Hyped-up novels come and go. Sometimes I agree with the ballyhoo, often I do not. For example, Imaginary Friend was getting a lot of praise high profile sources. About fifty pages in my hair started to ache. That one didn't work for me at all, and I threw in the towel.
I'd heard of Linwood Barclay before, of course. The man is a successful and popular writer of thrillers. His latest, Elevator Pitch, has been described as a high octane, must-read suspense novel.
Elevator Pitch is a prime example of what I would call a Popcorn Book. Like a big budget action movie, the book moves along at a frantic pace. Barclay certainly knows how to keep the reader turning the pages.
The premise is as ridiculous as it is irrepressible. Someone is controlling the elevators of New York City and is killing people with them. There is a lot of exciting set pieces in the novel, and it excels the most in its depiction of a city terrorized by party or parties unknown. Elevator Hackers.
It makes me fondly recall a really cool 1983 Dutch film from director Dick Maas called The Lift. Despite the equally ludicrous premise, The Lift is a taut, intelligent, scary movie. Elevator Pitch is taut, and comparatively suspenseful, but intelligent it is not.
While Elevator Pitch succeeds as an action story, it works far less well in its characters and their interactions. Despite attempts to give the people in Elevator Pitch distinctive characteristics, they come off as generic and one dimensional.
The melodrama reaches a fever pitch by the high concept finish. I couldn't stop reading, but at the same time I was inwardly rolling my eyes.
I feel that Elevator Pitch could make a successful feature film. The numerous spectacular action sequences would surely please audiences, and modern moviegoers don't seem to mind ham-handed drama and implausible plot devices.
I'd have to give Elevator Pitch the old one-hand-clapping response. If you are in the mood for a dumbed-down, but thoroughly readable thrill ride, you could do a whole lot worse. Just don't forget the popcorn.
Written by Mark Sieber
I'd heard of Linwood Barclay before, of course. The man is a successful and popular writer of thrillers. His latest, Elevator Pitch, has been described as a high octane, must-read suspense novel.
Elevator Pitch is a prime example of what I would call a Popcorn Book. Like a big budget action movie, the book moves along at a frantic pace. Barclay certainly knows how to keep the reader turning the pages.The premise is as ridiculous as it is irrepressible. Someone is controlling the elevators of New York City and is killing people with them. There is a lot of exciting set pieces in the novel, and it excels the most in its depiction of a city terrorized by party or parties unknown. Elevator Hackers.
It makes me fondly recall a really cool 1983 Dutch film from director Dick Maas called The Lift. Despite the equally ludicrous premise, The Lift is a taut, intelligent, scary movie. Elevator Pitch is taut, and comparatively suspenseful, but intelligent it is not.
While Elevator Pitch succeeds as an action story, it works far less well in its characters and their interactions. Despite attempts to give the people in Elevator Pitch distinctive characteristics, they come off as generic and one dimensional.
The melodrama reaches a fever pitch by the high concept finish. I couldn't stop reading, but at the same time I was inwardly rolling my eyes.
I feel that Elevator Pitch could make a successful feature film. The numerous spectacular action sequences would surely please audiences, and modern moviegoers don't seem to mind ham-handed drama and implausible plot devices.
I'd have to give Elevator Pitch the old one-hand-clapping response. If you are in the mood for a dumbed-down, but thoroughly readable thrill ride, you could do a whole lot worse. Just don't forget the popcorn.
Written by Mark Sieber
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