Thank you to NetGalley and Joffe Books for allowing me to read an advanced copy.

This is my first book by Taylor Adams although No Exit has been on my to read list for some time now. The book follows a young woman named Lena who is convinced that her sister's suicide wasn't actually a suicide. She travels to the town where her death took place determined to find the truth. She convinces the cop who found her sister's body to meet with her at the same spot of her death so that she can get the closure she needs. But Lena's true intentions are to get the cop to admit to her sister's murder.

I really did enjoy the main character Lena. She is a badass and at one point she does something that caused me to audibly yell, "Oh hell yeah!" I thought the first part of this book moved pretty slowly. Like somebody else's review that I read, it talked about how it always seems like a car chase is happening. You can only read about it for so long until you start to get bored. The second half of the book definitely picked up, but again I just felt like something was lacking. Overall I wouldn't say that it was super suspenseful or thrilling.

Hairpin Bridge is a compulsive and twisty thriller from one of the most exciting crime writers in the game and follows a young woman determined to prove her twin sister’s suicide was really a murder—and to catch the police officer she thinks did it. Lena Nguyen is struggling to come to terms with her identical twin sister's death so she decides to make the trip from her home in Seattle, Washington, to see the bridge her 24-year-old sister, Cambry, apparently jumped from 60 miles outside of Missoula, Montana when she had been nearing the end of a year-long journey across America. She meets with Corporal Raymond Raycevic who was the one to discover her body beneath the derelict Hairpin Bridge located on a road now closed to the public, and although he seems friendly and open about his experience, Lena cannot shake the strange feeling that something is not quite adding up regarding the official police account. Although Lena and Cambry had been somewhat estranged of late, Lena doesn't believe her sister would commit suicide. Plus, there's the cryptic last text message Lena received somehow foreshadowing what then occurs. It had read: “Please Forgive Me. I couldn’t live with it. Hopefully, you can, Officer Raycevic?”

Not only does the text seem incredibly suspicious but Cambry had rung 911 no less than 16 times before her demise. Lena discovers that Raycevic has pulled Cambry over for speeding only an hour before her death but when asked he dismisses it as mere coincidence. Did Raycevic have a hand in Cambry's death or is Lena just clutching at straws to try to explain the unexpected suicide of a loved one? What is the text referring to? This is a riveting and compulsively readable thriller not only packed with hairpin bends and a plethora of twisty surprises but also the emotion of losing a family member suddenly and unexpectedly. Lena is a brilliant protagonist and the sort of person who fights to the ends of the earth to get justice. It is a thrilling, absorbing and exciting cat and mouse game with Raycevic dangerously underestimating Lena's tenacity and desire to bring who she believes is the killer to heel. But is she a fantasist or a realist? Adams is a highly adept crime writer, and I found the third-person narrative and the use of Lena's blog posts and excerpts from the book she was writing about Cambry made the story all the more engaging as the sister's backstories were revealed. Highly recommended.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

🔊Song Pairing:
Don’t Fear (The Reaper) - Blue Oyster Cult

💭What I thought would happen:

I thought it would be spooky and intense and perhaps a jumping from a bridge…

📖What actually happens:

Lena is on a mission to solve her identical twin sister, Cambry’s suicide. In this journey, she goes to where her sister supposedly jumped. Interviewing the cop that first pulled her over prior to jumping, THEN also happened to find her body…coincidence??

🗯Thoughts:

Had me at the first page. I was like Woah this has me sweating. It’s a classic cat and mouse story.

I don’t know about you but car chases or escapes just don’t thrill me when reading, this book was 10/10 written to be turned into a film…where’s Vin Diesel at 🤪

I was wondering what was up with the book because it was giving everything up all too soon...what do they say about getting the milk for free...right the eARC was free...What more could happen? MUCH, much more

“A man dressed like a condom who talks like the lucky charms leprechaun” can we take a second to appreciate this line. One of the better insults I’ve ever read. Waiting for the day that I can use it 🙋🏼‍♀️

Lesson learned. Never trust a man who keeps his pet snake in his truck….I once went out with a corporate lawyer who not until our third date when I was at his place did he tell me he had a PET SNAKE. There was no fourth date. This guy wore Armani for goodness sake! How was I to know!

4.5 ⭐ One helluva ride!

No need for a notepad to keep track of the cast. Hairpin Bridge is my kind of book, with characters you can count on one hand. Yet, you still wonder who did what, why and how! The story is told in two timelines, three months apart with two POVs, as Cambry's story and Lena's, the Nguyen twin sisters.

Cambry's story or the chase is nail-biting and very tense. With time ticking away, literally, it is absolutely gripping and pulse-racing.

Lena's story is about seeking the truth. What happened to Cambry? She travels from Washington to Montana to find answers. I like the switch between the two POVs as this one is mellow where I can take a breather. Then halfway through, Lena's story becomes just as harrowing as Lena's if not even more so!

Great mystery and thrills. This is my first book by Taylor Adams and I'll be looking forward for more.
Thank you, Joffe Books, and Netgalley for my ARC.
Publish date June 15, 2021.

I haven't read a ton of thrillers this year, but when I saw a new Taylor Adams, I knew I'd want to read it because I loved No Exit. Lena's twin sister, Cambry, ends up dead in a remote town and Lena wants answers. What follows is a twisty, dark story with a lot of surprises. I went into this one not even trying to guess most of the surprises because I felt like there was no way I could get it right, and I'm glad I did because a lot of the revelations were not anything I would have guessed. This one did take me a while to get into, but once I did I could not put it down. Hairpin Bridge is full of action and characters that are holding on to tons of secrets. Overall, it was definitely an enjoyable read, but if you aren't into action or blood/gore, this may not be the one for you. I received a copy of this from NetGalley and all opinions expressed are my own.

Synopsis -

Lena Nguyen’s twin sister Cambry, jumped to her death over the secluded Hairpin Bridge in Montana. But Lena isn’t convinced with this police version. She has her suspicions on Officer Raycevic, who had pulled over Cambry an hour before her death and whose name was in her sister’s last text. Lena sets out to the very bridge, determined to find out the truth about her sister’s death. But first, she will need to overcome a battle of survival and confront her twin’s real identity.

Review -
The narrative alternates between Lena’s current situation over the bridge and Cambry’s story as imagined by Lena, along with her blog entries. The author did a fine job of setting up the atmosphere. The isolation, remoteness and the wildfire nearby, all worked out really well creating a bone chilling and frightening ambience.

But I struggled with the first 60% of this book and I felt it moved atrociously slowly for a thriller. It was after this point that it picked up pace and got me interested. Lena’s imagination, I thought was in serious overdrive. She just seemed to be so overconfident and made some poor choices and judgements.

Another major issue was the excessive detailing about the guns/pistols which mostly went over my head. The descriptions of gore, bloodshed and violence also proved to be too gaudy for me to handle. The car chase scenes were prolonged for way too long and were often pretty far-fetched to believe. Also, not sure why death takes so long to come after a gunshot to a vital body part , again so unrealistic.

Adams has brought out the difficult childhood and strained relationship of the twin sisters very well. I also did not see some of the twists coming and they thankfully got my adrenaline pumping towards the end.

The ending, however was again a bit of a slow burn, taking long to give us all the answers. I did not feel satisfied with the whole mystery that got unraveled nor did I experience any excitement I usually get with thriller finales.

Thanks NetGalley and Joffebooks for the ARC!

Couldn't finish this book. Completely beyond belief. Not development of premises. Very disappointed.

I devoured this book! Taylor Adams has once again created a compulsive, claustrophobic, tense, engrossing story that both stressed me out (in a good way!) and had me rooting so hard for our protagonist, Lena. I love me a badass woman!

This was such a tense and twisty story. Stylistically I liked the blend of present day, blog posts and "the night of". And based on my experience with No Exit I would say that in typically Taylor Adams fashion you just never know what's going to come next.

Three months ago Lena Nguyen's twin sister, Cambry's body was found after she jumped off Hairpin Bridge. The police have ruled it a suicide. But Lena's not convinced. Even though she and Cambry have been estranged for a while and Cambry was in the midst of a cross-country road trip, Lena still believes she knows her sister better than anyone - especially the highway patrolman, Corporal Raymond Raycevic, who allegedly discoverer Cambry's body.

An hour before her death, Raycevic pulled Cambry over for speeding. Then there are the sixteen 911 calls Cambry made. And the last text that Lena ever received from her sister - "Forgive Me. I couldn’t live with it. Hopefully you can, Officer Raycevic".

Raycevic has some explaining to do.

Raycevic agrees to meet with Lena on the very bridge that Cambry jumped from. (Nevermind that Lena is driving Cambry's car!) And while what happened that night is still a mystery Lena is not letting Raycevic leave that bridge until she gets the answers she came here for.

This book will grab you from the start and not let go - easily one you can gobble up in a weekend! Taylor Adams has found his niche and is fully embracing it. If you loved No Exit this book will be another win and if you're new to Taylor Adams buckle up for a wild ride!

A fast paced thrill ride that will keep you on the edge of your seat. I agree it would make one hell of a movie! Lena and Officer Ray are complex characters that both suck you into their stories. Full of action and tension, this one will keep you questioning until the very end. My only complaint was that I wish the Cambry's story parts were told by her. The book takes place over a few hours and the author does an outstanding job of making an entire narrative that is both intriguing and gripping. This is one you don't want to miss.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC.

🌟🌟🌟🌟 4/5 stars

No Exit was one of my top thrillers the year it released, so I could not wait to read Taylor Adams’ newest, Hairpin Bridge. Once again, she centers her thriller mainly around one night. While No Exit remains my favorite, this was a tense, dark, and downright disturbing thriller.

Hairpin Bridge is about Lena, a blogger grieving her twin, Cambry, who committed suicide by jumping off Hairpin Bridge. However, Lena refuses to believe her sister jumped. Instead, she goes on a mission to prove that the police officer who found her sister’s body was, in fact, the one who killed her. Corporal Raymond Raycevic and Lena spend one night in a battle of survival and honestly..things get real bleak.

Stories that take place over a short period of time are tricky. To fill 300-350 pages, there is bound to be a bit of filler, so the middle of this one dragged a bit for me. However, the pace picks back up and then I could not put it down. By the end of this book, I needed a romance book STAT. It is dark, gory, and SAD. I enjoyed the book overall and think it is a great follow-up to No Exit. Now I need to go read a happy book and find some joy.

ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I was extremely excited to read this book because I loved “No Exit” soooo much. Unfortunately, it was disappointing. I couldn’t connect to any character, and it just seemed to be all over the place. I wish that there was more character history. I also think that the alternating between characters POV could have been done better.

This was one kickass, action filled caper that had so many twists and turns that it made traversing Hairpin Bridge a child’s play.

Lena had come to get to the truth of her twin Cambrey’s alleged suicide. Corporal Raymond Raycevic was the one who supposedly found the body and wrote the report. But did Lena believe it? Or was it the twin thing which drove her to find the truth?

The story was a great screenplay, would make a fantastic movie, where the two main characters were larger than life, each confident that the other would blink first.

Lena was fantastic; I loved her preparations and the homework she did about Ray. She was like a magician who pulled a rabbit out of the torn, bullet riddled hat, even when it seemed the hat had no secret base to hide the rabbit. And she didn’t give up till the very end.

Raycevic was a formidable opponent who gave as good as he got. His volley of words had the power to spear both Lena and me. Too many cards close to the chest were played well.

The story had layers upon layers with a feww memories of the twins’ childhood giving us the right picture that things were not honky-dory since they were 12. But they were sisters forever, weren’t they? Even in death, especially in death.

The story, with so much action of gun fights, car chases, found its suspense diluted even when the curiosity to know the truth soared.

A couple of things stood out like a sore thumb and niggled me. I was told Cambry made 16 911 calls, but in the sequence of events, she never had a chance to. The prose spoke about a little boy but there were 2 little boys of two timelines which were not made clear. Ah well… With so many bullets flying, who remembered to call 911 or write in distinctive descriptions of little boys.

Having not read No Exit, this was a great introduction to the author Taylor Adams. The book was a twister right up to the last page with the final line.

Thank you to Netgally for allowing me to review this book before its release date.

"Hairpin Bridge" is a book I have been discussing for months. Ever since reading "No Exit" by Taylor Adams, I have anticipated this release and it has been at the top of my list to read.
In this book, Lena is searching for answers on why her twin sister, Cambry, is dead. The cop who found her body insists it was a suicide and Lena insists it was not. She meets up with him on the bridge where her sisters body was found to find out what happened and why this officer was named in her sister's last text to her.
This is a book that is read from Lena's current point of view as she confronts the officer and attempts to find out what happened and Lena's blog where she talks about what she believes happened. The third view is Lena's book she is writing about Cambry from what she is learning and what she thinks happened.

The good in this book: it is fast paced and made me want to keep reading to find out what happened. It is also a quick read if you are looking for a shorter book that will keep you engaged. It is well written and I spent time trying to figure out who was telling the truth and began to wonder if Lena was crazy or not.
The parts I didn't love so much was that some of the scenes seemed repetitive and I wish that Cambrys story was from her point of view, rather than what her sister thought happened.
Overall, it was a good, quick read that will stick with me and I will recommend to people, especially if they like the authors previous work or books that don't shy away from descriptive gore.

3.5 stars
——————
According to police records Cambry leaped to her death from Hairpin Bridge, leaving only an estranged suicide note via text to her twin Lena. Three months later Lena seeks out the police officer that found her twin’s body to uncover the truth.
——————
Hairpin Bridge is a fast-paced thriller with a very satisfying ending. I thought this was going to be a straight forward good cop turns bad mystery thriller, but Adams did not hold back with these TWISTS YOU GUYS. The story kicks off straight away, it had me guessing by the end of chapter 2 what was going to happen (though I was way off multiple times), which rarely happens for me with thrillers. The story mostly follows Lena in first person, as well as her blog posts and how she believes the lead up to her sisters death went (in Cambry’s perspective) but we also get insight into what is happening with other characters (outside of Lenas vision). It wasn’t confusing, just different and I didn’t mind it. I was on the edge of my seat the whole time, I just couldn’t bring myself to give it four stars because I believe Taylor Adams’s’ other novel No Exit was executed a little better. There was also a quote about a characters wife that left a bitter taste and was really unnecessary - “He hated looking at her. Every time he saw her, he swore he saw five new pounds of blubber jiggling on her upper arms or under her chin. So, best not to look at her.”. Very little bothers me with thrillers/horror but this contributed nothing and I didn’t like it. BESIDES THAT. If you’re a thriller reader, I would recommend this (and No Exit) for something a little different but still along the lines of your standard intense mystery (with some body horror thrown in I warn you).
——————
> A quote I liked - “But grief leaves you reeling, empty-handed, searching for a devil to rage against.”

> A quote that made me laugh - “I’m being murdered. Right now. By a man dressed like a condom, who talks like the lucky charms leprechaun. Nightmares do come true, but never in the shape you expect.”

Hairpin Bridge is the follow-up novel to Taylor Adam's excellent No Exit.

"Three months ago Camby Nguyen drove to a remote bridge and jumped to her death.
Her twin sister, Lena, doesn't believe Camby would do that. She heads to the bridge to interview the highway patrolman that found him and determined to find the truth.

Lena discovers that the patrolman's story doesn't add up and soon finds herself fighting for her own survival..."

Crazy, entertaining story from Adams. Lena is full of surprises. Officer Raycevic is full of surprises. And the surprise character is full of surprises (no spoilers) Adams goes back and forth between Lena's interview and Camby's story. He keeps ratcheting up the tension until the explosive ending at the bridge. Lots of twists in this one - all the way to the very end.

Fans of No Exit should love this one. A book you should definitely add to your summer reading list

Thank you Joffe Books and NetGalley for my e-arc of this book, received in exchange for an honest review.

When Lena drives to meet Officer Raymond Raycevic at the infamous Hairpin Bridge in Montana to get to the bottom of her suspicions about her twin sister's apparent suicide, there's a chance she has bitten off more than she can chew.

This book was a rollercoaster that pulled me along at absolute breakneck speed. It was twisty and turny, with multiple conflicting accounts of the same events that will keep you guessing. Not only that, both 'past' and 'present' narratives span only a few hours apiece leaving little to no time for the story to lag.

I really enjoyed the contrast in narrative voices in Lena's various outlets, from her blog to her novel written primarily from Cambry's POV to the third person narration of her own POV, and how they reveal over the course of the story her changing mental state and the resulting discrepancies.
The pacing had me hooked and there were just enough plot twists and reveals to keep me guessing and leave me reeling in the end.
This is also possibly the first book I've ever read with a car chase in it, and oh wow was it intense-so well written.

If you're looking for a thriller you can devour in one sitting, this might just be the one for you.

Thank you for the ARC of this book! Lena Nguyen is a young-woman who wants to know what really happened on the day that her sister died by suicide. She asks the cop who found her body to meet her at the bridge she was found by. What happens next is a book that takes place across a short time period. With many twists and turns, the plot was and setting was interesting; however, I was slightly confused with the shifts in narrators and the way Cambry's story was told.

Overall, this book is for people who enjoy suspense novels that take place in a short period of time.

Hairpin Bridge was my first Taylor Adams book but I can promise it won't be my last. Action packed from start to finish with many twists and turns to keep you guessing. I throughly enjoyed all the cat and mouse games in this book and loved that the book had a strong, smart, female lead. I honestly wasn't sure how things would end and couldn't turn the pages fast enough to find out. Well written and entertaining the whole way through.

Thank you NetGalley for providing a free ARC for my honest review!

This book like NO EXIT takes place over a couple of hours.

Lena Nguyen travels to Montana in order to find out what really happened to her sister Cambry. It's been ruled suicide but Lena doesn't believe it and thinks officer Raycevic, the officer who found her body, is hiding something. Lena wants Raycevic to take her to the bridge where Cambry was found in order to get the truth.

This was a gripping, fast paced story it twisted and turned and there were parts where I wasn't sure what was real and what wasn't. I liked that Lena's blog posts were also incorporated into the story too.

Lena was a very strong character managing to get past anything thrown in her way which I enjoyed reading about.

I'd recommend reading this in one sitting as I think that would make it more enjoyable but I still thought this was a good story.

I really wanted to love this book because I had heard so much hype about No Exit. However, I was disappointed. The beginning of the book was so fast paced and had me totally intrigued I flew through the first half. And then the second half just kind of seemed all over the place and I really lost interest and struggled to finish it. There were a lot of twists but the ending kind of ruined it for me. I still want to read No Exit but I wasn’t a fan of this book.