Elevator Pitch by Linwood Barclay

Elevator Pitch by Linwood Barclay raises the terrifying prospect of what would happen in the world's most vertical city if somebody were tampering with the elevators. When the first accident happens on Monday in Manhattan, no one thinks much about it. When it happens again on Tuesday, people begin to worry. When another elevator crashes on Wednesday, the city is on the verge of panic.

Who is behind these tragedies and what does it have to do with a fingerless body found on the High Line? Two New York City detectives are working on the murder when they discover a connection to the elevator tragedies. Meanwhile, the mayor is desperate to see the crime solved before the scheduled Thursday opening of the city's newest, tallest residential tower, which happens to be owned by one of his biggest campaign contributors. A dogged reporter who has the mayor in her sights is also intent on finding out the cause of the tragedy to which she has a personal connection. Intersecting story lines, complicated characters whose motives are never entirely what they seem, and a ticking-clock plot make this one of the best thrillers of the year.

Much like he did in the Promise Falls trilogy, Barclay populates this novel with a large cast of characters whom he sets on intersecting agendas. What Barclay does maybe better than anyone else is give credible motives for all of the characters in his books. Even the characters who do despicable things have believable reasons behind their actions. Hand-in-hand with these complicated motivations, he scatters enough information to make more than one person plausible as the perpetrator. Barclay doles out the facts slowly over the course of the book until you have enough information to finally reveal the person behind the tragedies.

Strong characters who are well fleshed out, thrilling plot and a ticking clock that keeps you moving towards the conclusion make the pages fly by in this outstanding thriller. Barclay excels not only at describing horrific acts but in logically imagining both the practical and the political fallout from these incidents.

Elevator Pitch is a great stand-alone novel for any fans of thrillers and will be sure to please Barclay fans, especially fans of The Promise Falls trilogy. Highly recommended.

I was provided a copy of this book by the publisher.

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