|
[ Home ]
[ About | Reviews | Search | Submit ]
Detective Kevin Lynch has escaped the slums and now has a nice house in a nice neighborhood. However, the slums or the area known as the bridge maintains a hold on who he is as a person. Daneen Brown is a recovering coke addict. Her daughter, Kenya, lives with her grandmother in an apartment similar to a crack house. Judy, her grandmother, deals coke as well as rents outs Kenya’s room by the hour. Kenya has disappeared. She is also 9 years old. She was sent out to get something to eat and never returned. No one noticed she was missing until the next day. Daneen calls Lynch to find her baby even though Judy does not want the police involved. Lynch must return to the place he grew up in order to find a missing child her family does not seems to missing. THE BRIDGE is incredibly dark. It is obvious that Jones is familiar with the dangers of growing up poor (in the slums) in a major urban city. Jones takes this experience and creates a heart-wrenching portrayal of hopelessness. All of his characters seem to have no hope of redemption or the change to escape the life they are now living. It is impossible not to sympathize with the characters even if it difficult to like them or relate to them. The mystery itself is not the focus of this book. It is a vehicle to demonstrate the situation of the characters. Finding Kenya and her probable killer is important; however, it is just as important to show how hard it was for Lynch to have escaped this world. The most tragic part of the book was not the murder but the knowledge that Kenya never had a chance; the bridge will either literally or metaphorically kill you. THE BRIDGE is Solomon Jones’ second book. PIPE DREAMS, which was released in July 2001, is Jones’ second book.
Reviewed by Sarah Dudley, August 2003
[ Top ]
QUICK SEARCH:
Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
[ About | Reviews | Search | Submit ]
[ Home ]
| 
