BOOK REVIEW – Elevator Pitch by Linwood Barclay #Thriller #ReadingCommunity #ProvidedForReview #Elevator #ImTakingTheStairs

BOOK BLURB:

The New York Times bestselling author of A Noise Downstairs and No Time for Goodbye 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 in which a series of disasters paralyzes New York City with fear.

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, non-stop, to the top. Once there, it stops for a few seconds, and then plummets.

Right to the bottom of the shaft.

It appears to be a horrific, random tragedy. But then, on Tuesday, it happens again, in a different Manhattan skyscraper. And when Wednesday brings yet another high-rise catastrophe, 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 working. Fearing for their lives, thousands of men in women working in offices across the city refuse leave their homes. Commerce has slowed to a trickle. Emergency calls to the top floors of apartment buildings go unanswered.

Who is behind this? Why are they doing it? What do these deadly acts of sabotage have to do with the fingerless body found on the High Line? Two seasoned New York detectives and a straight-shooting journalist must race against time to find the answers before the city’s newest, and tallest, residential tower has its Friday night ribbon-cutting.

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

The blurb sounds great, right!?!?

Getting stuck in an Elevator (Or a lift – because I’m Scottish and we don’t usually say Elevator) is horrible. Truly horrible. It has only happened to me once and that was more than a decade ago and I still remember the claustrophobia and the fear. And that lift didn’t suddenly plummet. SCARY. Scary stuff.

The book starts off with a terrifying bang and doesn’t let up.

I have wanted to read something by Linwood Barclay for a long time now, his books have been on my wishlist for ages, but they have never quite made it over to my TBR pile. Why has it taken me SO long to read anything by Linwood Barclay? WHY?!?!

So, when Elevator Pitch popped up on NetGalley I hit that request button and crossed all my fingers and toes… can you even cross your toes? Nope, I can’t. Just as well I’m typing this at home!

And going by the BLOCKBUSTER that was Elevator Pitch I have been missing out!

The writing was fast paced, and the plot was well thought out, even if I did feel there was maybe a few surplus smaller subplots. And I loved all the short snappy chapters – I’ve been finding short snappy chapters in quite a few books so far and I almost always love them. Long may the trend of short and snappy continue!

I really enjoyed Elevator Pitch – there was never a dull moment, the action, the intrigue and the suspense didn’t stop. It was action packed from start to finish. But what I loved more than all the thrilling twists and turns, were the characters. Often in action packed thrillers character development can take a back seat – it’s the action that is firmly centre stage. But Linwood Barclay found the sweet spot – the balance that makes this a memorable read for me. So many of the characters were well developed and interesting, I thought Barbara was great.

And I LOVED the ending – wow! I didn’t guess it. I wasn’t even close with my guesses.

Elevator pitch was original. Totally over the top. And a definite page turner. It reminded me a bit of one of those action movies that will never win any awards but is exactly what you want to watch on a Saturday night with a delicious takeaway.

Entertaining.

Elevator Pitch was entertaining. And sometimes all I want is an easy and entertaining read, don’t you?

I don’t live anywhere like the vertical world of New York and after reading Elevator Pitch, I am very glad that my regular daily life does not involve anything more than a few flights of stairs.

Have you read Elevator Pitch? Have you read any of Linwood Barclay’s other books – I would love some recommendations on what to read next?

I received a copy of the book from the publisher via NetGalley – Thank you!