Nate Morrissey, a successful New York lawyer, has just been asked to take on a client that will require he travel to Mount Kelven – the place he grew up in; the place he fell in love in; the place of that horrible tragedy; the place he fled from 18 years ago. 

Nate was a fearless boy who grew up to know no limits.  He was successful in all that he did, until one fateful night when he and Laura, the girl he loved so fiercely, decided to elope.  When they arrived at the Justice of the Peace, they changed their minds, but not before both of their families came rushing to stop them.  The combination of stormy weather, emotionally driven parents, and a power outage on the lift bridge was more than enough to produce the worst tragedy the residents from Mount Kelven had ever witnessed.  Now, 18 years later, Nate will revisit Mount Kelven, that tragedy, and Laura.  What he finds during his stay in Mount Kelven will again change his life.

Patrick Garry has succeeded in writing a gripping emotional novel that claims your attention on the first page.  With witty characters and heart gripping revelations, “A Bridge Back” is a very satisfying read that shows us among many things, that by always looking back you can’t see in front of you.  I would highly recommend this to anyone looking for a great book!

Reviewed on 09/20/2010 by ReviewTheBook.com Member Kristina Barrett

On a stormy night the worst tragedy of Mt. Kleven takes place on a lift bridge over the Esarno river. Many speculate and conclude the accident occurred because of two young lovers plan to elope. Nate and Laura drift apart following the immediate tragedy that they take the blame and guilt for. Nick moves away at the advice of his beloved grandfather. Nate, whose is now a top lawyer in New York City, finds himself returning to Mt. Kelvin for the first time in eighteen years. A documentary being filmed about the tragedy has Nate sent home, undercover, for a client of his firm.

With deep opposition to the return, Nate goes and is faced with the past, the truth and the discovery of himself. Nate and Laura are soon thrown into remembering that fateful night and discovering that for eighteen years they have been living with guilt that might not be rightfully theirs. Through discovery Nate learns Laura has been keeping a haunting secret and both learn the truth of that fateful night.

A Bridge Back is a gripping novel. It had me spellbound from the start. It will bring you through a variety of emotions, and keep you on the edge of your seat in anticipation of the truth. Mt. Kelven is a beloved town that has been hurting for the past 18 years. The truth enables everyone to be set free and finally move on with their lives for good. It was a wonderful novel from beginning to end. Many lovable characters and exciting pages! A Bridge back is a novel of the past, present and the future. It is the realization that all three make us who we are and what we will be. It is self discovery and understanding. I would recommend this book to any reader. It will capture you and you will not be disappointed.

Reviewed on 05/25/2010 by ReviewTheBook.com Member Tiffany Schlarman

 Nate Morrissey hasn’t been back to his home town of Mount Kelven in 18 years. He left after his parents were killed in a tragic car accident, something he blames himself for, and never returned. Now his boss has asked him to go there to look into the filming of a documentary that relates to the car accident and Nate begins to realize that he can’t keep running from his past. The story evolves once Nate arrives in Mount Kelven and realizes that a lot has changed since he left. He gets involved with saving his grandfathers hotel and gets reacquainted with his ex-girlfriend who also has issues stemming from the night of the accident. Nate’s world gets turned upside down and he realizes he can’t look toward the future until he deals with his past.

A Bridge Back is more about Nate’s journey to escape the past that has been holding him back than about finding out what is really going on with the hotel or what may have really happened the night of the accident. I get what author Patrick M. Garry was trying to do but must admit I felt a little cheated by the ending. Once Nate had his big epiphany, the story just kind of ended with a summary of the events that followed and everything was tied up rather quickly. I was really looking forward to a confrontation being played out between Nate and his brother-in-law and instead, I got a paragraph basically saying it happened and telling me the result. I just wish the loose ends had been tied up with a little more detail.

Though I was disappointed with the final chapter of the book I did enjoy everything leading up to the ending and had a hard time putting the book down. The characters are all very complex but also very real and the author does a good job of developing each of them. I also thought his description of the setting, Mount Kelven, was very well done and I was able to picture the town very clearly in my head. Honestly, I would recommend this book to anyone interested in well thought out characters who are easy to relate to and, to anyone interested in the journey involved in freeing oneself from their past.

Reviewed on 09/19/2009 by ReviewTheBook.com Member April Hanson

This is a great book.  It takes Nate back to his home town after he has been gone for many years.  He hasn't been back since his parents died in a tragic accident on a bridge while trying to stop him from eloping.  They are killed along with a bunch of teenagers who are passing under the bridge, which is a drawbridge.  While he is there, he runs into the woman he was planning on eloping with, saves his grandfather's old hotel from being torn down to build a casino, briefly reignites the flame with his old love, stops his brother in law from profiting from his grandfathers will and then breaks up with his old flame.  Nate is a lawyer in the big city and decides to return back to his roots to become a lawyer in his home town to help the people there.  He originally goes there as part of a job for his original firm, but is discouraged from looking into certain things.  He also became close to the owner of the hotel he was staying at and helped clear the bridge operator of all wrong doing in the accident.


I thought the author did an excellent job of describing the old hotel, the hotel he stayed in while he was living there, the relationships he had with the people that he meets and how he reopens old relationships.  I felt that I was right there along with him and experiencing things as he did.  He describes the old hotel so you can picture what it looked like and what happened in it both in the old days and today and helps you imagine what it was like back then.

I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in hotels back in the old days, romances, and history in general.

Reviewed on 08/02/2009 by ReviewTheBook.com Member Shannon Baas