Elevator Pitch

Author: Linwood Barclay
Genre: Suspense, Canadian
Type: Trade Paperback
Pages: 464
Source: Personal Copy
Publisher: Doubleday Canada
First Published: September 17, 2019
Opening Lines: Stuart Bland figured if he posted himself close to the elevators, there was no way he could miss Sherry D'Agostino.

Book Description from GoodReads: The #1 bestselling Linwood Barclay returns with an edge-of-your-seat thriller that does for elevators what Psycho did for showers and Jaws did for the beach--a heart-pounding tale of terror and menace that will make you think twice the next time you hit Up.

It all begins on a Monday, when four people board an elevator in a Manhattan office tower. Each presses a button for their floor, but the elevator proceeds, nonstop, to the top. Once there it pauses for a few seconds, but the doors don't open. Instead, the elevator begins to descend floor-by-floor. Then it plummets.

Right to the bottom of the shaft.

It appears to be a random accident. . . . But on Tuesday, it happens again, in a different Manhattan skyscraper. And then Wednesday brings yet another tragic high-rise catastrophe. In only three days, one of the most vertical cities in the world--and the nation's capital of media, finance and entertainment--is plunged into chaos.

Clearly, this is anything but random. This is a cold, calculated bid to terrorize the city. And it's succeeding. Fearing for their lives, thousands of men and women working in offices across the city refuse to leave their homes. Commerce has slowed to a trickle. Emergency calls to the top floors of apartment towers go unanswered.

Who is behind this? Why are they doing it? Are these deadly acts of sabotage somehow connected to a fingerless body found on the High Line? Two seasoned New York detectives and a straight-shooting journalist race against time to uncover the truth before the city's newest, and tallest, residential tower has its ribbon-cutting on Friday night.

With each diabolical twist, Linwood Barclay ratchets up the tension, building to a shattering finale. Elevator Pitch is a riveting tale of psychological suspense that is all too plausible . . . and will chill you to the bone.

My Rating: 3.5 stars

My Review: I bought a copy of Elevator Pitch with only a basic idea of the premise, but with the online buzz (and Stephen King's kudos) I thought it was a safe bet for this avid suspense reader.

The book starts off with a bang … or a terrifying splat (to be more accurate) and things take off from there. I was riveted to the pages as New York, a city of 70,000 elevators, becomes targeted by someone manipulating elevators resulting in several deaths and widespread mayhem.

I've always been drawn to Barclay's style of writing. I enjoy how he gives even his most tertiary characters a wee bit of backstory that helps me to connect with them. From the cops to the journalist to the mayor and even some of the victims, readers get a well-rounded view of things.

But in the middle, the energy wavered, and it didn't take long for me to zone in on the culprit. There is a red herring but it's too obvious be to considered an option and a couple of coincidences that were too convenient to be believable didn't help matters. But there is a great, nail-biting ending. I just wish that tension was infused into the middle of the book (I was expecting more elevator terror, I suppose).

All in all, this is an entertaining story that will result in readers having some pretty awesome calf muscles because after reading this book, you'll be wanting to take the stairs for the foreseeable future.