Suspension

By Richard E. Crabbe

Book Overview

May 31, 1883, 3:55 p.m. Twenty thousand men, women, and children, their faces shining in the late afternoon sun, are strolling the Eighth Wonder of the World. The Brooklyn Bridge is open just a week, its promenade a magnet for the teeming masses of New York and Brooklyn. An engineering marvel of transcending beauty, the bridge is simply breathtaking. In precisely five minutes, it will fall. Seven desperate men, former Confederate soldiers turned saboteurs, have labored for years to destroy the bridge, which they saw as a symbol of hated Yankee supremacy. Sergeant Detective Tom Braddock is one step behind the conspirators. Working through a series of murderous dead-ends, Braddock has dogged the seven men from the cables of the bridge to the shadowy alleys of the Lower East Side and the back streets of Richmond, Virginia. Slowly, he has slowly drawn closer to the unthinkable truth, a truth that none can accept...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0312284640
• ISBN13: 9780312284640
• Release Date: July 2002
• Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
• Length: 480 Pages
• Weight: 0.10 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 9.2" x 6.1"

Customer Reviews

Well Done!

Excellent historical novel with strong characters and superb atmosphere. Beautifully crafted story telling and a wonderful sense of time and place. If you enjoy Caleb Carr, you will love this book. This author has written a memorable novel with realistic characters, suspense, and obvious research. Very highly recommended.

Spectacular...A First Class Debut!

In the Spring of 1883 Colonel Washington Roebling, with the help of his wife Emily, sets out to complete the world's largest suspension bridge that would span across the vast expanse of New York's East River. What Roebling does not know is that a rogue group of former Confederate soldiers hold him personally responsible for a horrible incident that happened years ago on the battlefields of Gettysburg, and have labored for years to destroy his bridge. When one of Roebling's workers is found dead in a dingy alley, a maverick detective named Tom Braddock is assigned to the case. Tom is a good cop with a heart of gold, but his past is not exactly stellar. Not only does he have to deal with the pressures of leading an unsolved murder investigation, but he must also contend with the saboteurs who are closer than ever to implementing their plans, officials within his own department who want to bury him in a life of corruption, and Mike, the dead man`s son who literally holds the key to solving this case. If Tom can manage to stay alive, he might be able to save the bridge, and possibly build a life with Mary, a beautiful, but unusual woman who keeps him both happy and sane.From the riveting opening "nightmare" sequence to the final pages of mass hysteria that take place during the bridge's first opening days, Richard Crabbe does a tremendous job of transporting you into 19th century New York with a ghastly tale of murder and the building of the Brooklyn Bridge as his backdrop. This is a top notch historical thriller that involves terrorism, police corruption, and bone-chilling suspense. It also includes a few surprises for Civil War buffs and those of us who never really appreciated the beauty of the Brooklyn Bridge. Caleb Carr fans will eat this one up and savor every morsel. Masterfully done.

Imaginative and enjoyable

I thoroughly enjoyed this novel that combines historical fact and fiction about the building of the Brooklyn Bridge. Mr. Crabbe weaves a highly imaginative and plausible plot. There are actually two plots: one about the search for a murderer and saboteurs of the bridge, the other surrounding police corruption in 1880's New York City. The story is well-crafted and researched, including the technical details of bridge building, as well as the look of late 19th century New York and Brooklyn, and even post Civil War Richmond, Virginia. Although quite lengthy, the novel never becomes dull. There is a large cast of colorful characters from police captains and cops to street urchins, ex-Confederate Army soldiers and Kung Fu masters, who keep the story moving and keep the reader guessing what is going to happen right up to the very end.

Superb Historical Mystery

I stayed up till 3:30am to finish Richard Crabbe's wonderful first novel. What a cracker of a story! He has captured 1883 New York City in all its glory and grime from its meanest tenements, through its dens of iniquity, to its finest mansions and all the territory and people in between. He seamlessly weaves both fact and fiction into several plot lines which collide in a gripping climax all centered around the building and the opening of the Brooklyn Bridge. Anyone wanting a slice of New York City's past and a marvelous tale should read this book

Monumental!

I've never walked across the Brooklyn Bridge before .. but now I will find the time. I always thought I had a special appreciation for the achievement that this bridge represents ... but now I see it in a very different light. I never gave much thought to life in 19th century New York City .. but now I do.This book changed the way I see these things and that's only one reason to recommend it. It is a compelling story and riveting mystery that brings the people and times to life.