Double-Crossing the Bridge

By: Sarah J. Sover

Narrated by: Christopher J. Dusky

Rent in New Metta is through the cavern ceiling. When Granu barely survives her first gig teaching students who attempt to fillet her for lunch, the baby-eating troll ends up unemployed and facing eviction. Granu's only prospect for income is grueling work in the tar pits. That is, until her playboy best friend devises a perfect, if suicidal, scheme—a heist!

The Covered Bridge, the largest source of income for the city, has New Metta well under hoof. In a week, TCB Corporation pulls in enough cash to buy a small country. It's the ideal target, but security is top-notch. Granu needs three things to survive this heist: a crew of specialists, impenetrable sun protection, and gallons of grog.There’s just one thing Granu doesn’t plan for—those damn meddling billy goats.

©2019 Sarah J Sover (P)2022 Sarah J Sover

A whole world below with crimes of passion!

full immersion in a world I never even imagined. Characters with human qualities and yet they are totally not human. A fun adventure and an invitation to a dark place.

Cleverly written and all around good fun

Loved this book! The concept is great, the characters feel solid, and the plot is all kinds of entertaining.

Fun but I didn't connect with the characters

It was cute. I like the heist idea but the story takes some time to get around to that. There’s a long opening set in a bar with lots of flirting among the characters. This gave the story time to paint a picture for us – a world filled with fairy tale creatures who have crappy jobs and like their bar drinks served cold. In this world, the trolls are the main workers and usually at the top of the caste system. Unicorns are tasty treats, as are humans. I really wanted to try the fried pixie wings at the bar.

Kradduk is the main character for most of the book though the focus eventually shifts to his friend Granu. The two of them are often joined by Fillig, their long-time friend. The three trade insults and flirty comments with ease. Sometimes that was cute and sometimes I quickly tired of it, especially Kradduk. Ugh! So many sexist pick up lines in one character!

I really enjoyed the world building. There’s plenty of thought put into it and little pieces of if are revealed all along the way, instead having huge lumps of it dumped on us. And I liked the overall plot, though from the title alone I had surmised that someone was going to attempt a double-cross, so there wasn’t much surprise when that happened.

However, I just didn’t connect with the characters. They come off as shallow, none of them particularly sympathetic or funny or greatly clever or noble. Nope, they are all just looking for that quick buck or cheap thrill that lets them escape their little lives. I never got attached to any of them nor did I root for any of them to succeed. Except maybe Heigel, the investigator who suspects Kradduk is up to something. She at least had some drive that was beyond her own comfort and pleasure.

All around, I’m glad I read it for the world building. I love the idea of nearly all the characters being non-human (there’s 1 human character that I recall). In fact, in this world, humans are food animals. 3.5/5 stars.

The Narration: Christopher J. Dusky was a joy to listen to. I was impressed with his range of voice. He had the perfect female voice for Granu and could turn on a dime to Kradduk’s deep voice in the same conversation. Each character had a unique voice and each female character had their own feminine voice. The pacing was good and there were no tech issues with the recording. 5/5 stars.

I received this audiobook as part of my participation in a blog tour with Audiobookworm Promotions. The tour is being sponsored by Sarah J. Sover. The gifting of this audiobook did not affect my opinion of it.

An exciting and gripping caper

Double-Crossing the Bridge is a fantastic story with highly relatable characters that strikes the perfect balance between comedy and tension as it captures the spirit of classic heist movies. Full marks, and I look forward to seeing what Sover had in store next.

Beware the goats

This book is hilarious!!! Double Crossing the Bridge is a funny, fantastical spin on a heist.