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Suspension Richard E. Crabbe Thomas Dunne Books/St. Martin?s Griffin July 2002 Trade Paperback/436 pages ISBN: 0-312-28464-0 |
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"…a terrorist plot to blow up the Brooklyn Bridge." "…the action takes place almost one hundred-twenty years ago." "…a solid first novel, but it is slow moving at the start." |
A New York City detective tracks down a cold-blooded murderer and quashes a terrorist plot to blow up the Brooklyn Bridge… This could be the stuff of a current news story, but in the novel Suspension the action takes place almost one hundred-twenty years ago and Washington Roebling’s East River bridge is still under construction.
Detective Tom Braddock is sent to investigate the murder of a lowly Irish bridge worker and finds himself drawn into helping the dead man’s poor family, especially his young son, Mike. But why would anyone kill a man who was a friend to all and who was still mourning the deaths of his wife and young daughter? A statement the murder victim made right before he died that “something is wrong with the bridge” intrigues Braddock and propels him to investigate the goings on at the work site. There he meets the dynamic Emily Roebling, who oversees the construction for her ailing husband, and discovers that not all the workers are quite what they appear to be…
Suspension is a solid first novel, but it is slow moving at the start. You can tell that author Richard Crabbe is totally captivated with the subject of his story–old New York and the building of the “eighth wonder of the world”, the Brooklyn Bridge. If readers can get past some of the more lengthy descriptions and back story and forgive some of the “as you know” dialogue (where unlikely characters can spout off exact dimensions of the bridge like it was second nature to them) then they will be rewarded with an enjoyable tale of a cop on the take who wants to make good and how he survives in the city he loves. |
