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Summary: A well written book...
Review: I thought the book was well written. I was definitely impressed by the writer's skill set. However I was unmoved and disconnected to the real tradgedy of the story. The emotion of the story was over-powered by the mystery of who-dunnit rather than the fact that another child was lost to the cycle of deprivation and devastation in 'the hood.'
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Summary: GOOD READ!!!!!!
Review: I thought this book was very good. It was full of action and drama. A real page turner. I was surprised by the twisted ending.
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Summary: strong condemnation of a ¿compassionate¿ America
Review: In a run down Philadelphia project THE BRIDGE, nine-year-old Kenya Brown disappears. Assigned to the case is African-American detectives Kevin Lynch and Roxanne Wilson. Kevin comes from these projects and knows Kenya's guardian is his childhood friend crack dealer Aunt Judy.The evidence points towards Judy's lover and business partner Sonny Williams who is an alleged child abuser and has conveniently vanished too. The cops feel if they find Sonny, they will find Kenya, hopefully alive and not violated. However, Sonny is a pro in evading the law something he learned as a drug dealer. The two police detectives know that each minute that passes most likely means bad things have happened to Kenya. Though the investigation and subsequent police search is fun, this tale has a deeper message about an abundant society ignoring abject poverty and its consequences. Readers will taste the despondency of the ghettos whose basic outputs are violence and other undesirable behavior. The heroes are those select few trying to make a better life outside the hood for their children. This is a strong condemnation of a "compassionate" America written within a solid police procedural. Harriet Klausner
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Summary: Secrets kill and sometimes the truth hurts as much.
Review: In his debut book Pipe Dream, we met several characters that believed their dream of change dissipated in a cloud of smoke, now Solomon Jones has done it again. The Bridge is filled with relationships, drugs and many clouds of secrets; that could certainly change lives once they are revealed. Merriam-Webster defines a bridge as a time, place, or means of connection or transition. Mr. Jones definition of The Bridge is the dilapidated, drug-infested projects housed in Philly. In both instances, each defines a means of transition and hope of getting from point A to point B. Nine year old Kenya Brown disappeared from the projects where she lived with her Aunt Judy and Sonny her Aunts boyfriend. Detective Lynch received a frantic call from Kenyas mom asking him to help her find her baby. Lynch has his own demons about going back to the Bridge. Faced with a promise to care for Kenya Lynch puts aside his personal feelings about The Bridge. Every character in this book has a reason to want this child dead. As the list of suspects, continue to grow so does the suspense. The Bridge is an explosive tale of hope, tough love, abusive love and desperate love. Its about the relationships we want to believe do not exist or only exist in the ghetto. This avid reader and reviewer cannot praise this book enough. Excellent job Mr. Jones!
Missy
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Summary: Chasing the (crack)pipe and dreams
Review: In Solomon Jones's second novel-The Bridge-the reader is introduced to characters who chase both the (crack) pipe and pipe dreams. Kenya Brown was a young innocent girl who was forced into independence when her mother chose the crack pipe over raising her. As a result, she was sent to live with her Aunt Judy in the crack-infested housing projects called The Bridge. Aunt Judy and her boyfriend Sonny were the neighborhood drug dealers who were chasing the pipe dream of leaving The Bridge forever once they made enough money.
Everything was going according to plan until...Kenya turned up missing. Her disappearance caused people, who thought they had left these projects for good, to come back. Her mother, Daneen, is forced to revisit the place where her addiction manifested. Now that she's clean, she's skeptical about returning. Detective Lynch moved from The Bridge many years prior and is called, by his childhood friend Daneen, to use his expertise to help answer the questions surrounding Kenya's disappearance.
Sonny is the prime suspect in the kidnapping of Kenya; only he doesn't know it until he becomes engaged in an unexpected police chase that eventually leads to other incidents. Judy starts chasing Sonny after she realizes he has taken something valuable from her. Daneen is trying to find answers and to deal with past skeletons. Detective Lynch is trying to stay out of hot water. All the neighbors are theorizing on what happened to Kenya but no one has definite answers. Or do they? People start dying and that's when all hell breaks loose.
Let the games begin. Solomon Jones's storytelling will have you gripping the book, waiting and guessing. The Bridge is an action packed mystery that will frustrate you in a good way. Just when you think you've figured out the answer, he throws you a curve and leaves your mouth hanging open with an unexpected revelation that will knock your socks off and make you say, "Dang! I would have never guessed."
Reviewed by Esther "Ess" Mays of Loose Leaves Book Review
Rating:
Summary: A Heart Felt Read
Review: Kudos goes to Solomon Jones who has penned in compelling novel! THE BRIDGE grabs the readers attention and holds it capitive from beginning to end. Based in the inner city of Philadelphia, this novel is based on people's lives whose only luck is bad luck or no luck at all. They have fallen into an abyss of drugs, sex and immortality in general. Often times, the innocent ones are caught up in the cycle and this was the case with nine year old Kenya. Born to a young mother, Kenya's life was never a smooth one - enduring years of abuse and neglect, she never enjoyed the true meaning of childhood. Kevin Lynch is a product of the same neighborhood as Kenya, yet now as a Detective, Kevin seems to have successfully seen his way out of the oppressive projects. Yet, when an old friend calls him for help, Kevin is drawn back into the mix.
THE BRIDGE is a novel that will have you mad if you're interrupted while reading it because it is so good that you cannot put it down. The character development, imagery and attention to details was very well done, thus creating very believable characters. This is my first book my Mr. Jones and I'm looking forward to many more from this author.
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Summary: Where's Kenya
Review: Life has always been rough for nine-year-old Kenya. She was born to a teenage mother; the product of a rape; later removed from this crack addicted mother who repeatedly abused and neglected her resulting in her being placed by DCH with her crack-dealing aunt. Even with all this negativity in her life, Kenya was the most loveable and sweetest child in the Public Housing Unit known as the Bridge. One Friday night, Kenya did not return home and the search for this young child begins in this suspense/thriller novel The Bridge by Solomon Jones. Detective Kevin Lynch is contacted by Daneen, Kenya's mother. She beseeches him to help her locate her child. Detective Lynch feels an obligation to the child and his childhood friend, the alleged father of Kenya, so he immediately begins to investigate her disappearance. The prime suspect is Sonny and he is on the run, motivated by greed and his desire to escape the Bridge. In the midst of searching for these two, people die, cars crash and tempers flare. Detective Lynch is suspended when one police chase causes the death of a popular judge. He becomes the fall guy for the police department. Unofficially he continues the search for Kenya looking for answers at the Bridge. This book is filled with twists that will lead you in one direction then another angle is revealed that turns you in the opposite way. There are flashbacks into the past of the characters which help you understand what motivates them. Combine this with exciting police chases and graphic murder scenes and you have a good police drama read. If you like the suspense/ thriller novels of authors such as Gary Hardwick, you will enjoy this one. Jeanette
APOOO BookClub
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Summary: Philadelphia's answer to Walter Mosley
Review: Like Walter Mosley claimed Los Angeles circa the '50s and early '60s as his literary canvas, Solomon Jones has chosen the tough streets of North Philadelphia as his writing turf. Like with Pipe Dream, the author's debut novel, The Bridge takes readers into the hard-core drug culture, the drug of choice being crack. When a little girl goes missing from the projects, Jones weaves a compelling page-turning who-done-it story that also takes readers on a halcyon ride through Philly's justice system. Jones soft peddles nothing in portraying what crack does to his characters, but never gets preachy either. Jones clearly knows his subject matter, and both his novels-Pipe Dream and The Bridge-are highly recommended reading for those who live in or close to a major city. His writing breaks through the cold statistics and puts a human face on the worst scourge of our times--but, incredibly, he somehow makes the whole trip entertaining in the process.
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Summary: NO SOPHOMORE JINX HERE...
Review: Mr. Jones definitely caught, line and sinker.. a brand new fan in BKNYavidreader after I read "Pipe Dream". I was estatic to find out he had a new novel and this one is a killer!!
It is fast moving, intruiging and exciting! Many a times I had to stop and put the book down in fear that my heart would not take it...
Mr. Jones is an EXCELLENT urban storyteller,he draws you in with all your senses... you can smell, feel, hear what is read on the pages! He grasps the street vernacular very well and gives you an insiders view of a lifestyle not known or familiar to many... Thank God! He keeps you guessing to the very end... who dunnit? who didn't??
This should be a NYTimes Bestseller! It is FABULOUS!!! If "Pipe Dream" didn't do it for you... this novel will certainly make Solomon Jones tops on your favorite author list.
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Summary: Discordant Harmonies
Review: Nine year-old, Kenya Brown, disappears from "The Bridge" a depressing housing project she lives in with her crack serving Aunt Judy, Judy's man Sonny, Kenya's uncle Darnell, and the pipers who come in and out of their place.
Kevin Lynch, a detective who grew up in "The Bridge", is called in to help Daneen, his childhood friend/first love, an a recovering crack addict search for her daughter.
As Kevin is forced to face his own childhood demons along with his current marital problems he can't help but wonder how his life would've been had it not been for his Grandmother and her very degrading tactics.
Kenya's disappearance leads to Sonny Williams. While he`s out scoring another package his greed gets the best of him as he prepares to leave "The Bridge" another story of his penchant for young girls has Sonny being sought for questioning. As he avoids being caught, he causes destruction throughout the busy streets of Philly. The concentrated search for him surpasses that for Kenya.
As you're reading you're growing anxious as all of the Brown family secrets are revealed. With each page you turn you're preparing to finally know what happened only to still be caught in the melee from page 1 all the way to page 294.
"Sometimes a lie is easier to tell than the truth."
The story line is well paced in this effortful reality! Each character reveals how desperation and the poverty of "The Bridge" lead to drugs, teenage pregnancy and violent personal relationships.
This is my first read by Solomon Jones it took me longer than normal, because when it comes to children its wears on my heart (I know some of you think I don't have one). I had a feeling about who the actual perpetrator was, but it was nice that the twist and turns kept you guessing to the very end.
"The key to life is the company you keep."
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