What do you think?
Monika Ritter #12
The Bridge
Germany, March 1945. The Third Reich is collapsing—but the war is far from over.
As the Allied armies race toward the heart of Germany, Monika Ritter is sent behind enemy lines on an impossible mission: keep the Ludendorff Bridge at Remagen standing long enough for the Americans to cross. Disguised as a Red Cross nurse, she must infiltrate the German defenders and, alongside Oliver and a handful of undercover operatives, prevent them from carrying out Hitler's orders to destroy the last bridge standing across the Rhine—a single act that could prolong the war by weeks and cost thousands of lives.
Hundreds of miles away, Sarah refuses to abandon the prisoners at the Škoda Works in Pilsen. With Albert Göring risking everything to shield them from the SS, she discovers that the Nazis are preparing to evacuate the camps and force their prisoners deeper into Germany. If she cannot stop them, thousands will die on the death marches.
From the shattered streets of Remagen to the factories of occupied Czechoslovakia, The Bridge is a gripping story of courage, sacrifice, and hope in the final weeks of World War II.
As the Allied armies race toward the heart of Germany, Monika Ritter is sent behind enemy lines on an impossible mission: keep the Ludendorff Bridge at Remagen standing long enough for the Americans to cross. Disguised as a Red Cross nurse, she must infiltrate the German defenders and, alongside Oliver and a handful of undercover operatives, prevent them from carrying out Hitler's orders to destroy the last bridge standing across the Rhine—a single act that could prolong the war by weeks and cost thousands of lives.
Hundreds of miles away, Sarah refuses to abandon the prisoners at the Škoda Works in Pilsen. With Albert Göring risking everything to shield them from the SS, she discovers that the Nazis are preparing to evacuate the camps and force their prisoners deeper into Germany. If she cannot stop them, thousands will die on the death marches.
From the shattered streets of Remagen to the factories of occupied Czechoslovakia, The Bridge is a gripping story of courage, sacrifice, and hope in the final weeks of World War II.
- GenresHistorical Fiction
277 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 8, 2026
About the author
Eoin Dempsey
55 books1,088 followersEoin Dempsey was born in Dublin, Ireland in 1977. He grew up in the beautiful Dublin suburb of Dalkey, where he and his friends would jump into the icy waters of the Irish Sea (during summertime) to prove their manliness. Eoin had a fantastic time attending Blackrock College, where he played rugby (poorly) and did his best to coast his way through. Eoin’s first ambition was to play rugby for Ireland. Due to a lack of talent, he soon abandoned that goal for the more reasoned path of the rock star. He played in bands through his teens and well into his twenties before harsh reality came calling, and his dreams of being the next Keith Moon faded.
Eoin made the ill-reasoned decision to study business in university and was accepted into University College Dublin to study Commerce in 1995. While Eoin did attend college, studying wasn’t his priority there.
He met his beautiful wife, Jill, while traveling to the USA in 1997, though it would be several years before he managed to break her down and they got together as a couple. It was during Eoin’s second stint in the USA, which he spent with his brother in New York City, that he decided to start writing a novel, for the express purpose of impressing women. This effort was met with mixed success. Eoin finished his first novel a year later. The over hundred and fifty rejections he received from publishers didn’t discourage him. He pinned them to his wall. After spending a year in Australia, where he was fired from many jobs, including picking red and green peppers and toiling for scallops miles out to sea on a fishing trawler, he returned home and decided to write again. Another novel followed while he phoned it in at a number of jobs in financial services in Dublin.
By this time Eoin had managed to convince Jill, the girl he’d met in the USA years before to move over to Dublin. She did so in 2004. It was the best negotiation he ever undertook. They were married in 2007. Jill’s more brilliant negotiating skills led Eoin to move to her hometown of Philadelphia in 2008, just in time for the economy to collapse. The plan to live with her parents for a few weeks turned into eighteen months, as Eoin struggled to retain employment in a fractured economy. It was during this time that he wrote FINDING REBECCA, which would go on to be his first published novel and be translated into fourteen different languages.
Eoin and Jill have three beautiful sons, Robbie, who was born in 2015, Sam, born in 2017, and Jack who came in 2019. Eoin enjoys playing with them and marveling at how much more talented they are at the sports that he loves, particularly golf.
Eoin made the ill-reasoned decision to study business in university and was accepted into University College Dublin to study Commerce in 1995. While Eoin did attend college, studying wasn’t his priority there.
He met his beautiful wife, Jill, while traveling to the USA in 1997, though it would be several years before he managed to break her down and they got together as a couple. It was during Eoin’s second stint in the USA, which he spent with his brother in New York City, that he decided to start writing a novel, for the express purpose of impressing women. This effort was met with mixed success. Eoin finished his first novel a year later. The over hundred and fifty rejections he received from publishers didn’t discourage him. He pinned them to his wall. After spending a year in Australia, where he was fired from many jobs, including picking red and green peppers and toiling for scallops miles out to sea on a fishing trawler, he returned home and decided to write again. Another novel followed while he phoned it in at a number of jobs in financial services in Dublin.
By this time Eoin had managed to convince Jill, the girl he’d met in the USA years before to move over to Dublin. She did so in 2004. It was the best negotiation he ever undertook. They were married in 2007. Jill’s more brilliant negotiating skills led Eoin to move to her hometown of Philadelphia in 2008, just in time for the economy to collapse. The plan to live with her parents for a few weeks turned into eighteen months, as Eoin struggled to retain employment in a fractured economy. It was during this time that he wrote FINDING REBECCA, which would go on to be his first published novel and be translated into fourteen different languages.
Eoin and Jill have three beautiful sons, Robbie, who was born in 2015, Sam, born in 2017, and Jack who came in 2019. Eoin enjoys playing with them and marveling at how much more talented they are at the sports that he loves, particularly golf.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
Review of advance copy received from Author
I received an ARC of this book. I have read every historical fiction book that Eoin has published. He is a remarkable author with amazing qualities of bringing what could be a boring subject (for some) to life. His stories and characters are never to be forgotten! This book, one in a series, is his best yet. Your never quite sure what will happen with Monika, Sarah, Michael, Oliver, or Uncle...but I can tell you that once you've read one of the books in this series (or any of his series), you'll want to know more. You become personally involved in the lives of his well developed characters. He brings them to life and they become part of your circle of friends and family! I can't wait for the next book to find out what happens to everyone!!!
Review of advance copy received from Author
In the prior books Michael and his new wife Monika are operating out of Switzerland on behalf of USA during WW II. Monika in Bern’s OSS office run by Mr. Dulles and Michael in special Airforce unit based in Switzerland. The main characters are from previous books by the author. Michael’s past included a move to Germany with his family to have a better life during the great depression in the USA. When Hitler came to power Michael met Monika, a German girl, in Germany who he eventually marries in New York in their early 20’s just before the USA entered the war.
In the prior books Monika cousin Sarah act as Red Cross nurses going from Switzerland into Germany to carry out allied missions that Dulles assigns them. Dulles is head of the OSS office in Bern and has used Monika and Sarah as spies to cross into Germany where they have been effective against The Reich.
This book 12 is an action-packed story about the how Monika mounts a mission to save a key bridge over the Rhine to allow the allies to cross into Germany. Sarah continues with Goring’s brother to help free concentration camp victims and save the prisoners being executed by The SS. This book is fast paced and absorbing. The historical fiction is spot on with actual historical records.
The author’s power to make the lives of these characters seem historically real is incredible.
Their tales of espionage ring true with actual circumstances that occurred during WW II with US spies stationed in Europe.
Eoin has written a great epic series on the Michael Ritter’s family and Hitler’s rise to power prior to this book.
In the prior books Monika cousin Sarah act as Red Cross nurses going from Switzerland into Germany to carry out allied missions that Dulles assigns them. Dulles is head of the OSS office in Bern and has used Monika and Sarah as spies to cross into Germany where they have been effective against The Reich.
This book 12 is an action-packed story about the how Monika mounts a mission to save a key bridge over the Rhine to allow the allies to cross into Germany. Sarah continues with Goring’s brother to help free concentration camp victims and save the prisoners being executed by The SS. This book is fast paced and absorbing. The historical fiction is spot on with actual historical records.
The author’s power to make the lives of these characters seem historically real is incredible.
Their tales of espionage ring true with actual circumstances that occurred during WW II with US spies stationed in Europe.
Eoin has written a great epic series on the Michael Ritter’s family and Hitler’s rise to power prior to this book.
September 12, 2026
This was such an exciting read! I felt I had been planted right in the middle of the battlefront of WWII. It seemed so realistic. I'm anxious to see if all the main characters make it to the end of the war. The author sets such a good tempo of the events with a good amount of detail. Looking forward to #13!
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
Acquire empathetic insights towards the victims and heroes of WWII through this fast-paced novel that tosses the reader right smack into the near end of the war. The capture of the Ludendorff Bridge at Remagen by the U.S. Army was a turning point in WWII. This time of crucial decisions and challenging sacrifices comes alive within each chapter through well-crafted plots and engaging scenes from bestselling author Eoin Dempsey.
This victory led to the collapse of Nazi Germany, bringing the war’s end to fruition. If you’d like to experience this critical time in history for yourself, definitely read this novel. Only then will you anticipate this series’ upcoming finale!
This victory led to the collapse of Nazi Germany, bringing the war’s end to fruition. If you’d like to experience this critical time in history for yourself, definitely read this novel. Only then will you anticipate this series’ upcoming finale!
Review of advance copy received from Author
This is the 12th book in the Monica Ritter series. Monica is tasked with preventing the destruction of the last bridge over the Rhine. Sarah is awol from the OSS to help the prisoners working at a munitions factory, along with Albert and his fiance, Mira. Oliver is slightly injured and cannot go with Monica, but another man does although he isn't sure about a woman in charge of the operation. I look forward to, hopefully, the last book in the series where these 4 brave young people will finally be free to live their lives after the war.
September 9, 2026
Knowing the end of World War II was now in sight, I thought The Bridge might be a bit tamer than the previous books in the series. Boy, was I wrong. The story focuses separately on Monika and Sarah, as each puts her own life on the line. Monika is tasked with keeping the final bridge from being blown up by the Germans in Remagen before the Allies can use it. Sarah remained in Czechoslovakia at the Skoda Works, determined to save as many of the prisoners used as slave labor as possible. Now that Germany is obviously losing the war, the situation for both women is pure chaos, and chaos is unpredictable. The Bridge made my palms sweat as I raced through the pages to the end. I still fear that Mr. Dempsey will kill off one of my favorite characters in the final book, but I look forward to reading it anyway. I have loved this series.
September 13, 2026
Book 12 in this fabulous WWII saga takes place in the months before WWII ends in 1945. Monika is on a mission to ensure the last remaining bridge over the Rhine is not destroyed by the Nazis as they flee back to Germany. Sarah is still in Pilson, Czechoslovakia working with Herman Goring to save as many Jewish prisoners she can at the Skoda works. Both women face daunting tasks that lead to a book thats hard to put down. It will
Be difficult to wait for the next book to follow!
Be difficult to wait for the next book to follow!
September 13, 2026
Gripping Storyies of courage
Monika and Sarah our heroes bring themselves back into dangerous places to save fellow countrymen never losing sight of the main goal of saving fellow resistors to the Nazi army. Monika tries every minute to fulfill her orders to put off the demolition of a bridge, while Sarah tries to redirect fates of prisoners.
Monika and Sarah our heroes bring themselves back into dangerous places to save fellow countrymen never losing sight of the main goal of saving fellow resistors to the Nazi army. Monika tries every minute to fulfill her orders to put off the demolition of a bridge, while Sarah tries to redirect fates of prisoners.
September 22, 2026
Gripping and soell-binding
Sara''s story is exhausting yet demonstrates the length heroic people will go when inspired. Dempsey does a great job in writing this and bringing WWII alive.
Sara''s story is exhausting yet demonstrates the length heroic people will go when inspired. Dempsey does a great job in writing this and bringing WWII alive.
September 28, 2026
Monica et al
Another great addition to Eoin Dempsey’ Monica Ritter series, with all the useful characters and a few new ones. I enjoyed the story but I am ready for it to end. I hope #13 will complete the journey.
Another great addition to Eoin Dempsey’ Monica Ritter series, with all the useful characters and a few new ones. I enjoyed the story but I am ready for it to end. I hope #13 will complete the journey.
September 20, 2026
Wonderful book
A wonderful book that I felt sad when the ending came and can't wait until November when book 13 is released.
A wonderful book that I felt sad when the ending came and can't wait until November when book 13 is released.
September 21, 2026
A great read. Fast paced and enthralling to boot. The bravery of these two young women knows no bounds. Looking forward to the next two books!
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews