It’s time for another Friday Reads post and my featured book today is The Elevator: A totally gripping psychological thriller with a mind-blowing twist by Claire Cooper. So grab yourself a cuppa, get comfy and let’s find out a bit more about the book and get chatting to Claire. 😊

Blurb

My whole body is shaking, my breath catches in my throat. I’m stuck here. Trapped. With the one person who will do anything to destroy me…

When I step into the elevator that sweltering morning, I barely notice the woman standing next to me. She seems out of place, with her floaty linen clothes in a building full of suits. But that’s none of my business.

A minute later, there’s a sudden jerk. The elevator stops. The lights go out.

The other woman’s face is deathly pale. She’s breathing noisily, clearly panicking. As we sit slumped against the mirrored walls, we start talking to try and keep calm.

I tell her I moved halfway round the world to start again where no one knew what I was hiding. I tell her my darkest secrets, because she seems to understand, and we’re never going to see each other again, right?

But I’m wrong.

We’re not strangers.

None of this is an accident.

And when the truth comes out, there’ll be nowhere to hide…

A brilliantly twisty ride from start to finish, that will have you gasping out loud at the twists. Perfect for fans of Lisa Jewell, Freida McFadden and Claire McGowan.

See what everyone is saying about The Elevator:

‘So captivating… one word WOW!… brilliant… kept me guessing throughout… so good I read it in a day!… I thoroughly enjoyed this book and all the plot twists that it presented!’ NetGalley reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

‘For lovers of Freida McFadden this novel is for you! Twisted with an ending you don’t see coming! I loved this.’ NetGalley reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

‘I really Loved it!!! What a twist… a WOW read!’ NetGalley reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

‘What a ride!… gripping… jaw-dropping reveals.’ Goodreads reviewer

‘A standout… when the timeline went back to the past, it was welcomed so I could get my breathing to return to normal!… the scenes that took place in the elevator were so intense and the lead up to its thrilling finale had me gasping for breath and on the edge of my seat!’ Once Upon a Time Book Reviews, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

‘Captivating! First of all, I imagined being stuck in an elevator – that is scary enough! Then to find out the person you are stuck in the elevator with is someone who wishes you dead!! I couldn’t put this book down!’ Goodreads reviewer

‘A must-read… tense claustrophobic atmosphere… packs a punch and the surprises keep coming… however it has done little to encourage me to venture into a lift (elevator) again!’ NetGalley reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

‘Sensational… a plot that unrolls like clockwork, and simmering tension that never lets up. Betrayal, double-crossing and the most delicious sting in the tail… I couldn’t put it down.’ Goodreads reviewer

‘A tangled web of lies that has an explosive ending… The tension ratcheted up at the end and literally had me gasping with my jaw on the floor… riveting.’ Goodreads reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

‘At times my heart was pounding and I had to stop reading, which was hard as it was so good! Loved it!’ Goodreads reviewer

‘Loved this book. So thrilling down to the last page… it hits you like a ton of bricks.’ @the_bookish_blondie, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Buy link: Amazon

Welcome to my blog Claire. The Elevator looks a great read. Could you tell us what inspired you to write this book?

The Inspiration for The Elevator

Articles on writing tell us never to start a book with the line “It was a dark and stormy night”. But it was a dark and stormy night that started me on the path to writing my latest psychological suspense novel, The Elevator.

I was travelling from London to Wales, a journey I make often because it’s where my dad lives. And, because I’m a writer and predictably skint, I was making the trip by coach.

The weather was dismal – lowering skies and stair-rod rain. There were warnings of flooding, but I was hoping for the best.

About three hours in, the coach slowed. It pulled into a lay-by. The driver was talking on the radio. Dismayed, I caught the words, “Roads closed”.

And then we were heading back the way we’d come, winding our way down the country lanes that had become our only option. Around the coach, phone conversations bubbled into life, arrangements changed with promises of updates.

The woman across the aisle from me was anxious, her phone calls placatory. It was her employer, she told me; she’d been waiting for her at our intended destination and was unimpressed at the change in plans. I laughed – surely this woman couldn’t blame her for the weather? She didn’t reply.

It was another two hours before the coach came to a stop at a rain-lashed railway station. I’d expected to be met by a fleet of minibuses and taxis, but the forecourt was empty.

We bundled out and dashed to the shelter of the station. Inside it was light and dry – but there was no-one to question, no-one to direct us.

I headed back outside and scanned the area again. There it was: a solitary, aged minicab. I spotted the woman from across the aisle and grabbed her, so it didn’t feel quite so much like stealing the last life raft on the Titanic.

“I’ve got cash,” I assured her. And to the driver, when he heard how far we wanted to go, “I’ll pay extra.”

He turned on the sat nav and we were off. The rain was torrential, the wind vicious. Fallen tree branches littered the way. Several times the car slowed to a crawl to navigate deep pools of water.

Next to me, the woman from the coach radiated anxiety. I kept my eyes glued to my phone, counting down the miles until we’d hit the B-road I knew well, the one with markings down the middle that didn’t flood.

I tried to distract her with chat. She was a live-in housekeeper-cum-nanny, she told me, her employer the owner of a country pile. She wouldn’t be drawn on details, which of course got my brain ticking.

Here I was, in the middle of nowhere, with a woman I didn’t know from Eve. What would happen, I thought, if she knew me? What if it hadn’t been an accident that we were on that same coach? What if I were sat there with someone who wished me harm?

That was the seed that became The Elevator. The car in sodden Wales became a lift in a Manhattan office block, with two women apparently thrown together by chance. I loved finding out how they were connected and the secrets that had brought them there.

But the next time there’s a flood warning, I might just stay at home!

What a fascinating story, Claire. Thank you for sharing it with us.

If, like me, you’re intrigued by Claire’s inspiration story and want to read The Elevator, you can get a copy here: Amazon

Meet Claire

Author bio

Claire Cooper grew up in a small village in south Wales before moving to London as a student. She was a civil servant for 17 years, but hung up her bowler hat when she discovered that she much preferred writing about psychotic killers to Ministerial speeches. She lives in London with her husband and a pond full of very cute newts, and she also writes as C. J. Cooper.

Contact links

Twitter: @CJCooper_author

Instagram: cjcooper_author.

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Now on preorder: Amazon: https://geni.us/B0CD2J9K41author