The first book I read by Taylor Adams was No Exit, and I ditched all my smutty romances for at least three months. I'm not joking, I've never been more obsessed with thrillers. No Exit was even released by 20th Century Studios as a Hulu Original Film! Here's the link of the trailer if you're interested.
Taylor Adams is the writer of addicting psychological thrillers including The Last Word, Eyeshot and No Exit.
After reading No Exit and literally recommending it to anyone I could find, I decided to start with Hairpin Bridge and again, I was not disappointed. Sure, the book had a few minor setbacks, but Taylor Adams? He knows how to include all the five senses in just one single passage, alright. His way of words and his ability to make sure his plots always carry reason honestly impressed me a lot.
SYPNOSIS: Three months ago, Lena Nguyen’s estranged twin sister, Cambry, drove to a remote bridge sixty miles outside of Missoula, Montana, and jumped two hundred feet to her death. At least, that is the official police version.
But Lena isn’t buying it.
Now she’s come to that very bridge, driving her dead twin’s car and armed with a cassette recorder, determined to find out what really happened by interviewing the highway patrolman who allegedly discovered her sister’s body.
Corporal Raymond Raycevic has agreed to meet Lena at the scene. He is sympathetic, forthright, and professional. But his story doesn’t seem to add up. For one thing, he stopped Cambry for speeding a full hour before she supposedly leapt to her death. Then there are the sixteen attempted 911 calls from her cell phone, made in what was unfortunately a dead zone.
But perhaps most troubling of all, the state trooper is referred to by name in Cambry’s final enigmatic text to her sister: Please Forgive Me. I couldn’t live with it. Hopefully you can, Officer Raycevic.
Lena will do anything to uncover the truth. But as her twin’s final hours come into focus, Lena’s search turns into a harrowing, tooth-and-nail fight for her own survival—one that will test everything she thought she knew about her sister and herself...
***
From the start to the end of this thriller, this book is a wild ride of twisty revenge, the craziest plot twists and a game of cat and mouse.
One of my favorite features about Taylor Adam's books is that his chosen protagonists are always these intellectual badass females who know exactly what they're up against. Lisa Nguyen, the heroine of the novel absolutely smashed it. She knew what she was getting into since the start and kept her guard up till the end.
The novel's format is a bit different than books you usually read. There are three POVs; One for Lena in the present against Corporal Raymond Raycevic. One which actually narrates what happened to Cambry during that night three months ago. And one which is Lena's blog post on how she proves Raycevic's guilt (Lena's plan). This was a bit confusing at first because I didn't expect there to be a POV for Cambry's night, but it all made sense in the end. Cambry's final hours was an important touch to the novel and I'm surprised many writers don't usually end up adding a victim's POV to their thrillers. It makes it much, much more gripping.
Lena decided to uncover the truth of what happened to her sister Cambry herself. From the second or the third chapter, you are introduced to Lena's suspicions about Raycevic and this only accelerates more and more towards a full-blown game where Lena's own survival is at stake.
The minor setback, however, is the fact that literally all Taylor Adam books have over the top actions scenes. And by that, I mean, ridiculously dramatic. Scenes where the villain should have 100% been dead but of course wasn't can really irritate some readers who prefer real sense in a thriller action novel. I've noticed this same flaw in Adam's No Exit and The Last Word, too.
There was this scene where one of the antagonists got shot in the head but ended up alive, (seriously?) which made me roll my eyes because it was so unnecessary. You may rule that out as bad writing and I wouldn't disagree.
In the end, I was still quite impressed with how the story turned out though. Lena managed to outsmart the villain, uncover the twisted lies about her sister's death and also save a life.
You can find the pdf of The Hairpin Bridge here
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