Elevator Pitch

by Linwood Barclay Narrated by Johnathan McClain

Overview

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 to 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 listenersto the bone.*

Bonus: Stay tuned at the end to hear a crowdsourced interview with the author.

Editorial Reviews

DECEMBER 2019 - AudioFile

This suspense, narrated superbly by Johnathan McClain, shows how the best audiobooks grab the listener at the outset and maintain their attention to the end. Linwood Barclay’s story begins when four people board a New York office building elevator, which ascends to the top floor and then suddenly plummets. What seems to be a random accident repeats the next day and the next, creating a frenzy of fear that paralyzes the city, and intensifies with subsequent events. Detectives, assisted by a seasoned journalist, must work frenetically to find the mastermind. As the suspense builds, so do the plot twists. McClain’s narration captures every moment with a deft change of pace, tone, or intensity. D.J.S. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine

The New York Times Book Review - Marilyn Stasio

…wildly inventive and really scary…

Publishers Weekly

07/15/2019

At the start of this gripping standalone from bestseller Barclay (A Noise Downstairs), an elevator in a Manhattan office building falls from the top floor to the bottom of the shaft, killing all four occupants. The next day, a similar fatal elevator incident occurs in a residential high-rise in another part of Manhattan. The day after that, a third falling elevator throws the city’s populace into a panic and normal activity all but ceases. Mayor Richard Headley, who’s running for reelection, must put campaigning aside to find out who’s behind the elevator sabotage and why. Meanwhile, NYPD Det. Jerry Bourque investigates the murder of a jogger, whose mutilated body was found on the High Line, the old elevated railroad that’s now a walkway. Barclay does a good job dramatizing the family dynamics of multiple characters, including the emotionally damaged Bourque, while building suspense as he slowly reveals how the jogger’s murder ties in with the elevator deaths. Readers who live on high floors will glance nervously toward the nearest stairs as they tear through this exciting thriller. Author tour. Agent: Helen Heller, Helen Heller Agency (Canada). (Sept.)

From the Publisher

Read Elevator Pitch as soon as possible. It’s one hell of a suspense novel.” — Stephen King

“This novel moves as fast as a falling elevator and hits with just as much force. Linwood Barclay is a stone cold pro and Elevator Pitch is a shameless good time.” — Joe Hill, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Fireman and Strange Weather

“Barclay [is] always good for a touch of cardiac arrest. . . . Chilling . . . wildly inventive and really scary.” — New York Times Book Review

“Mr. Barclay’s books are distinguished by wit and startling twists. In Elevator Pitch, he surpasses himself with a premise suited for the big screen, a plot filled with stunning surprises—and an ending that leaves the reader greatly satisfied.” — Wall Street Journal

“A vivid story with a compelling cast of characters mixed with a truly terrifying scenario. . . . Barclay has crafted a great thriller with a surprising ending and readers will sweat a little the next time they get on an elevator.” — Associated Press

“Barclay’s latest combines an engrossing, fast-moving, well-twisted modern-day plot with believable characters. Fans of psychological thrillers and the author’s previous books will love this.” — Library Journal (starred review)

“Elevator Pitch is a white-knuckled ride of a book with twists on every level and an unforgettable cast of characters brought to life with Linwood Barclay’s signature flair and acuity. I gulped it down.” — Gilly Macmillan, New York Times bestselling author of What She Knew and The Nanny

“An all stops-out thriller that will keep readers’ pulses pounding, particularly those of the acrophobes among us.” — Booklist

“Gripping. . . . Readers who live on high floors will glance nervously toward the nearest stairs as they tear through this exciting thriller.” — Publishers Weekly

New York Times Book Review

Barclay [is] always good for a touch of cardiac arrest. . . . Chilling . . . wildly inventive and really scary.

Joe Hill

This novel moves as fast as a falling elevator and hits with just as much force. Linwood Barclay is a stone cold pro and Elevator Pitch is a shameless good time.

Stephen King

Read Elevator Pitch as soon as possible. It’s one hell of a suspense novel.

Associated Press

A vivid story with a compelling cast of characters mixed with a truly terrifying scenario. . . . Barclay has crafted a great thriller with a surprising ending and readers will sweat a little the next time they get on an elevator.

Wall Street Journal

Mr. Barclay’s books are distinguished by wit and startling twists. In Elevator Pitch, he surpasses himself with a premise suited for the big screen, a plot filled with stunning surprises—and an ending that leaves the reader greatly satisfied.

Booklist

An all stops-out thriller that will keep readers’ pulses pounding, particularly those of the acrophobes among us.

Gilly Macmillan

Elevator Pitch is a white-knuckled ride of a book with twists on every level and an unforgettable cast of characters brought to life with Linwood Barclay’s signature flair and acuity. I gulped it down.

Wall Street Journal

Mr. Barclay’s books are distinguished by wit and startling twists. In Elevator Pitch, he surpasses himself with a premise suited for the big screen, a plot filled with stunning surprises—and an ending that leaves the reader greatly satisfied.

Booklist

An all stops-out thriller that will keep readers’ pulses pounding, particularly those of the acrophobes among us.

Stephen King

Read Elevator Pitch as soon as possible. It’s one hell of a suspense novel.

Booklist

An all stops-out thriller that will keep readers’ pulses pounding, particularly those of the acrophobes among us.

Wall Street Journal

Mr. Barclay’s books are distinguished by wit and startling twists. In Elevator Pitch, he surpasses himself with a premise suited for the big screen, a plot filled with stunning surprises—and an ending that leaves the reader greatly satisfied.

Kirkus Reviews

2019-07-01
People in Manhattan are falling to their deaths in maliciously rigged elevators. Is it terrorism at work? And if so, are the terrorists foreign or domestic?

If anyone is going to get to the bottom of things, it's hard-charging newspaper columnist Barbara Matheson. Overwhelmed New York Mayor Richard Headley, her favorite target, still has no idea what's going on after the third elevator crash or what measures to take: Dare he shut down all 70,000 elevators in the Big Apple, especially on the eve of the spectacular opening of Top of the Park, the city's second-tallest building? When a murder victim found on the popular High Line walkway with his fingertips cut off is belatedly identified as an elevator technician, the police have a possible link to the gruesome elevator deaths. But what does the subsequent bombing of a cab have to do with them? Barclay (A Noise Downstairs, 2018, etc.) is an old hand at twisty, tantalizing plots. But as promising as the premise is, it never really goes anywhere. A combination of so-so surprises, contrived turns, and gratuitous elements take the air out of the story, which also involves Barbara's contentious daughter, Arla, and the mayor's belittled son and adviser, Glover. A recurring motif is characters with restrictive physical conditions being forced to climb many flights of stairs. They include police detective Jerry Bourque, whose shrink's diagnosis that his wheezing condition is psychosomatic gets put to the test.

While there's much to enjoy in Barclay's latest, the book too often sells itself and the reader short.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940170152582
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	09/17/2019
Edition description:	Unabridged

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