Official Review: The Key-Stone of the Bridge by Craig Meggy

[Sweet_Lullaby]

[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "The Key-Stone of the Bridge" by Craig Meggy.]

---

Share This Review

---

The book I chose to read is The Key-Stone of the Bridge by Craig Meggy, which could be placed in the mystery & thriller category. Generally, it is about friendship and memories, but as we read, we can see that there is slightly more to it. In fact, the book is about a middle-aged man, Scully, who goes back to Scotland to reunite with his old friends Doc, Robbie and Donald, after the death of their friend Banjo. Sticking to tradition, they plan a hiking trip up to the snowy mounts and rest at their usual shelter, with the wish to scatter their late friend’s ashes at the place he loved the most. They seem to have a blast: sharing hilarious stories and memories, talking about their personal lives, and most importantly, drinking the whiskey. One night, as they share ghost stories, two young hikers arrive at the shelter to get warm, and mention a hiker that led them to the place. After that, the men start experiencing strange things, which they first blame on the whiskey. However, what do they blame it on when it happens again, and again?

Okay, now, the story might sound fascinating and interesting, which it could have been, but unfortunately, some aspects of it just did not fit well with me. I am not saying that it was completely bad; do not get me wrong, because there are points for which I congratulate the author. I will start by sharing these points, before going into the heavy stuff. Firstly, the way the author wrote this book is one of the things that made me enjoy it. By way, I mean the smoothness and right technique to making the story feel understandable. There were not any twists that made us want to re-read whole parts of it repeatedly. Secondly, I liked that the author was able to use a thick Scottish accent through the whole book. It must not have been an easy task, even though he is Scottish, but the author was able to pull it off.

Now comes the part where I unfortunately have to deliver the bad news. Even though I said that using the Scottish accent was not a simple thing to do, it made it difficult for me to read. Honestly, this was the first time that I have ever read a book that used a Scottish accent for so long, and a lot of the time, I had difficulty understanding some of the words. In addition, one of the characters, Doc, uses the F word in every, and I insist on the every, sentence that he speaks. This was another thing I disliked about it. Swearing a couple of time would not have mattered, but when it is used every time, it becomes tiring and made me feel a little uncomfortable.

Finally, and most importantly, was the way the events occurred. I was looking forward to a mystery book, but I do not even know if I could call it that because there was hardly any mystery in it. In fact, until about 75% of the book, nothing happens. All they do is talk and drink. I mean, even in the last 25%, nothing much happened, which left me wondering if this was truly a mystery book, because it was not! Not for me, anyways.

That is why I cannot give this book more than 2 out of 4 stars. There are many things that I would change about it, but also a few things that I would not. In addition, it would have been helpful if the author had provided a section in the book were the hard slang was explained. It would have been helpful to understand it better. I hope this review helped, and I would recommend this book if you do not mind the Scottish accent or all the swearing, and if you are okay with a tad of “mystery.”

***
Buy "The Key-Stone of the Bridge" on Amazon
Buy "The Key-Stone of the Bridge" on Barnes and Noble

[Craig Meggy]

Thanks for the review, sorry you didn't enjoy it more just as an FYI - book has been edited and Doc does not swear as often

I agree 'mystery' may not be right category but it didn't really sit well elsewhere - any suggestions?

Thnx
Craig