The Bridge

By: Stuart Prebble

Narrated by: Alex Collins

The woman of his dreams isn't what she seems.

Michael Beaumont is head over heels with the woman of his dreams. The minute he and Alison saw each other across a crowded bar, there was a powerful, immediate connection. She's everything he could ever want in a woman: charismatic, beautiful, intelligent, compassionate, and so much more.

But Alison is harboring a dangerous secret, one that threatens to break loose once Michael introduces her to his last remaining relative. Michael's grandmother Rose, who raised him from childhood, isn't quite the woman she used to be; her memory is failing her, and she's prone to fits of wild emotion.

But something about Rose's outburst upon meeting Alison seems like more than just a simple delusion. And something about the string of murders terrorizing London, with incidents occurring just blocks from Michael, feels like more than just a coincidence.

What is Rose not telling Michael? What is Alison hiding? Every relationship in Michael's life is a bridge, and he'll discover that there are some he shouldn't cross.

Critic reviews

"In this brilliantly executed crime novel the chills are guaranteed."—Vick Mickunas, Dayton Daily News

Praise for The Insect Farm
"Chilling and suspenseful, rich and human."—Lee Child

"Only rarely do a gripping psychological crime story and a literary writer's insight and masterful style coincide. But The Insect Farm has that distinction. You'll read this book fast, so compelling is the story. . . . A tour de force."—Jeffery Deaver, author of Solitude Creek

"A well-choreographed dance, fully engaging [and] reminiscent of Ruth Rendell"—Charlotte Observer

"Stuart Prebble is similar to Stephen King as he's able to take a simple story and make it wildly compelling."—Huffington Post

Disappointing

I was enthralled by The Insect Farm. It was a very creative mystery and I recommended it to all my friends. This book did keep my attention but was not as interesting.

Recrossing bridges

The opening lines of this story were an unexpected punch in the gut as we encounter The Madman who becomes the object of a frantic search for the criminal whose actions so horrifically grab the attention of everyone in London and beyond. From this opening we then meet Michael and Alison, the central characters who become swept up in the manhunt. To reveal further details would spoil the discovery process, which is handled mostly very well, although I must concede that coincidence is used a bit conveniently on a couple of occasions. This was one of those stories in which you know you have puzzle pieces in your hands, but you just can’t figure out how to make them come together. But they do come together, and in the process readers are asked to confront issues of culpability, consequences and memory. As with author Prebble’s debut The Insect Farm, secrets kept extend far into the future to finally catch up with current characters.

Narration was competent, but not special – very clear and consistent with voices, good with characterization. But the narrative sections had the somewhat emotionless tone of reading out a newspaper article. A little more emotion may have increased the reader’s connection to the story, but it is not enough of a problem to avoid selecting this listen. Although I can’t go quite up to a 5, this really is a 4.5 read for me, finished in just 2 days.