Rating: 
Summary: Detective Tale Tosses Reader Back to 1883
Review: "Suspension," the debut novel of Richard Crabbe, tells two riveting parallel stories -- one of revenge, and the other a powerfully-addictive detective story. Both are set in the vividly described New York City, captivated by the completion of the Brooklyn Bridge.
Crabbe takes the unusual step of opening his novel with a sensitive depiction of his main villain, Thaddeus Sangree, former officer in the Army of the Confederacy. Sangree is haunted by the death at Gettysburg of his beloved, idealized brother, Franklin (and based on how Franklin died, nobody could blame Sangree for carrying a grudge). This experience has instilled in Sangree a conviction that the Civil War hasn't really ended, and he must get revenge against the man he holds responsible for Franklin's death - Union Colonel Washington Roebling.
Roebling just happens to be the chief engineer and driving force behind the building of the Brooklyn Bridge, having taken over for his father after his death at the Bridge. Crabbe masterfully captures how important the Brooklyn Bridge was as a symbol in 1883 -- a statement of the power of Industrial America (i.e., the Northern version of success, not the Southern), and a gesture of healing and bridging gaps to bring a nation together. Roebling has invested so much of himself into the Bridge that he has been reduced to a shell of a man -- he spent so much time in the caissons (the underwater chambers where the foundations of the Bridge were built) that the "bends" -- which were unknown at the time -- prevent him from any strenuous work. Rather than just kill Roebling, Sangree and his band of saboteurs want to bring down the Bridge itself. What better revenge could former Confederates wreak on Roebling than to destroy his life's work?
Loose lips force Sangree and cohorts to kill bridge-worker Terrence Bucklin, and this brings NYC Detective Tom Braddock onto the scene. Braddock, a detective's detective (i.e., he'll crack your skull if that's what it takes to get your tale, but only as a last resort, and he'll sure feel bad about it), pursues Bucklin's murderers with a doggedness that is truly inspiring. While there is plenty of action in "Suspension," Crabbe shows the less-glamorous side of detective work, as well - perhaps as an author he relates to the adage that the detective's best asset is "an iron butt," due to all the book-work that has to be done.
As Braddock gets closer to his marks, Crabbe brings New York City to life -- particularly the tenements -- through vivid descriptions and clever attention to detail. Only an author steeped in New York City could offer such precise details as the varying odors emerging from various parts of the industrial city, and Crabbe also gives us a few street urchins for local color and humor.
I particularly enjoyed reading "Suspension" after reading David McCullough's magnificent history of the building of the Bridge -- one of America's great achievements. This gave me the background to appreciate the aspects of the building that Crabbe was necessarily only able to hint at or make peripheral to the story -- the rampant corruption, the key role played by Washington Roebling's wife Emily in the building of the Bridge, and most importantly, the sheer weight the Bridge possessed in New York City life during the time.
"Suspension" is one heck of a novel, and the fact that it is Crabbe's first is just plain amazing.
Rating:
Summary: Amazing First Novel
Review: "Suspension" by Richard Crabbe is gripping story of the construction of the Brooklyn Bridge, life in NYC post-Civil War, and wartime passions that still smoldered and threatened to destroy the marvel as it was unveiled. The book provides a fascinating, human look at the diverse people who populated the emerging City at the time.
Richard Crabbe is deft with history, social perspective, emotional exchange, human frailty, terroristic motive, engineering and intrigue. He brings characters from another era to life in a thoroughly enjoyable journey from beginning to end.
Rating:
Summary: hard to believe this is a first novel
Review: "Suspension" is an intelligent, elegantly written historical thriller with interesting, fully realized characters (yes, even the madam-with-a-heart-of-gold seems fresh on these pages). The New York setting is wonderfully portrayed. Although the middle seemed to sag a bit under the weight of police department politics, I had trouble putting the book down once I reached the last half. Highly recommended!
Rating: 
Summary: What do I know?
Review: As the author of Suspension, I wanted to thank all those who have contributed to the reviews both on this site and in the press. Every review is helpful. Every review is welcome regardless of, anonimity, objectivity or any other "ity". There is something to be learned from each and for that I am grateful.For those of you who love historical fiction, I believe you'll enjoy both the detail and atmosphere of Suspension, focusing as it does on a fascinating time and event in New York history. But beyond that, Suspension is a tale of revenge, intrigue and ultimate redemption which revolves as much as possible around actual events and charachters. Suspension has recently been honored by the San Francisco Chronicle, which named it their #2 pick for best mystery/thriller of 2000. You can check that reccomendation in the 11/19 issue of their book review. I am both humbled and extremely grateful to the Chronicle and wish to thank David Lazarus in particular for discovering Suspension. My appologies for rating my book a five. While it is not perfect, (what book is) it is mine and like a child, will always be loved.
Rating:
Summary: Solid First Novel
Review: Crabbe's first novel is a very nice piece of historical fiction. It can be compared favorably to Caleb Carr's Alienist and The Angel of Darkness. While the plot description and character interactions seems a bit stunted at times, there is a genuine "honesty" that underlies the writing. One can tell that this was a labor of love for Crabbe.
Rating:
Summary: Well Done!
Review: Excellent historical novel with strong characters and superb atmosphere. Beautifully crafted story telling and a wonderful sense of time and place. If you enjoy Caleb Carr, you will love this book. This author has written a memorable novel with realistic characters, suspense, and obvious research. Very highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Exciting History with a Twist
Review: I cannot even express to everyone how much I enjoyed this book. The author mixes up an exciting adventure story with actual facts about the construction of the Brooklyn Bridge. The story alone has you so captivated and at the same time it gives you a great idea of how NYC was back in the late 1800's. I can't wait for him to write another book.
Rating: 
Summary: Crabbe is no Carr
Review: I chose to read this book because it was favorably compared to Caleb Carr's 'The Alienist', a book which I loved. I would like to prevent any other readers from making the same mistake. Crabbe sure knows a lot of information about the Brooklyn Bridge, but his delivery needed some more editing and polish. I found his attempt to write accents, and what he must suppose was southern use of language, was laughable. It was also frustrating to read several pages of irrelevant story, for no better reasons than to impart more statistics and facts about the bridge itself. Please do not read this book because of the comparisons to Caleb Carr. Read this book because you think the plot sounds interesting, or you like the cover art or anything other than the comparisons to 'The Alienist.'
Rating:
Summary: Well Done!
Review: I picked this book up out of curiosity and never expected it to strike as close to home as it did. Mr. Crabbe is an author who obviously knows his subject - history - and has the ability to tell his story as well as Tom Clancy or Robert Ludlum. I found his style to be a little heavy-going at times but I think that is because it reflected the literary style of the time period which was the setting for his story. The thrill of the chase, the escapes from peril, the deductive reasoning employed by the hero and much more made this an enjoyable reading experience. However, the parallel between this story set in Post-Civil War New York and current American and world events is chilling. The plot was conceived several years ago but it could very well have been taken from recent headlines describing the attempt by terrorists to destroy the most important American landmark of its day. A very important aspect of the book was the insight into the terrorists' plotting and motivation and their depiction as human beings with a cause. In the end you know why they did what the did and while you gain understanding of them you also know they have to be stopped because what they want is wrong.
Rating:
Summary: A chilling parallel between the 19th century & today...
Review: I picked this book up out of curiosity and never expected it to strike as close to home as it did. Mr. Crabbe is an author who obviously knows his subject - history - and has the ability to tell his story as well as Tom Clancy or Robert Ludlum. I found his style to be a little heavy-going at times but I think that is because it reflected the literary style of the time period which was the setting for his story. The thrill of the chase, the escapes from peril, the deductive reasoning employed by the hero and much more made this an enjoyable reading experience. However, the parallel between this story set in Post-Civil War New York and current American and world events is chilling. The plot was conceived several years ago but it could very well have been taken from recent headlines describing the attempt by terrorists to destroy the most important American landmark of its day. A very important aspect of the book was the insight into the terrorists' plotting and motivation and their depiction as human beings with a cause. In the end you know why they did what the did and while you gain understanding of them you also know they have to be stopped because what they want is wrong.
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