Seven Bridges by LJ Ross

Today the blog goes back to Mandie once more for her thoughts on Seven Bridges, book eight in the DCi Ryan series. I have mixed feelings about this book. I’m very torn. Not because it’s not any good – it is absolutely excellent. It is just, well … Really? All joking aside, if you’d like to know what I really thought you can find my review here. Read on to see why Mandie was left with a huge grin on her face, and to find out what the book was all about:

About the Book

Ryan’s most explosive case yet…

It’s been five months since a killer walked free and DCI Ryan is preparing to leave Newcastle to hunt him down – this time, for good.

But Ryan’s plans are scuppered when events take a dramatic turn and he is forced to stay and face his past one last time, or watch a friend suffer the consequences.

Amid the chaos, another killer is preparing to strike. When the Tyne Bridge explodes, Ryan’s team are faced with a frantic race to uncover a deadly foe who won’t stop until every bridge is burned, along with everybody on it…

Murder and mystery are peppered with romance and humour in this fast-paced crime whodunit set amidst the spectacular Northumbrian landscape.

Mandie’s Thoughts

Well this is quite the explosive storyline in more ways than one. Ryan and co really do have a lot to deal with this time, his boss manages to cause the ultimate trouble for the team…especially one member, and then there is the small matter of someone who is threatening to blow up the bridges around Newcastle.

The opening of this book is a shocker and really has Ryan torn between doing what he knows is right and protecting someone who he is close to. It also means that he must open up to everyone about part of his past that he has not shared before in the hope that it will do some good. If that isn’t enough the team are stretched to breaking point dealing with someone who is determined to make a very destructive point, putting innocent people at risk, with a motive that turns out to be more basic than you think.

Once again LJ Ross manages to send you down dead ends as to who the perpetrator is and you can sense the race against the clock to prevent unnecessary deaths, sometimes hampered by the personality clashes between the bomb disposal team and Ryan and co. Am not gonna lie, I did give a little cheer when I got to a certain part of the story (sorry sis). This is a book that certainly challenges the concept of loyalty and what you would do for those you love and you cant help but really feel for the whole team as the threat to them is more of a mental one than physical one this time round. I sometimes feel that I go through the wringer almost as much as they do, but that’s because you just can’t help but get invested in every investigation with them.

Despite everything that is going on, you can still rely on the sense of humour of Frank Phillips, who really does have a knack of lifting peoples spirits when needed and is the perfect match to Ryan’s sometimes unforgiving demeanour. Seven Bridges brings to a close one part of a story arc but opens up a previously unfinished one too that I am really looking forward to getting into in book 9 as if you have been following the series closely you just know that whatever Louise has planned for Ryan, Anna and the team it will be action packed and is bound to put one or all of them at risk.

About the Author

LJ Ross is an international bestselling author, best known for creating atmospheric mystery and thriller novels, including the DCI Ryan series of Northumbrian murder mysteries which have sold over four million copies worldwide.

Her debut, Holy Island, was released in January 2015 and reached number one in the Amazon UK and Australian charts. Since then, she has released a further sixteen novels, all of which have been top three global bestsellers and fourteen of which have been UK #1 bestsellers. Louise has garnered an army of loyal readers through her storytelling and, thanks to them, several of her books reached the coveted #1 spot whilst only available to pre-order ahead of release. Her eleventh novel, The Infirmary, is a prequel story and is also available as a major Audible Originals audio-drama starring Tom Bateman, Kevin Whately, Bertie Carvel, Hermione Norris and Alun Armstrong.

Louise was born in Northumberland, England. She studied undergraduate and postgraduate Law at King’s College, University of London and then abroad in Paris and Florence. She spent much of her working life in London, where she was a lawyer for a number of years until taking the decision to change career and pursue her dream to write. Now, she writes full-time and lives with her husband and son in Northumberland, where she enjoys reading all manner of books, travelling and spending time with family and friends.

Louise is a keen philanthropist, and is pleased to have supported numerous non-profit programmes in addition to founding several of her own, including the Lindisfarne Reading Challenge and the Lindisfarne Prize for Debut Crime Fiction.

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