Released on 5th September from the HQ
Imprint of HarperCollins in the UK and Ireland; and on September 17th
from the William Morrow imprint of HarperCollins in the US and Canada, it’s
time to mark your diaries.
I read extensively, and am most enthused by work that makes
me think, to ponder, as well exposure to well-written narrative, especially those
that are a tad different from the pack, a tad weird. Elevator Pitch is one such
thriller, weird and different.
I’ve been a long-term reader
of the work of Linwood Barclay, but little prepared me for his latest
thriller, Elevator Pitch, as it provoked thought as it entertained me.
This new work by Linwood
Barclay is his most audacious, blending character to a high-tech,
high-concept premise inducing vertigo in the reader. Following from the
claustrophobia of his last novel, A
Noise Downstairs; Barclay broadens his vista moving from a suburban
backdrop to the big city.
New York becomes gripped by what appears as a
tragedy, a freak accident - but soon becomes something worse, something
perplexing to a city that relies on height to function. An elevator (aka
‘Lift’) in Lansing Tower malfunctions taking with it a wannabe (and desperate)
screenwriter trying to pitch his script to an executive of Cromwell
Entertainment. It contains two others. The elevator ascends to the top of the
skyscraper and then descends into free-fall. The horrific deaths of the four
occupants trapped in that elevator eponymously gives this thriller its
signature, and curiously, a theme of sorts.
Elevator Pitch is one of the most exciting
thrillers I’ve read this year. Its intriguing and thought-provoking premise was
matched by the startling denouement, ensuring it was well-worth the ride. Despite its heft, and narrative complexity,
it is a very fast read.
It’s a book that made me pause when those
lift-doors closed. I pondered if it would have been better for my health if I
had taken the stairwell.
Read the full review from Shots Magazine HERE
So, with a few burning questions, Linwood agreed to a short
interview with this extraordinary book released shortly -
Ali: So, the most pressing question first,
where did you get the premise for Elevator
Pitch?
Linwood: I wish I could say the idea came to me
when I was trapped in an elevator. Truth is, I heard an item on the Toronto
news that the city did not have enough elevator
inspectors. There hadn’t been a tragedy, but they wanted to be sure they
were on guard for one. And the idea, of someone who kills by sabotaging
elevators, was suddenly just THERE.
Ali: Do you have a preference between the small
town / suburban backdrop of your previous work such as A
Noise Downstairs to the broader vista of a Techno-Thriller
such as Trust
your Eyes?
Linwood: I’m okay with either, but if I’m going
to set a book in a big city, I have to have a sense of it. And I’ve spent a lot
of time in New York, so I felt comfortable setting it there. This book HAD to
be set there. As for small towns, you don’t have to worry so much about
geographical details. You can invent them. You can invent the whole town.
Ali: And tell us as a writer how you manage a
large cast of characters, making them distinct and vivid for the reader?
Linwood: Honestly, I don’t really think about
that. I create the people I need and give them the background I think suits
them.
Ali: Did you plot Elevator Pitch in detail or
had you just the premise and the conclusion, and worked on that high-wire?
Linwood: I had a lot of it worked out in my
head before I began, who did it and why. But I was a hundred pages or so into
the book when I figured out how the book had to end – a big climactic scene at the
top of a new Manhattan skyscraper.
Ali: And the short chapters?
Linwood: I have a short attention span. But
seriously, I think short chapters keep a story moving, and allow you to jump
from scene to scene more easily.
Ali: I find that in your work, all the cast
have flaws of some sort, some more than others. What is it about the
fallibility of the human condition that interests you?
Linwood: We’re all messed up, aren’t we? Who
among us is perfect? It’s our flaws that make us interesting, that make us
tick, that often determine how we will react in a situation. We’re an amalgam
of bad habits, grudges and insecurities. And yet, often lovable.
Ali: I marvel at how easy you make your books
appear, so tell me what are you like as a person when trapped in your
imagination and pecking away at the keyboard?
Linwood: It’s a job. Having worked in
newspapers for 30 years, there’s no other way for me to approach it. I get up
in the morning and go to work. The goal is to get 2,000 words done. Some days I
don’t quite make that, other days I get well past it. And then the whistle
blows around three in the afternoon when my wife, Neetha, calls up to the
study, saying, “It’s vodka o’clock.”
Ali: I can see the film of Elevator Pitch in my
mind, so has there been interest in this novel by Film / TV? And please tell us
about the other film projects that involve your work?
Linwood: Fingers crossed Elevator Pitch
attracts some interest. The
Accident has been made into a very good six-part series in France, and I
wrote the screenplay for Never
Saw it Coming, from my book, which was made into a movie in Canada and is
available on a Canadian streaming service. I hope it gets shown one of these
days in the UK. My Promise
Falls trilogy – Broken Promise, Far From True, The
Twenty-Three – is in development with eOne and a Canadian network for a
series. I’m involved, and have just written the pilot. Again, fingers crossed.
Ali: I enjoyed your Alfred Hitchcock moment in
the book trailer, so tell
us about how that came about?
Linwood: HarperCollins UK wanted to do a short
promotional film using the News Building elevators when I was in London last
November. They got some shots of me waiting for an elevator, boarding it.
Unlike Hitchcock, though, I got to say something. It was fun.
Ali: I know that one of your passions is the
building of model railways, so tell us a little about where this interest
sprang from?
Linwood: My father made me a very basic model
railway when I was around five or six, and the interest has always stayed with
me. We moved this past year and I had to tear down a layout that filled a room
that was 14 by 14 feet. But there is a room in the new house, slightly larger,
and construction of a new empire is well underway. I find, when you are
inventing an entire world in your head all day, it’s nice to create one with
your hands in the evening, or weekend.
Ali: So how are the team at your new UK home,
HarperCollins treating you?
Linwood: Wonderfully. They put me up at the
Shard. What more could you want?
Ali: You scared me when you (and Kate Mills
your publisher) spotted me in London walking
to an unrelated book launch, could you tell me what you
were doing on the flying visit to London?
Linwood: That was a wild trip. Flew out of
Toronto Monday night, landed in Dublin Tuesday, then off to London for
Wednesday and Thursday, then home Friday. It was a whirlwind tour to build the
buzz for Elevator Pitch. I felt like I was on one, going up and down and up and
down, the doors never opening.
Ali: Are you touring and signing copies of
Elevator Pitch in Europe, America and Canada this year and are details
available on your
website yet?
Linwood: All my tour details are posted on the
website, with regular reminders on Twitter and Facebook.
Ali: And finally, what are you working on? Are you
returning to the darkness that is concealed within suburbia, or the dangers of
the Big City?
Linwood: I thought I knew what I was doing
next, even had a book written. But I got a new idea that’s so terrific – not
that the other one isn’t – that I may get an extension on my deadline and do it
first. Not breathing a word about it.
Ali: Thank you for your time.
Linwood: And yours too.
Shots Magazine would like to thank Joe Thomas of Harper
Collins HQ for organising this feature interview.
Read the full review from Shots Magazine HERE
of Elevator Pitch out 5th September 2019 [UK / Ireland] in HBK
Read the full review of A Noise Downstairs HERE
out currently in PB
More information about Linwood Barclay’s promotional tour
for Elevator Pitch is available from www.linwoodbarclay.com
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