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Thursday, September 12, 2019

#ATBR2019 Review: Elevator Pitch by Linwood Barclay @wmmorrowbooks @linwood_barclay @jessmapreviews

Elevator Pitch 
by Linwood Barclay 

Thank you to William Morrow books for these copies.


Publisher: William Morrow
Publish Date: September 17, 2019
Hardcover
464 Pages
Standalone
Genres: Psychological Suspense, Thriller


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 ribbon-cutting on Thursday.

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.

My Review:


As someone who has been stuck in an elevator twice in NYC, this book really has me side eyeing all the elevators I may be going on (you canNOT avoid them in this city)... and let's be real - I'm too lazy for stairs so I guess I'll just be taking my chances! ;)

I loved Barclay's A Noise Downstairs and was so excited for this copy of Elevator Pitch and once again, the author gives us a binge worthy dive into a thrilling world where one of the characters has my exact birthday AND he references places in MY NEIGHBORHOOD - there's something so giddy about that.  There are TONS of thrillers set in NYC as we know, but when they come to Astoria for even a blip and mention places I've been - well, YES!

Now, I'll let you in on a little secret - this DOES get a little convoluted - there's a background to relationships that I think didn't *need* to be added - it, at the end of the day, didn't really lend itself to the story.  And the reasoning behind these attacks seemed a bit lackluster after the buildup over these few days as things, ahem, escalated.   BUT, take away from some of this, and once again it's a binge worthy read where you have to suspend reality and just enjoy the crazy that happens.

I think some long time thriller readers will have issues with this book and I think had I been a different mood, I might've felt the same because I SEE IT, but at the end of the day.... I was entertained, loved the characters honestly and applaud the effort.


★★★★

Jessica's Review:


I read and loved A NOISE DOWNSTAIRS by Linwood Barclay when I picked it up last year, so I was anxious to see what thrill ride we had in store this time. ELEVATOR PITCH is more of a police procedural, so it moves a little slower than you would be anticipating coming off of some of his other books. I think this will really help knowing before starting! That doesn't mean it wasn't another binge read, though.

Imagine getting in the elevator, like any other work day, and then the elevator shoots up to the top floor. As if that wouldn't be terrifying enough, the elevator comes crashing down to the bottom of the shaft. Was this just a freak accident? When each day brings a new elevator crash, this is beginning to look less and less accidental. Two detectives must race against the clock before Friday's opening of tallest residential tower in the city. Will they be able to catch this killer before it's too late?

You'll definitely have to suspend some belief for this one, but I still really enjoyed it. The only real reason I dropped it below 4 stars was because there was a lull or two for me. I loved the characters and how crazy everything got - this is still a complete binge read! If you're a fan of Linwood Barclay, then you need to pick this one up.

3.5 stars

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