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A Thousand Bridges
It was just an ordinary murder, a drug deal gone sour, leaving three dead teenagers and a drug dealer convicted of the crime. So, when Katherine Furay shows up at P.I. McDonald Clay's doorstep five years later to say her daughter had been a witness and that the murder wasn't ordinary at all, Mac suddenly finds himself in far over his head. The last thing Clay needed was a cause, and he wasn't looking for reasons to live. He just wanted to be left alone to grieve for his dead partner and girlfriend Patty Sheevers, brutally murdered the last time Clay had adopted a "cause." But Katherine Furay was Sheevers's best friend, and now she needs Clay's help, so he finds himself torn between responsibilities to the living and continuing a numbing, uninvolved self-indulgence. To his surprise he discovers he does have some good qualities left. He starts out investigating Tommy Lovett, the owner of a local pool hall in the north Florida city of Palmetto Bay, and winds up going head-to-head with a powerful gubernatorial candidate. In the process, he fights to regain his self-respect and to save the people he loves. For Clay, the question moves from simply who committed murder to "Do you know what your government is doing?"
153 pages, Hardcover
First published October 1, 1992
11 people want to read
About the author
Michael McKinney
12 books9 followersMy first novel, A Thousand Bridges, was released in 1992. It received a coveted Starred Review in Publishers Weekly, as well as being chosen by PW as one of the Top 10 First Novels of the Year. It was released to fantastic reviews in publications like Kirkus Reviews, The San Francisco Chronicle, The St. Petersburg Times and many others. The Library Journal chose it as one of their First Novels of the year.
Though it was listed in the trades as a Mystery/Thriller, I just think of it as a love story with a lot of death in it.
So, I've just released it again, this time as an eBook, through BookBaby. The website for the novel is http://www.athousandbridges1992.com
I think the theme is just as alive today - a modern political thriller/ detective novel set in Northwest Florida in a time of political corruption and change.
It's a good life. Along with my wife, Maggie, we're a duo called Lucky Mud, a name taken from Vonnegut's novel, Cat's Cradle. Our music has carried us from Key West, Florida, to Bandera, Texas; From the main stage of the Florida Folk Festival to a sold-out concert at the legendary Linenhall Arts Centre in Castlebar, Ireland.
Maggie and I live on a seven acre farm in the Florida Panhandle when not on tour. We call it Maggie's Farm, and have monthly mini-festivals there. If you'd like to see the music side, try
http://www.luckymudmusic.com
This is my first shot on any book site, and I'm extremely nervous. If my Mama was here, she'd be pinching my arm right about now, telling me to sit still and behave.
Though it was listed in the trades as a Mystery/Thriller, I just think of it as a love story with a lot of death in it.
So, I've just released it again, this time as an eBook, through BookBaby. The website for the novel is http://www.athousandbridges1992.com
I think the theme is just as alive today - a modern political thriller/ detective novel set in Northwest Florida in a time of political corruption and change.
It's a good life. Along with my wife, Maggie, we're a duo called Lucky Mud, a name taken from Vonnegut's novel, Cat's Cradle. Our music has carried us from Key West, Florida, to Bandera, Texas; From the main stage of the Florida Folk Festival to a sold-out concert at the legendary Linenhall Arts Centre in Castlebar, Ireland.
Maggie and I live on a seven acre farm in the Florida Panhandle when not on tour. We call it Maggie's Farm, and have monthly mini-festivals there. If you'd like to see the music side, try
http://www.luckymudmusic.com
This is my first shot on any book site, and I'm extremely nervous. If my Mama was here, she'd be pinching my arm right about now, telling me to sit still and behave.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
February 20, 2012
I am a fan of Florida mysteries - probably not the real Florida (I have never been there, except for a long boring stay in the International Terminal of MIA), but that mythical Florida where against the backdrop of sun and sand, blue ocean, tropical lushness, spectacular sunsets, and Florida politics rages a never-ending battle between corruption and the good men and women who struggle against it.
Travis McGee (John D. McDonald), the characters of Carl Hiasson, Doc Ford (Randy Wayne White) are only a few of the characters and authors who keep bringing me back to this sub-genre. I recently purchased "A Thousand Bridges". Author Michael McKinney and his McDonald Clay easily qualify for a spot in this pantheon.
Clay is a former private detective who is believably flawed, to whom Kate Furay comes for help. She and her problem are inseparably intertwined with the events which caused Clay to abandon his investigative career. Because of this connection, he begins pulling threads which make it seem possible for him to balance the scales for that event that all but destroyed his life. What follows is a harsh and dangerous struggle against corrupt and evil forces that would destroy Clay, Kate and the good people helping them, as well as the very fabric of that mythical and mystical Florida.
Mr. McKinney's writing is sharp and descriptive. He hits no false notes in either character or place description. I'll let you discover for yourself that sentence that gives rise to "A Thousand Bridges", the book's title. I'll give you instead a brief quote touching on politics that resonated with me: "...his beliefs were based on lifelong convictions, not thirty-second sound bites. When you pulled them apart to see how they worked, [his] had something inside." And equally, this book indeed has something inside.
No spelling, grammatical, syntax or construction errors or awkward phrasing appeared in this book. An important consideration for me, but perhaps not so important for others.
Travis McGee (John D. McDonald), the characters of Carl Hiasson, Doc Ford (Randy Wayne White) are only a few of the characters and authors who keep bringing me back to this sub-genre. I recently purchased "A Thousand Bridges". Author Michael McKinney and his McDonald Clay easily qualify for a spot in this pantheon.
Clay is a former private detective who is believably flawed, to whom Kate Furay comes for help. She and her problem are inseparably intertwined with the events which caused Clay to abandon his investigative career. Because of this connection, he begins pulling threads which make it seem possible for him to balance the scales for that event that all but destroyed his life. What follows is a harsh and dangerous struggle against corrupt and evil forces that would destroy Clay, Kate and the good people helping them, as well as the very fabric of that mythical and mystical Florida.
Mr. McKinney's writing is sharp and descriptive. He hits no false notes in either character or place description. I'll let you discover for yourself that sentence that gives rise to "A Thousand Bridges", the book's title. I'll give you instead a brief quote touching on politics that resonated with me: "...his beliefs were based on lifelong convictions, not thirty-second sound bites. When you pulled them apart to see how they worked, [his] had something inside." And equally, this book indeed has something inside.
No spelling, grammatical, syntax or construction errors or awkward phrasing appeared in this book. An important consideration for me, but perhaps not so important for others.
April 15, 2012
I loved 'A Thousand Bridges'! A fun, intelligent mystery with balance enough of levity and crime to keep me thoroughly engaged and always wondering, "what's next?" Michael McKinney did a masterful job of weaving a story full of characters that leap off the page and stand right next to you as you're reading; fully dimensional, made of flesh and blood and sweat and sweetness, sexuality and despair ... I appreciate that he gives us characters real and flawed, with protagonists based enough in goodness that we really want to care about them. He gives us wounded souls, a love story, thugs and cads, palpable fear and the pains of longing, murder and mayhem and gunfights - and even brings Florida to life for us in this twisting tale, not only in its history and its politics infected with a festering corruption, but in descriptions so tangible and full that I could smell the flowers in the moist evening air and the organic processes alive in the humid soil ... Yes, I loved it. Bravo!
May 7, 2023
Edit Your Book
At least ask a friend. Good Lord.
The story was ok for a fifth grader.
I puled it off my shelf.
At least ask a friend. Good Lord.
The story was ok for a fifth grader.
I puled it off my shelf.
December 30, 2011
'A Thousand Bridges' is pretty darn good. It's an adventure detective story. Also a tale of redemption -- I'm always a sucker for those. Well paced, well drawn, with a plot that's just a little too believable for comfort.
October 27, 2011
A fabulous fast ride down a slippery slope. He is a visual writer with a gift for brevity. A frightening foreshadowing of the current political lunacy gripping our country. I love this book.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews