Well I made the mistake of reading this while on holiday in Vegas and having to deal with a lot of elevators!!! When an elevator accident in Manhattan is followed by more on following day it soon becomes clear there's more going on than a simple malfunction and the incidents are terrifyingly portrayed.

Along with the elevator incidents a number of other violent crimes are occurring and Elevator Pitch sets out to take you on a twisty tale to see how these things are all connected or not. Unfortunately the path was a bit too twisty for my liking; constant and numerous POV changes made it hard to really get much of a feel for the characters leaving them all feeling a bit flat.

I did love the core idea and story line of elevators being used as a way to terrorise a city and the little stories around the hapless victims and the incidents themselves were very vivid and tense. However the numerous side threads / red-herrings that added so little to the story made it a bit of a drag in places. No real surprise on the bad guy but I do read a lot of crime books so it takes a lot to throw me. Very interesting concept just didn’t quite hit the high I hoped for.

My thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

A Chilling and intricate plot with a labyrinthine series of twists and turns.

The play on ‘elevator pitch’ was cleverly conceived and maintained as a leit motif throughout the novel. It would make a fantastic film. The characters are strong and varied, even the cameos are convincing and based on the social stereotypes that we know. There is often a sudden draft as if a window on a cold day has been opened as the writer creeps in to mess your mind up a little bit more.

A fascinating insight to a city at work and play and of course how it ascends to great heights. I will never look at a lift in the same way again.

Brilliantly written, a plot that maintains its strength from beginning to end. Definitely one to read and keep you gripped.!

This was such a gripping read. I raced through it , reading it in just over a day. I am slightly nervous now because I am going to New York next month. Believable, edge of seat stuff!

I have read many of Linwood Barclays precious books and this one is the most disappointing. Whilst the plot line was interesting the delivery felt laborious and slow and I did not warm to the characters. This is certainly not one of the authors best.

If you want a thriller with lots of layers, a large cast of characters (and perspectives), and a premise that will keep you up at night this is the book for you. If this sounds like something you'll like, skip the rest of this review and read it right now.
This book had a lot more to it than I expected; it was political, thrilling but with a dash of horror. It had a great cast of really distinctive characters and it was well written; it had a great story arc, character development and relationship arcs.
This is the first I have read from this author but I will definitely be reading more from him in the future. I found this to be very Stephen-King esque, the only difference is I loved this book and I hated the Stephen King I have read

If you have ever stepped onto a passenger lift and thought, “What if the cable broke?” you will relate fully to the core plot of Linwood Barclay’s ELEVATOR PITCH. The book begins with an actual elevator pitch; a frustrated would be script writer sneaks past security to approach the executive whom he has targeted as the prospective champion of his work, cornering her in an elevator which then proceeds to move randomly between floors before plummeting down the shaft. Over the next few days, more elevator tragedies occur and Barclay’s cast of characters, including the, possibly shady, Mayor of New York, his aide and son, a news reporter and her estranged daughter, are drawn into the events and their aftermath.

The book is as fast moving and tense as one would expect from Linwood Barclay, tightly plotted and relatable, believable characters. The events are on a larger, 1970s disaster movie-like, scale than his previous novels which I have read and it does suffer slightly in comparison with some due to the lack of focus, the multiple viewpoint character. But ELEVATOR PITCH is a thrill-ride, a claustrophobic, breathless pleasure to read.

Loved this book. Caught my attention at the beginning, slowed a little in the middle then a fantastic ending.

Reminds me why I have avidly read Linwood Barclay’s books over the years.

4.5 stars

You rise, then you fall. Horrifically. This novels pace and thrill mirrors the rise and fall of the elevator. A race against the final stop of the elevator, to solve the rise and fall mystery chilling New York. This novel is a triumph!

This was a true thriller in all respects. Somebody has taken control of some of New York’s elevators. After three ‘accidents’ causing numerous deaths, the hunt is on. NYPD detectives Bourque and Delgado are trying to find a motive for the crimes, but is reporter Barbara Matheson alone in suspecting that controversial mayor,Richard Headley, is somehow involved.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this story. It was a page turner that kept me guessing. I thought I had worked it out half way through, then events unfolded to show me I was wrong. The final scenes on the 98th floor of an apartment building, kept me engrossed in the book.

Linwood Barclay’s books are well loved by many, and this is another one to add to the list of must reads.

Unfortunately, this book failed to grip me. I was expecting so much more from one of my favourite crime thriller authors. I found that due to the numerous plots going on in this book the tension I expected never materialised. Likewise, the characters lacked depth which for me made me less interested in what happened to any of them. I did enjoy Elevator Pitch, but I've read better. books by this author. However, check out other reviews for this book as so many loved it.

Elevator Pitch is a book that left me with some mixed feelings. On the whole I really liked the idea of someone hacking into elevators and sending unsuspecting victims to some very gory deaths. It turns something which can be a bit mundane into something sinister and certainly made me wary getting into my hotel lift to the 15th floor after reading! The deaths portrayed are also nice and gruesome, they made me wince and shake my head quite a few times which was great.

My negatives were in all the padding around the crimes – for one there were way too many characters that we are introduced to and carried on hearing about all the way through the book. None of these particularly felt very fleshed out – perhaps because they didn’t get enough ‘screen time’ and some of the loose ends disappeared into oblivion towards the end. We heard from the Mayor, his son, his aide, his PA, a journalist, her daughter, two detectives on the case (one of which I didn’t even realise was female until the very end of the book), a shady businessman, his wife, a contracted killer as well as brief life histories and narration of a lot of the victims before their deaths – all of which felt way too much. It would have been better to just focus on Barbara, her daughter Arla and one of the detectives rather than trying to get into the minds of so many of the red herring or side characters.

The plot also seemed to jump around and provide way too many threads to keep the story sufficiently coherent. There was the menacing Russian government which felt too cliched to be real, a shady terrorist group called the Flyovers that I didn’t at all understand the motives of, two blossoming love stories, unexplained vague flashbacks which weren’t properly revealed until the very end, a detective facing psychological issues from a previous case which was also never properly clarified, family issues – it was just all too much.

Overall Elevator Pitch could have been more effective with a simpler approach for me – less characters and a more straight forward plot. Thank you to NetGalley and HQ Stories for a chance to read the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed the Elevator Pitch. I was gripped from page one, although I felt it was a little slow in places further into the story, it was still a page-turner with some interesting twists and turns. Overall, it was a satisfying read.

I am an avid Linwood Barclay reader so I knew before I started this book would be good. And it wasn't just good it was amazing. The writing, the tension and the plot captivated me straight away. So much so I think it's due another read.

Elevator Pitch by Linwood Barclay is so well written that you actually get the jitters when you get into a lift. The descriptions of the incidents will leave you so shaken that you need to take a moment before reading on. In the same vein, you can’t wait to turn the page to read on. Think “Jaws” the movie and going to the beach or “Psycho” and getting in the shower. With this book you will be feel uneasy before getting into a lift. One lift incident followed by another in a space of 24hrs might be considered an unfortunate coincidence but when a third occurs in as many days, there is a race to find who the culprit is, what the motive is and how to put a stop to it. This book will get your pulse racing.

OMG this book was intense!

Right from the beginning I found this impossible to put down, it’s dark, it’s gripping and it made my heart race!

I’m not that familiar with Linwood Barclay books; I’ve read a couple but after this I am wondering why I haven’t read more.

Firstly I have to admit that I always enjoy Linwood Barclay’s books so knew I was in for a treat when I got this one. OMG from the very first pages I was hooked. What an incredible storyline and in the hands of one of the best crime writers made this a thrill to read. It is so refreshing to read a story that is unique, however scary the premise is. Well done Linwood Barclay i cant wait for your next one

Wow! What a roller coaster ride of a read that was, a superbly written thriller contains not only great characters but the storyline is so plausible in this day where we are so reliant on everyday machinery to help us, when having to take the stairs is such an outrageous concept that it causes total chaos. Of course though the real problem is the reason the Elevators are out of action in the first place. </p>


The book starts on Monday, and three deaths turn into four as a badly injured survivor of what appears to be a random elevator accident breathes her last breath in hospital. This doesn't appear to be so bad until Tuesday brings another elevator accident, this time involving a Russian scientist who happened to be a biochemist holding information regarding biochemicals and terrorism.


Of course, whilst all this is happening Detectives Jerry Bourque and Lois Delgado are hunting a killer who's left an unidentifiable body - on the highline - when they find out who he is and that he was a elevator repair man, they start putting two and two together and getting the correct answer.</p>

So, when Wednesday brings more deaths, and then a bombing the city becomes a chaotic mass of tourists, and employees trying to get home to safety and out of every other tourist attraction in NYC, for fear of more bombings. Just as the Mayor - Richard Headley asks for all elevators to be closed, until every elevator in the city is checked and passed for safety reasons. Two people are shot in a Hotel Bathroom - the more involved the plot becomes - whos behind all this?

The chaos continues into Thursday - but the elevators in the newest and tallest building in the city - Top of the Park - get checked in time for the opening night party, being attended by everyone who's anyone - including the Mayor and several of his friends who've donated thousands to his campaigns. Barbara Matheson, a journalist with a history of following Headley is also there, and secures the story of the century. Of Course, Bourque and Delgardo are also onto who's actually behind the elevator issues and crash the party - but do they make it in time?

Stunning - a real page-turner that had me thinking I knew who it was, nope - wrong again. Linwood Barclay is a true magician with words and knows how to keep the reader interested, Elevator Pitch is a top-rated 5/5 for me!

I can stop holding my breath now I have finished reading. This book is absolutely amazing. So gripping with lots of twists. I literally couldn't read the last few chapters quick enough. This is by far the best book to date by Linwood Barclay. This definitely needs to be made into a movie.

On Monday morning four people enter an elevator in an office building. They each press the button for their designated floors but the elevator sails passed them right to the top. Once there it sits idle for a few minutes before plummeting to the ground killing three immediately and one a few hours later from her injuries.

On Tuesday an elevator malfunctions in an apartment block and stops dead. Inside is a young boy on his way to school and a Russian scientist. They manage to prise open the doors and the scientist climbs out but upon reaching for her purse the elevator drops, killing her instantly.

On Wednesday an elevator door opens and two people step on, but there is no elevator and they fall, luckily not too far. Injured but alive people come to their rescue, that is until the elevator moves down crushing the pair.

New York is in terror as the residents and workers refuse to use the elevators leaving some people stranded in their high-rise buildings. The Mayor is catapulted into the limelight as people want answers and what does a fingerless man found dead on the Highline have to do with the issue? It’s up to detectives Jerry Bourque and Lois Delgado to work quickly and put the pieces together.

If you have a fear of elevators (lifts) then you might want to give this book a miss, for those that don’t have a fear of them this might make you think twice before stepping onto one!

Elevator Pitch is an intense thriller that weaves a lot of plotlines together. In the beginning, I was a little confused as the book moved from the initial accident onto a journalist and her dealings with the New York Mayor. We then meet two detectives who are dealing with a crime scene on the Highline where a man has been found brutally murdered and his fingers cut off.

I struggled a little to try to work out how all these characters and scenes would come together but once we find out who the murdered man is and the events that occurred on Tuesday everything starts to come clear and the book began to make sense again. It’s at this point the book truly came alive and I raced through it.

Not only do we have elevators malfunctioning there is also a terrorist on the loose blowing up things. Are the two connected?

This is the first book by Linwood Barclay that I have read and from how much enjoyment I had reading it, it won’t be my last. Elevator Pitch is chilling and exciting, yes, it begins slowly but keep going as it certainly will take you for a ride. The ending is perfect and I like how it incorporated the prologue too.

Unfortunately, this book failed to grip me. I simply found it too bitty and the core plot was lost amongst the sub-plots. Likewise, I failed to really get to know the characters, apart from Barbara, again they became lost with so much going on. Don't get me wrong, I did enjoy it and I did finish it, but I've read better. However, check out other reviews for this book as so many loved it.

Many thanks to Netgalley for a copy of this ARC for which I have given my voluntary and unbiased review.