would like to thank netgalley and the publisher for letting me read this book

well you wouldnt want to get in a lift in new york after reading this book

new york has a problem though it doesnt know it yet...several lifts start to act strange, could it be an accident or has someone else taken control and is playing a deadly game...

there is also the flyover gang that seem to have terrorist ideas, are they behind the recent lift episodes....

i have to admit finding the first half of the book a little hard going and was finding other things to do rather than pick it up again but i carried on and actually a few of the characters i started to enjoy and wanted to see how it all panned out...love the journalist, she was a brilliant character all the way through

ending was amazing so i am glad i carried on...

I have read many Linwood Barclay books although I haven’t read one for a while as I found they were getting a bit too far fetched for me. I loved the sound of Elevator Pitch so thought I’d give Mr Barclay another try. I’m glad I did.

New York is experiencing problems with their elevators. This causes panic in the most vertical city in the US.

This is a crime procedural and you follow the NYPD, the Mayor’s Office and a NY based newspaper journalist as they race to find out what has happened.

I enjoyed the book but I wasn’t blown away. If you’re looking for a good solid read this is for you!

It pains me to say this but this just isnt Linwood Barclay at his best.

I've always loved the way Barclay writes his fast paced complex stories but in all honesty this one actually confused me.

There were so many characters I failed to keep up at times and had to backtrack and remind myself who was who, they just weren't developed enough to connect them.

The story is slow going until you get yo the last few chapters, not as fast paced as previous novels.

The whole plot idea was brilliant I just don't feel it's been pulled off sadly.

It had the elements of a good thriller but in my opinion it had TOO many!

On a positive note the ending was fantastic, just a shame the rest didnt live up to what I was expecting.

2.5* from me.

Thanks to netgalley and HQ for the ARC.

Really enjoyed reading Elevator Pitch, the action kept flowing and the reveals were well worked so that they were not telegraphed pages before the reveal. Liked the mix of technical and emotional threads. Will be adding Linwood Barclay to my "read this author list"

Thank you for the opportunity to read Linwood Barclay's latest book. I was not disappointed and had never actually thought about how prohibiting use of all lifts in a city would almost bring it to a standstill. A great theme of a fast-paced story!

Linwood Barclay is one of my go to authors and he has not disappointed me with this book. Ths book may trouble those with fears of elevators and high rise buildings as although it is an incredible plot it is highly believable at the same time.

I am mindful of giving too much detail as I do not like reviews that give too much of the story away I evolving "spoilers".

Set in New York it involves what initially looks like a tragic accident in a high rise elevator but when over the next couple of days another 2 similar events occur, it is clear this is sabotage. Simultaneously there are bombing incidents which seemingly may or may not be linked to these events.
Fears result in all the elevators in the city being shut down until they have been looked at or the perpetrators being caught. This unsurprisingly causes havoc as people are unable to work and there are a number of medical emergencies. It makes the reader consider what an event like this or similar would do to the infrastructure of a major city.

Who is responsible? is this the work of terrorists, a vengeful individual, a foreign government. A political group?
This fast paced thriller had me guessing, re-thinking but still I did not work it out with a surprising and thrilling climax. This book does hold the readers attention from the first to last page

I would like to thank Netgalley and HQ for providing me with my ARC copy of the book I exchange for an honest and unbiased review

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40651621-elevator-pitch#other_reviews

I really enjoyed this, the whole thing was fast paced and entertaining. I liked the characters, the twists and it had a great ending. Just the thought of Manhatten without elevators is a cardio nightmare!

When you pick up a Linwood Barclay book you know your reading what’s going to be a best seller. Elevator pitch is no different. Linwood Barclay has again managed an edge of your seat thriller with twists thrown in.
Detective Bourque is a cop who is traumatised by a shooting a couple of years ago. He is partnered with Detective Delgardo. They have been called in to investigate the brutal death of a man found on the high line walkway. Missing fingers and face beaten beyond recognition the need to find out who he is.
Barbara Matheson is a newspaper columnists on a mission to reveal the real Mayor Richard Headley.
New York is then devastated when the city’s elevators start causing deaths, people are plunging to their deaths. Matheson makes it her mission to find out what’s happening when she discovers that one of the first victims is an old colleague.
During the book we are also introduced to Arla who is Barbara’s daughter and Glover the Mayors son who is often put down in front of others.
All events lead up to the opening of The Top of The Park. The newest and tallest building in Manhattan. Whatever could possibly go wrong and who is behind the sabotage.
This is a book you won’t put down and will leave you breathless at the end.

Elevator Pitch is a fast paced suspense thriller. Right from the first chapter I was hooked and didn’t want to put it down. An excellent read with great characters.

What a ride. Took me a chapter or two to get into this book - so many characters are introduced in the first chapters - but once it got going properly it was amazing. Why would anyone cause elevators to crash on purpose killing innocent people? Are they the same people who are blowing up coastal towns?

I really enjoyed this book and the ending suprised me - I thought that I had it all worked out too!

I received a free advance review copy. This review is voluntary, honest and my own view.

Okay, this terrified me from the go as I hate lifts (I'm British) and any enclosed space really, so the premise of lift accidents is horrific to me. 'Elevator Pitch' spins together different characters and stories into one through the course of this novel. There's a great mix of personalities all dealing with the situations they are in, or the aftermath of past experiences. From a power crazed politician to a struggling, panic attack-stricken detective.
I have read and liked other Linwood Barclay books, but I have to admit it took me quite a while to get into this one, I found the initial pacing slow and found the meandering story-telling frustrating. Thankfully it develops to hold interest as the strands begin to come together in a mesh of political intrigue and plotting to gritty journalism and murder investigation officers and their lives.
I would recommend it but not my most enjoyable Barclay read - but a 100% recommended author.

A thriller about elevators? Well yes and no as there’s so much more to enjoy in this very pacy thriller by Linwood Barclay. Great title for a storyline that opens with a pitch for a script in an elevator but then the descent becomes much darker. A hard-bitten journalist, Barbara Matheson who works for Manhattan Today and who has a difficult relationship with her daughter Arla, a New York mayor with the butt-of-many-jokes name of Richard Headley and Jerry Bourque, a cop with panic attacks are the main characters but there is a supporting cast of well drawn players such as the man behind the Flyovers, a US militant group, which soon becomes the main suspect for bombings and elevator accidents and the Mayor’s closest aides which include his son Glover and a mister fixit by the name of Chris Vallans. A particularly gruesome murder on New York’s High Line is the starting point in the investigation for Jerry Bourque and his sidekick Lois Delgado but as the elevator murder victims stack up the tension mounts. This is a slick thriller with great characterisation and a really clever plot which will appeal to all fans of this genre. Thanks to Harlequin UK for the ARC.

A thrill ride from start to finish, although you may be wary of taking the elevator (lift for us Brits) for a while!

The tension in this book is constantly ramped up as it becomes more and more clear that someone is targeting the elevators in New York, a city that relies on them more than most. Being trapped on one as you loose all control over it is a terrifying prospect.

Linwood Barclay does a terrific job of showing the effect on not only those in the elevators and their families, but also those who have to rely on them every day because they live or work in a tall building, or for health reasons.

The characters within the story were all interesting and well developed, and we learn a lot about each of them, which is surprising given how many there are.

There are a number of times I thought I had figured out who was behind the terror, but I was kept guessing right until the big reveal.

Just don’t read it while you are in an elevator!

There is something deliciously safe yet still scary reading about one of your fears isn’t there?
I cant stand lifts/elevators and so absolutely couldn’t wait to read about something I could MORE than imagine
Even if your not wary of lifts everyone knows that somersault tummy moment when the door of the lift doesn’t open quite quickly enough and you wonder......
In Elevator Pitch you meet ‘normal’ people who are in lifts whilst New York is suffering a spate of tragic accidents relating to lifts, like any good disaster film, you get to know them quickly and then they are embroiled in the disaster, same as in this book
I felt every panic, every ‘false bit of humour’ and every manic hope as these people became involved in a ‘lift event’, some survive and some don’t, it felt very realistic to me
The book then through various characters comes to solve what and why this is happening and ends on a scene to make ‘Towering Inferno’ proud!
Now, its very American, thats not a criticism just an observation, the actual descriptions of New York are wonderful, the author obviously loves it and it built a great picture of the City in my mind
The characters, from the typecast Mayor ( with secrets ) to the embittered journo trying to cause the Mayor as much hassle as she can are not immediately or in some
cases ever likeable but they play their parts well although it did take me a while to ‘get to know them’
All in all a satisfyingly chilling read with breathing space for everything to be told and come together in a thrilling ending
10/10
5 Stars

Elevator Pitch by Linwood Barclay is a thrilling edge of your seat contemporary suspense that will have your heart racing. It is set in New York City where the clock is ticking down as the residents are thrown into panic and turmoil.
The novel is concerned with politics and agendas – the problem with agendas is that people suffer.
The novel is about fathers – their influence for good or bad.
As the murder count rises, the reader tries to piece together the action and predict the guilty one. Once again I failed but fell for the red herrings along the way.
Love motivates action – for good or evil, as people want to equal the score.
We live in the present but beware of the past rising up to haunt us.
Family is important. We all want to know our roots.
Linwood Barclay has created an eclectic mix of characters in this fast paced thriller in the city that never sleeps. I instinctively warmed to some but not others. I could not spot the perpetrator, see if you can. One thing is certain – I will not be in a hurry to take any elevator any time soon!
Elevator Pitch was my first book by Linwood Barclay but it will not be my last. It was marvellous. I shall be hunting out more by him. I think Elevator Pitch would make a marvellous movie.
I received this book for free. A favourable review was not required and all views expressed are my own.

My thanks to Netgalley and Harper Collins publishers for an ARC of this book in return for an honest review. I requested this novel having read about two-thirds of Linwood Barclay’s works and found each one to be a winner. Set in New York, we have a fairly slow start with three seemingly unconnected strands which you know will become one whole eventually. There’s lots of subtle humour, much of it ironic, poking fun at the political system in the city, which is enjoyable. Sabotaging lifts is a nifty idea for a terrorist plot in a “vertical city” where everyone is forced to use elevators and modern technology is now being used to update the machinery.

As well as being rather slow I did struggle with rather too many characters. There are also one or two silly ideas in the plot, but to explain them would constitute spoilers. Maybe I’m being dense, but who exactly the protest group, “The Flyovers” were, what they stood for and what they hoped to achieve didn’t seem clear to me. It pains me to write it, but this is not one of Linwood Barclay’s better novels. Good idea for a plot but he doesn’t really pull it off. Others may disagree with me.

A fast paced thriller just as I'd expect from Barclay. Certainly kept me turning the pages until the breathtaking conclusion! Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing an advanced reading copy.

Another great page turner by Linwood
Barclay. Set in NYC this thriller had good guys, bad guys, politics and pressure. A few clever twists and overall a pacey enthralling read to be highly recommended.

Well, that's put me off lifts for life!
A new Linwood Barclay is always a cause for celebration and, although I miss Promise Falls, this was a good stand alone story with his typical multi stranded narratives and a satisfying ending. I didn't feel it was one of his best, but very enjoyable nonetheless.
Thank you to netgalley and HQ books for an advance copy of this book

I'm a big fan of Linwood Barclay and so I was looking forward to his latest. I wasn't disappointed. I.particularly love the way in which the story starts with what seems like a hundred different unrelated strands which slowly weave together to spin a complete web by the final chapter. Recommend!