Please welcome AJ Waines, author of The Evil Beneath, who is here today with a Top Five list about bridges, because a bridge features prominently in her novel!

The Top Five Novels Featuring Bridges

1. The Bridges of Madison County – Robert James Waller

My list starts with a book from 1992 – The Bridges of Madison County – which no such list could fail to mention. It became a deliciously romantic and lush film of the same name, starring Clint Eastwood and Meryl Streep, in 1995. Robert, the leading man, is in the area to photograph the bridges along Iowa’s rural roadways and Francesca, the lonely Iowa farmer’s wife, instantly falls for him. Hankies are an absolute prerequisite in this story about soul-wrenching decisions and sacrifices, because despite their passion, the two decide to part after only a few days together.

2. The Bridge – Iain Banks

The late Iain Banks wrote this book two years after The Wasp Factory, in 1986. It’s a surreal head-spinning read about a man recovering from an accident on a bridge (based on the Forth Rail Bridge near Edinburgh) who finds himself caught up in recurring dreams where the bridge becomes endless. He has no memories of his past, his doctor doesn’t seem to be helping him and he feels like an outcast. It’s intense!

3. London Bridges – James Patterson

This is FBI agent Alex Cross’ tenth adventure, where major cities around the globe, including London, Paris, and New York, are threatened with total destruction in a ‘race against time’ 007-style thriller.

4. A Murder on London Bridge – Susanna Gregory

Susanna Gregory has an extraordinary background. She spent three years after graduating in a coroner’s office, then went on to research environmental contamination in the world’s seal population and carried out fieldwork with whales and walruses. She spent seventeen field seasons working with marine mammals in the Arctic or Antarctic, as well as many years lecturing on Antarctic tourist ships. She has also taught comparative anatomy and biological anthropology. What a career!
Written in 2011, this is a Restoration whodunit set in 1664, in the days when London Bridge was stacked high with tottering, ramshackle buildings. On the theme of Royalists and sedition, the tale involves intrigue, plot, murder and spies.

5. A Bridge too Far – Cornelius Ryan

Cornelius Ryan was born in 1920 in Dublin. He covered World War II from the frontline until the end of the war in 1945. Two years later, he emigrated to the USA and became one of the most important and respected war journalists of his generation, writing critically acclaimed articles and books until his death in 1976. For those interested in military history, this book is an account of the battle for the Rhine bridges around Arnhem during WWII. From an allied perspective it is often forgotten because the operation was a disaster, but it is a vital element of the library for any Second World War buff.

And One More Bridge

A post about bridges can’t go past without a reference to the Scandinavian crime drama television series, The Bridge. I loved this police procedural, about two halves of different bodies joined up on the apex of the bridge, linking Denmark and Sweden.

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London bridges are also at the heart of A J Waines’ debut novel, The Evil Beneath.

There’s a body in the water – and she’s wearing my clothes…

The novel is a psychological mystery/thriller set in contemporary London with a strong female lead, about a serial killer who attaches corpses to London bridges and leaves messages and personal mementos for psychotherapist, Juliet Grey.

To find out more, see The Evil Beneath, available as ebook or paperback on Amazon.

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About the Author

AJ Waines is a Crime Fiction Author, specialising in Psychological Thrillers. She draws on over fifteen years of experience as a Psychotherapist, including work with clients from high security prisons. This exclusive and privileged role has given her a rare insight into abnormal psychology. She writes about the extraordinary dilemmas and traumas ordinary individuals have to face – particularly ‘crimes of passion’, hidden motives, family secrets and moral dilemmas. A J Waines has an Agent and book deals in France and Germany (Random house). She lives in Southampton, UK, with her husband.

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