The Elevator Pitch by Linwood Barclay

In New York City, when an elevator plunges to the ground killing four people, the authorities think it was just a malfunction. Then, the next day a Russian scientist dies in a gruesome elevator accident. Could someone be sabotaging the elevators in the city? Reporter Barbara Matheson is investigating, because a former colleague died in the first incident. Police detectives Jerry Bourque and Lois Delgado are looking into the death of a man found on the High Line, with his body disfigured to avoid identification. They soon discover that the person was an elevator repairman named Otto Petrenko. Is Petrenko's death connected to the elevator mishaps? In Elevator Pitch, Barclay tells the story of a city on edge and the search for the person(s) responsible.