The Elevator

The Elevator
By Angela Hunt (Blog, Website)
Publisher: Mira
Published on 2007
ISBN-13: 9780778327264
352 pages

First sentence: Wrapped in the remnants of a dream, Michelle Tilson opens her eyes and smiles at the ceiling until she remembers the monster looming in the Gulf.

The Elevator by Angela Hunt is one good read. The question for you is have you ever been stuck in an elevator? This is the story of one storm and three women who ARE stuck in the elevator of a high-rise office building, and one man who risks his life coming to rescue them.

Three women: Gina Rossman, the wife of a successful businessman, discovers that her husband Sonny has been unfaithful and decides to ‘settle’ her problem with a gun in her pocket; Michelle Tilson, a corporate headhunter who discovers that she is pregnant wants to break the news to her lover named Parker (he does not know about the pregnancy) and at the same time to suggest marriage; and Isabel Suarez, a fugitive cleaning woman, has the darkest secret among them all. Eddie Vaughn, an elevator technician gets entangled in the malfunction when he answers the distress call. With his dog Sadie in tow, he sets out to rescue the women despite the worsening storm.

Gina’s husband and Michelle’s lover work in the same building and coincidentally on the same floor. Both women enter the elevator to get to where they want to be. Gina has unfinished business to attend to, and Michelle wants to pick up a file from her office and to meet with her lover at the office to issue an ultimatum. Meanwhile, Isabel happens to be on that floor because she is cleaning Mr Rossman’s office. Something bad happens and Isabel flees the office and then finds the two women joining her in the elevator. Due to the impending storm, electricity is cut off and they are stuck.

The plot thickens as the women unwillingly get to know each other and their secrets are slowly out in the open. The situation in the elevator is tense. The man in Gina and Michelle’s life shares one thing in common: He has three children. Throughout the story, the women have flashbacks of their lives; I find the switch in perspective among the characters is interesting.

Deception is the main theme of the novel. Each character has something to hide. I admire Eddie’s courage to play hero and Michelle’s faith in him trusting that he will come to the rescue despite the dangerous storm that is hitting the town. Gina, however, is not so optimistic. Readers will see how each character differs in their personality and how people would react when trouble hits.

What happen to Gina, Michelle, Isabel, the husband, the lover, and Eddie? In the story, the characters are all trapped in their old lives and opinions. Will they be able to set themselves free and experience the life the way they should be? You will have to read the novel to find out. Christian readers would appreciate this book as biblical truths are included.

Publishers Weekly said: "Hunt packs the maximum amount of drama into her story, and the pages turn quickly." Indeed it did for me. I also have Angela Hunt’s latest work, The Face, in my to-be-read pile and I hope to read it soon.