GREAT READS

The Last Bridge

Teri Coyne.

I loved this story and was hooked by the very first sentence: "Two days after my father had a massive stroke my mother shot herself in the head."

Called home to bury her mother, a bitter and angry Alexandria ‘Cat' Rucker staggers back to her hometown of Wilton, Ohio. After 10 years of running, drinking and denying the dark secrets of her childhood, Cat is forced to confront the reality of her life and to examine her relationship with each family member.

This is Teri Coyne's premiere novel and I didn't want the story to end. The story is a mystery and the story is a love story -- sometimes sad, sometimes horrific with some sexual abuse and sometimes warm and sweet. More importantly, this is a thought-provoking story of recovery - discovery, acceptance and moving forward. I liked that Coyne also writes with enough appropriately placed humor to add some relief to the seriousness of the unresolved issues shadowing this family.

I look forward to reading Ms. Coyne's next novel.

Recommended by Deanna Jenks