns him down, she uses this request against him in her next article.

On the High Line, a body is found, and detectives discover all fingertips have been cut off and the face left unrecognisable. The search team get a break when a single fingertip is found, and the police can identify the victim. When they interview his wife, who has already reported her husband missing, they find, after extensive questioning and probing, that his job was – an elevator repairman.

More elevator ‘accidents’ occur with more loss of life. Homeland Security appears on the scene to see if any of these incidents are terrorist-related. A domestic U.S. terrorist group, the Flyovers, are hovering around the perimeter of events. Things soon spiral out of control, and the mayor finds himself besieged on all sides. Never very popular with the press, he is hounded because of his inability to control the crisis.

How will the people of New York, one of the most vertical cities in the world, cope if they can’t trust the elevators?

Linwood Barclay is an accomplished author of many thrillers. This is another melting pot of intrigue and possible domestic or international terrorism. Take this and put in some New York characters and their wisecracks, and you have a thoroughly enjoyable book. A frightening scenario, which seems all too probable in these troubled times. A worthy five stars.


Mr Bumblebee

Breakaway Reviewers received a copy of the book for review

I absolutely loved the premise of this book and thought it was such a new and exciting idea for a book. The book certainly did not disappoint. I have read only one other book by this author so was not very familiar with his work but the book was easy to read and very engaging so I will certainly be looking at the author's back catalogue.

Thanks to Net Galley and HQ for an ARC of this book in exchange for a review
Wow!! Definitely a five star read. A clever, brilliantly written thriller, full of suspense,
Starting on Monday morning, over the week, there is murder, deception, bullying, and revenge.
The story is set in Manhattan, where all the buildings are skyscrapers, it’s impossible to avoid using the lifts. On the Monday morning, those in the first lift incident, have selected their floor destinations, the elevator seems to be ignoring the instructions, proceeds to the top floor, then plummets to the bottom of the shaft, killing those inside. Was the elevator faulty? Questions begin to be asked when there are similar incidents on Tuesday and Wednesday, who is responsible, how is it possible to control a lift without being inside the carriage?
Then a body is discovered, all the fingers have been chopped off to prevent identification, then a taxi car bombing. Are these incident linked, who is responsible?
The story is fast paced, the characters are totally believable and there are lots of twists and turns, the suspense builds, the Mayor of the city is at a loss to control the situation. The ending is very clever, revenge that has taken years to plan and e execute.
Brilliant!

I'd previously enjoyed Linwood Barclay's Trust Your Eyes and was thrilled by the premise of this one.

However, although it started with a good prologue the pace slows to a crawl and a lot of this book felt like really hard work. We know what we’re expecting - the long synopsis spells out what is going to happen - and it takes two thirds of the book to cover the ground we already know. Within that, the narrative is repetitive: we see the accidents - and the other incidents in the book - and then we see each of the characters individually finding out about them. I was leaning forward in my chair, bouncing on my toes willing the story to get a move on.

I wasn't really engaged with the main characters: Barbara, Arla, Headly and Glover felt cliched; the 'bad guys' weren't that dynamic; and Delgado and Bourque, the cops, were smart but sketched thinly so I didn’t feel particularly strongly about them either.

Credit where credit's due, the finale is exciting, shocking and unexpected and I was gripped by the last 10-12% so it did improve, but before that, all in all, it felt like Barclay was just phoning this one in. 2.5/5

I have read several of Linwood Barclays previous books and really enjoyed them. Unfortunately very disappointed by this one and have tried several times to read it but just cannot 'get into it' and have given up.Sorry

I have only read one other of Linwood’s books, which I loved, but this one didn’t do it for me. It was good, but I found I was able to put it down for long periods of time and had to force myself to carry on reading it. It all gets wrapped up with no loose ends.

I found this book a bit weird to begin with and wasn't sure how enjoyable it was going to be, however it was well worth persevering as the story turned out fantastically with a twist I really didn't see coming!

It begins on a Monday, when four people board an elevator in Manhattan. Each presses the button for their floor, but the elevator climbs, non-stop, to the top where it pauses for a few seconds, before dropping. Right to the bottom of the shaft. It appears to be a horrific, random tragedy. But then, on Tuesday, it happens again. When Wednesday brings yet another catastrophe, New York, one of the most vertical cities in the world is plunged into chaos. Clearly, this is anything but random. This is a cold, calculated bid to terrorize the city. And it’s working. But what do these deadly acts of sabotage have to do with the fingerless body found on the High Line? It will be a race against time for detectives Jerry Borque and Lois Delgado to find the answers before a deadly Friday night showdown.

What a thrilling read this was, I was hooked just from reading the blurb. The most terrifying situations really are the most mundane. Take a lift, or elevator, you have no way of knowing if you will travel safely in one and now they are being targeted, chilling.

The plot has a good pace, there are times when it is really intense and full of action and others where it trundles along more. The action really is intense and you are never too sure where the danger is. The investigation is equally as thrilling and I enjoyed reading about the different strands of those involved and what their motivation was. This is very exhilarating and full of twists to get your heart racing. There are some more difficult and emotional scenes as well but Barclay offers some light humour to spark some enjoyment.
Barclay's characters are great, an eclectic mix with their flaws to keep you interested. I enjoyed getting to know them and learning about their role in events.

'Elevator Pitch' has taken an everyday occurrence and made it utterly terrifying. I guarantee you will be left breathless reading this and you will never look at a lift the same way again.

Thank you to NetGalley and HQ for an advance copy.

The only downside to this book is that you may never ride in an elevator again and feel entirely safe! This great story is about someone tampering with the elevators in New York City's skyscrapers. The first elevator accident seems like a terrible tragedy, the second an odd coincidence but the third sends the people of the city into blind panic.
Is it terrorists or is it a personal vendetta against Mayor Headley? Reporter Barbara Matheson has a theory but will anyone listen to her? A book that you can't put down!

This is a most exciting, if rather gruesome, read. The story pulls you along, you need to know what happens next. Some of the facts really do make you think about whether you want to take the lift in any tall building ever again!

Detective Bourque is suffering psychological problems after a case where he ducked to avoid a bullet, and the woman standing behind him, with a baby in her arms, was killed. He feels guilty, and if anything reminds him of the incident he gets a reaction similar to an asthma attack, his throat closes up and he cannot breath. He and his partner, Lois Delgado, are called out to a murder scene where a man has had his face destroyed and his finger pads cut off, so that he cannot be identified. However, the murderer dropped one finger pad, and from that the police can produce a fingerprint, with that and DNA evidence they are soon able to find out who the man is - a lift engineer. Then lift accidents start happening, and a car bomb explodes outside the building where one of the lift incidents is happening, which leads everyone to think it might be terrorism. There is a knock-on effect, every lift in New York needs to be inspected, and some older people with health problems die trying to use the stairs to return to their apartments, many floors up.

A reporter, Barbara Matheson has her own reasons for disapproving of the mayor, Richard Headley, and she is constantly calling him to account in her newspaper column. All of the lifts that are affected are in buildings associated with wealthy people who give large donations to support the mayor, so she is sure it all has something to do with him. She gets caught up in the final acts of the killer, as do Bourque and Delgado. I should have guessed who the killer was, all the clues were there!

An interesting story, and an exciting read.

It’s a Monday morning and four strangers board an elevator. Everything is routine until the elevator skips one floor after another and starts hurtling towards the floor. The next day the same thing happens again. Now two detectives, an experienced reporter and the city’s Mayor are all trying to find out the truth while also jostling to protect what’s most important to them.

Linwood Barclay is one of the most accomplished thriller writers around and this is a perfect high concept scenario for him to use as his playground. There’s a real element of tension throughout the book, the action passages are perfectly paced and it’s hard to find a suitable place to break off from this book when real life comes calling! The chapters with the Mayor’s character were some of my favourite as he desperately tries to make the most politically astute decisions. The book is really smartly plotted and as with all Linwood Barclay books has a killer twist at the end. This is a terrific book to lose yourself in though you might want to take the stairs for the next few weeks!

I received a free ARC from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for a fair review.

Elevator Pitch was my first introduction to the work of author Linwood Barclay and I was very pleasantly surprised. With a highly original plot and believable characters, this book is crying out to be made into a movie.

Imagine your worst nightmare (well, mine anyway!), being trapped inside an out of control elevator. As you frantically stab the buttons, nothing happens. Then suddenly, from a great height within a New York skyscraper, you and your fellow passengers plummet into obliteration. Eeek, scary stuff indeed! Who is sabotaging New York's elevators and why?

What a thrilling, fast-paced read this turned out to be. Gripped from the very first chapter, it was a terrifying journey into a frighteningly plausible scenario.

Taking the stairs now seems the better option!

With my phobia of lifts, I don’t really know what possessed me to read this book. You’d think the title alone would have given me a clue! But I did and I’m very glad I did. As usual Linwood Barclay’s mastery of suspense and plot structure shine through and although I may well think twice about going into a lift alone … or indeed at all, this was a cunning storyline. Besides which the cover is brilliantly evocative.

From the beginning we are immersed in a New York facing the horror of a tragedy that introduces us to the mayor and his entourage. The mayor himself is objectionable, his son is a wuss and his bodyguard and PA both have the mayor’s back.
By the time the Wednesday dawns, the press are giving the mayor a run for his money as detectives Borque and Delgado try to make sense of what is happening.
As usual Barclay gives us a fascinating insight into human nature with a cast of characters that he draws so vibrantly, often in just a few brush strokes. He builds the tension so tightly that it is easy to imagine yourself transported to New York, city of the skyscraper where such panic surrounding the safety of the elevators is almost palpable. This is a city paralysed with fear. Barclay dips into the consequences of the elevator attacks for broader society, never letting us forget the diversity, both economic and socially of New York.
The climactic end is edge of the seat stuff and the twists he so seamlessly weaves in along the way make it a thrilling read.
The sub plots really drew me in and added to my appreciation of the storyline and the switching between the police procedure, the journalist and the mayor’s stories was appealing.
Loved it! Highly recommended.

Oh goodness. I thought I had got over that viewing, all those years ago, of the elevator/lift in Damien, but now I have read this book. No nightmares there, then!
What a chilling read. The title is very clever, and amused me. The plot was great, although the description of killings somewhat gruesome. It seemed to have a bit of many things, described as a crime thriller but with some police procedural, some quieter moments and some plain thriller. A really good read, and the latter part of the book in particular kept my attention to the detriment of everything else I should have been doing. I liked the misdirecting and the twist, and thought this book a well written, excellent thriller.
Not sure when I'll be getting in another lift, though.

The sheer volume of characters made this quite a difficult read for me, as it was sometimes hard to follow the individual stories and I had to go back and check who was who.

That said, the first third of the novel was completely gripping and, whilst it slowed in the middle it finished in a way I couldn’t see coming - so ended strongly.

Recommended, but wasn’t an easy type read for me.

I have read and enjoyed a few other titles by Linwood Barclay but I have mixed feelings about this one to be honest. It started off quite fast paced and I couldn't put it down. Somewhere part way through it lost me slightly, hopping and changing between characters. I kept forgetting who was who as there were so many "main" characters. Towards the end it began to get more interesting again and I hadn't guessed the ending, which was good. All in all a pretty good plot but I would cut out quite a lot of the chapters in the middle.

Super original this book gave me the chills! It's gory and fast paced and everything a good thriller should be.
I did some zone out at points and feel like it could of been made a little bit shorter but still really enjoyable.
I didn't guess the ending and had no idea about the huge twist so
that's a massive bonus for me.
I definitely preferred the second half of the book.
Overall this took some getting into but had me gripped when I got past the half way point.

This book was different from Linwood Barclays other books. I did not enjoy it as much.
But it does leave me very wary of getting into a lift. I have stopped reading it at the moment but would not rule out going back to it at a future time

I suppose you could say this book has its ups and downs, but it has a lot more. An excellent thriller, which starts out as a search for a serial murderer morphing into something very different. Located in high rise Manhattan, New York the author plays on everyone's fear of lifts, what happens when they go wrong? Full of intrigue and unexpected twists the story is jam packed full of thrills and high level terror. As if New York had not already had enough terror, now there is a whole new scenario to contemplate which makes you want to take the stairs all time. Recommended

I was a bit disappointed in Elevator Pitch. I think I was expecting something faster paced - maybe more elevator scenes. There are a lot of characters and its a bit hard to keep up with them. I have never read a book by this author before and although i didn't particularly enjoy this one I would definitely give this author another try.