The Bridge

Para-Earth #1

by Allan Krummenacker

Alex Hill buried his psychic talents for eighteen years. But with the scream of tires and twisting metal all this changes.

His girlfriend, Police Sergeant Veronica Ross, is nearly run down by two teenagers leaving her depressed and troubled. After calming her down they get a call from the Coroner's office and learn that both the driver and passenger of the wrecked car had already been dead for almost twelve hours before the accident. Furthermore, they hadn't been killed in any vehicle accident, the pair had been drowned.

Upon hearing this Alex feels his powers stirring again and goes with Veronica to see the coroner to learn more. But, as soon as they reach the doors of the Morgue he is psychically assaulted by an unknown force.

Taking the attack as a warning, he tries to resist getting involved further. But, his talents soon lead him directly to the place where the teenagers died. It is the stream underneath an old stone bridge that is supposedly haunted by the White Lady.

But the real problem for Alex is the fact that both the bridge and stream are on the Graham Estate. The very property he is now representing as a real estate agent.

Soon the body count begins to rise, and each new death is somehow attached to the stream. And as the only person with full access to the estate, suspicion starts to fall on Alex. Especially when it's discovered he does not have a solid alibi for any of the incidents.

Now, in order to clear his name and learn what force is behind all the killings, Alex must decide whether or not to embrace the very abilities he shunned.

452 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 4, 2013

About the author

I was born and raised on Long Island New York. Always a dreamer I fell in love with Fantasy, Sci-Fi, and Horror shows and movies. Some of my favorite all time TV shows that I still watch on DVD are the original Dark Shadows, the original Twilight Zone series, Doctor Who, The Outer Limits (original) etc.

I came to California in the mid 1980's with my Mom and one of my brothers. Once here, I fell in with a great crowd of Doctor Who fans who introduced me to other science fiction clubs and conventions. It was while attending the Sacramento Doctor Who Fan Club that I met my wife Helen. Together, we got into costuming and attending workshops where I learned a great deal from authors, actors, and those folks in the special effects departments. All these experiences helped fire my imagination and I began writing short fan-fic stories for the club newsletters.

A few years ago my career in Real Estate took a downward spiral and I began to rewrite story-lines of shows to keep my spirits up. Soon I realized my rewriting efforts had taken on a completely different life from the original shows I was watching. Eventually, I began taking the story lines I'd created and re-populated them with original characters of my own. I brushed up on my grammar and began researching agents and publishing as well.

The result was my Para-Earth Series where I introduce both my characters and readers to a whole new take on the parallel world concept. To date I've produced two novels in this series and am currently working on my third book with more coming next year.

So pull up a chair and sit back as I share with you tales of ghosts, psychics, and mysterious beings unlike anything you've ever read before.

Reviews

[Danielle (Dannie) · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely loved, loved, loved The Bridge!!! I do have to say that there are a few spelling and grammatical errors, and a few places where the sentence structure could use a little bit more
editing/proofreading. However, this was not bad enough to cause any problems with reading through those areas.

With that said, I absolutely fell in love with the characters and the plot! The story was absolutely amazing! It has a wonderfully amazing supernatural element and I really loved the way the author portrayed Native American Shamans. The mystery was so intense and suspenseful ... I had a hard time putting the book down for any reason. The plot is full of twists and turns that kept me guessing and the ending was absolutely amazing with a twist that I did not expect! I really hope that the author, Allan Krummenacker, will write a sequel to this book! Either way, I look forward to reading more from this author!

DISCLAIMER: This book was gifted to me by the author (through the Goodreads) website in exchange for an honest review. The opinions expressed here are my own, and no money or other compensation was provided for this review.

[Paula · Rating 4 out of 5]

R2R: The Bridge

(I received a free copy, in exchange for a review.)

Alex is a very special type of person, as in he has strong psychic talents and has his whole life. With this talent, it has lead him in many different directions, but one experience, when he was younger scarred and scared him. This is when he decided he needed to put up walls, to block himself from some elements of the psychic world. His girlfriend, Ronnie, happens to be the local police sergeant. She happens to be a bit older than him and is insecure about Alex's proclaimed love for her. Ronnie is almost run over, by a speeding car, which quickly crashes. But nothing about this accident adds up. And thus begins the mystery roller coaster ride.

'With the attention of the others finally off of him, Alex thought about what had happened. He was still badly shaken by his experience, but the lingering chill was finally starting to dissipate slightly. Nothing had ever left him so weak or troubled before except...Harlequin House. he mentally shook his head. he didn't want to think about that place right now, or ever again.'

This is one of the best stories I have read this year. given that it's only February, but it was still amazing. I would have given it 5 stars, if there weren't so many grammatical errors, which interrupted the flow, as you were reading. It was a great mystery and the details provided were top notch. Great job and I can't wait to see what else Mr. Krummenacker will come up with!

3/1/13: The author did contact me, saying that he had sent me the unfinished edit version of the book and offered to replace it with the correct one. Very kind of him, but not necessary. Just wanted to make sure that he knew there was some wonkiness going on!

[Jeannie Walker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well, it was a long time coming - but I finally got around to reading “The Bridge”.
Alex always refers to Veronica (a tough police officer) as ‘his lady’. This reminded me of my pop always saying my mom was ‘his better half’.
I especially liked Sergeant Veronica Ross who had fetching green hair and a mass of deep red hair. She was testing out her new police bike on a winding stretch of highway. She wanted to see how it handled the curves at high speeds. Suddenly the sound of a car horn got her attention, and she noticed the car began following her. “You do not want to be playing that game with me, mister”, she said and stopped at an empty rest area. She soon heard what sounded like a terrific crash. Turns out she knew the victims of the wreck, but there was something strange about this accident that bothered her.
She tells Alex (her lover who is much young than her) about the accident. Alex, just happened to be a person that the tough motorcycling policewoman handcuffed after he was supposedly causing a public disturbance in a bar.
Alex turns out to be more than a lover.
I won’t tell you the abilities he has other than to say he has powers.
This novel has unblemished characters, who are fascinating.
You will have to read “The Bridge” to find out why it is a love story and much more. I will say that it involves the supernatural or some would say, the paranormal.

Jeannie Walker (Award-Winning Author)

[Kees Bijker · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was my first book I read by an indie author. I met Allan a year ago on LinkedIn and, both being budding writers, we shared ideas and situations to do with writing. I was given the opportunity to read his book and took it.

It is my opinion that the story line is strong and very convincing. The book has a great deal of well developed characters, although I find a few of these character traits not fitting the situation the person is in, this could just be me with a biased opinion on how people should behave sometimes. Overall the characters are real enough to be believed and liked by the reader, I did.

The story has several layers which, although coming together at the end, do not always seem clear at the time they develop. Some of the events were hard for me to reconcile but this is life after all. Not everything that happens is clear why or how, so why not in a book. I did however ask myself this question a few times and perhaps the story would have been equally as strong if these loose threads would have been omitted or cleared up more conclusively, or maybe that is just me again.

It has helped me decide that for my own novel I will attempt to spend the money needed for a professional edit. Again it is my opinion that I would have enjoyed it a lot more if these little oversights had been filtered out by a professional eye trained to catch them.

Despite this, I will read the sequel I am sure. I gave this book a 4 out of 5 because I had no choice. If the stars could be allocated I would have given 5 out of 5 for story line, story strength and for character development. Maybe less on the grammar, sentence structure and therefore overall readability.
Still a big thumbs up and looking forward to the next one from Allan.

[Michael Drakich · Rating 4 out of 5]

You'll think twice about going in the water!

Exhilerating! The story kept me tense the whole way through. I normally don't read horror as I prefer science fiction and fantasy but after receiving a copy of the novel it is my habit to always read all the way through and I'm glad I did. There is even a touch of sci-fi in the mix which pleased me. The story was creative and, at times, frightening, the good way a horror book should be. A number of sub-plots rounded out the novel but it is the main plot that is so riveting. I don't want to post any spoilers except to say the concept of the evil hidden in the river is a nice change from coming from underground. The only weakness is the book could have used a better round of editing but I wasn't distracted from the story. For fans of the horror genre, this is a must read.

[Cristina · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Bridge was a fantastic story that completely sucked me in. The characters were great, with witty banter that had me cracking up. You will not be able to put this down! This story takes a charming English psychic into a dark, mysterious, and evil world.

Twists and turns will have you thinking, "did that really just happen?"

Wonderful story reminiscent of my Dean Koontz days. I will be watching for more from this author.

"Just then the human wall, known as Casey stepped in front of him and gesteured to a table, 'The ladies are waiting for you.'
'So is St. Peter,' Alex muttered turning and heading towards what he hoped would not be a last meal."


This book was given to me for free in exchange for an honest review.

[Regan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thrilling book with a lot of twists and turns. The author takes the reader on a ghostly and psychic journey. It's a quick read that proved to be very entertaining.

He did a great job of mixing horror and spooky story lines with character development. Once I was able to sit down and read the book, I was sad to see it end.

There were a few spelling, missing words, and grammatical errors in the book, but with a great plot line those can easily be overlooked. I was too entrapped in "what the heck is going to happen next?" to really focus on the issues.

I look forward to any upcoming books in the series.

[cajunqueen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Honestly, this was a very well thought out book. It has a uniqueness to it that I have not read in some time now. The characters were funny, yet serious. The book started going from the first page and never stopped. The more characters introduced, the more intriguing the book actually became, unlike some books that just have too many to keep up with.

There was just enough "sex scenes" to keep it modest, yet were able to understand the relationships of the people involved.

The only thing that leaves me curious is..."will this be a series?"

Highly recommended.

[Joe Hinojosa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I finally read The Bridge, and it was definitely worth buying. I found myself following the main character, Alex Hill, sympathizing as he is dragged back into a world that he had shunned after a tragic misfortune. I went along on the journey, hoping that Alex is able to discover the source of the threat that looms over the community, and that he, along with his girlfriend, find a way to save not only the town, but Alex as well.

My review

[John Maberry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Proof that being an indie author is no disqualification from writing a good book. Allan does a great job of building suspense, relationships among well-developed characters and keeping the book moving. I hesitated from giving the book the rating it deserved based on some editing issues, but I know how difficult that can be as a fellow indie writer. He will address those. In the meantime, he has no problem in writing a spellbinding story with paranormal elements. I look forward to reading The Ship, the next book in this series.

[Chanda Barrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very good and fast read for those of us who are limited on time. The story line actually had some unexpected twists and turns. The author's first voyage into the world of storytelling was an enjoyable one.

[Rae · Rating 3 out of 5]

In a lot of ways this book felt like The Ring/Ringu smashed together with a police procedural. It's not a bad concept, but I felt that it could have been executed better.

There were some genuinely well written moments, such as the use of water and the scenes where the redshirts ended up dead via ghost. For the most part, the characters are likable enough and there's some fun banter between the cops. The running gag involving the police radio was actually rather fun.

However, there's a lot of structural problems with the story which ends up making the story haphazard and break the flow of scenes, such as the continual use of flashbacks that pop up in the middle of other scenes. There's other ways to get backstory into a book and there were a few flashbacks I didn't feel the story really needed since the same information was conveyed again through dialog later in the book. Such as the the flashback involving Alex's previous investigation of a hunted house.

The story also suffers from an overabundance of subplots which makes the story waffle and distract from the main plot. It's as if the author was trying to do too much with one story, rather than trimming off a few parts to streamline the main story and saving the extra parts for another book.

Overall, the book is a quick read with enough good moments to be enjoyable despite its flaws. The main plot is pretty good and while it's not scary enough to keep you up late at night there's enough tense moments to keep the suspense.