I really, really liked THE LAST BRIDGE. From the very beginning, I was hooked. It kept my interest to the very end: was never boring or slow. Although there were unpleasant situations and circumstances involved, I did not find it depressing. I liked Cat and felt there was a lot of strength in her and I really didn't get the idea she was a "poor me" character.

I do recommend this book and wil read the next one by this author. ( )

The Last Bridge is a melodramatic story of familial disfunction. It was a rip roaring read that reminded me of Gillian Flynn's Sharp Objects and Cornelia Read's Field of Darkness, up until the very last chapters when the whole thing was wrapped up a little too neatly and much to happily to match the rest of the book. With a different ending and about a hundred more pages this book could have been a knockout. It was still worth reading, but I do feel a little manipulated. ( )

"Two days after my father had a massive stroke my mother shot herself in the head." Thus begins Teri Coyne's tense, desperate, and fast-paced family drama. Alexandra "Cat" Rucker has been trying to bury the past with liquor and frequent changes of "home" but she's called back to Wilton, Ohio, when her mother leaves a suicide note addressed to her. "He isn't who you think he is." As Teri Coyne unravels Cat's troubling story, the note takes on different meanings. Cat is so used to running that she can barely cope with the reality of her mother's death much less dredging up the past. Cat's family history contains abuse, jealousy, denial and despair but Coyne also works in a tone of redemption without losing any of the force behind this honest account of an American family. ( )

I thought it was a good book but not as much like Jodi Picoult as previously compared. I thought that it was a difficult read that took me awhile to get into. Overall, I was glad I finished it. ( )

Teri Coyne's debut novel The Last Bridge is a strong, gripping tale about family secrets and how the secrets can impact the lives of the family members in different ways.

Alex 'Cat' Rucker returns to the farming community she grew up in for her mother's funeral. After a ten year absence, Cat is unnerved by the ghosts from her past, reconnecting with her brother and sister and the suicide note left by their mother that reads: "Cat, He isn't who you think he is. Mom xxxooo. This visit home awakens memories for Cat that she has desperately been trying to block for all these years and the reader is slowly introduced to the secrets of the past as Cat's memories resurface, one by one, refusing to be blocked. Not all of the secrets are Cat's and the story unfolds like a mystery, revealing the pieces to a number of puzzles.

Coyne's characters are realistically flawed and she drives the reader through an intense ride as Cat struggles to face her past and the present. A story I highly recommend. ( )

Teri Coyne's first novel is a fast read, but far from an easy one. She has given her protagonist, Alex "Cat" Rucker, a slew of issues, and a storyline that's meant to force her to start confronting them.

Cat (real name Alexandra, nicknamed "Alley Cat" as a child, later shortened to "Cat") has spent the last ten years trying to leave her hometown and family behind. She's been in and out of college and a series of dead-end jobs, and the one constant in her life has been alcohol. But if you don't deal with your baggage, you just keep bringing it wherever you go. When she's called back home with the news that her mother has killed herself and left a suicide note addressed to Cat, the baggage comes along.

Her mom's final message, "He isn't who you think he is," could apply to several men in Cat's life, and could be literal or metaphorical. Cat's father, who is now in a coma, singled her out for unwelcome attention from the time she was a child. Her brother Jared, named after her parents' best friend, tried to protect her, but they haven't spoken in seven years. Addison, the son of the aforementioned best friend, has his own history with Cat, and the guy from the coroner's office seems to have known her mother surprisingly well.

Cat's a vivid character, one with a heartbreaking history and a frustrating present. I found her sympathetic, complex, and not always likable. Her way of dealing with the horror is not dealing, and while it's understandable in a lot of ways, it got tiring for me to keep seeing her getting close to something and then running away, sometimes literally and sometimes into a drunken stupor.Eventually she does push through, though, and it's rewarding. There's real hope for recovery and growth.

Teri Coyne reveals increasingly dark family secrets throughout this well-paced, fairly short novel, but I felt that she left some unanswered questions. For me, the biggest of these was exactly what motivated Cat's father to single her out for his abusive attentions - why not her sister, or why not both of them? And while I found Coyne's spare writing style appealing, and appropriate to the story she was telling, there were parts I would have liked to have seen fleshed out a bit more. Still, she has given us a suspenseful, character-driven page-turner, and I'll be interested to see where her writing career goes from here. ( )

This was a very powerful book that really dealt with what the negative effects of abuse can be when the victim just keeps trying to run away from the reality of what happened. Although this was a difficult story to read at times, I found that I couldn't put this book down. I devoured the pages in just a couple of sittings, which is a very rare occurrence for me.

So the story begins with Cat returning to the family home after her mother's death. Cat hates to be in her hometown, let alone the family home where she was the recipient of extensive physical abusive from her father, that the only way she can manage to stay there is by drinking herself into oblivion. She would drink until all emotional feelings were dead to her.

This is one of those stories that the author decides to give us snippets of Cat's life by changing the timeline from past to present throughout the book. This method of writing definitely enhanced this story. I won't go into the details of the abuse but it did escalate violently throughout the novel. When Cat did try to tell an authoritive figure what was happening to her, she just received a worse punishment when she got home.

Although her father was abusive to her mother, Cat seemed to be the recipient of most of his violent outbursts. I guess because everyone in her life seemed to ignore what happened to her as a child, she thought it would be ok to just not deal with it herself. This is how Cat let alcoholism take over her entire life. This was very realistic to me as I watched Cat deal with her raw emotions in this way.

When Cat is reunited with her brother and sister she thinks that they have it all together. Little does she know that they are both dealing with their own demons, some from current events, and some from the guilt of not helping Cat all those years ago when they had the chance. I loved how this story ends because it wasn't picture perfect. Cat finds that it is a daily struggle to keep her alcoholism under control, but she has found a reason to try to make it work.

This is probably one of my favorite books that I have read this summer and I want to give a special Thank You to Kaitlin from Random House for providing me with this review copy. I know that some of you are very sensitive when it comes to reading about child abuse, so this may not be the right book for you. As difficult as the journey of this book was, I thought it was very well written. This is Teri Coyne's first novel and I find it fascinating that she is also a stand up comedian! ( )

For the first hundred pages or so I had trouble staying with this book; I hated the violence. If I hadn't felt I needed to finish it to review, I probably would have stopped. In the end I liked it. I liked the characters. ( )

Cat,
He isn’t who you think he is.
Mom xxxooo

When Cat returns home after a 10 year absence because of her mother’s suicide, this is the note she finds. There are several possible ‘he’s’ in Cat’s life that this note could refer to, so we are kept guessing until near the end who her mother means. As she stays for her mother’s funeral, several ghosts from her past come back to haunt her. Domestic violence and alcoholism are prominent themes in the book.

I didn’t really care for this one. There seemed to me to be some plot holes in the story, or at least some unexplained events. For instance, Cat had an extremely happy childhood until age 5 or 6, but we are never told why at age 7 everything changed. She remembers her parents as loving before that time, but definitely not afterwards. Also, I had a hard time believing that the older Jared was so beloved by both of Cat’s parents. The circumstances between he and the rest of the family didn’t seem to warrant this. I just didn’t understand it. I also wanted to feel more sorry for Cat than I did, and normally I would for a character that has suffered such tragic events. I wonder if I would have felt more sympathy for Cat if the book had been written in 3rd person instead of 1st. Her voice seemed to ‘tell and not ’show’ throughout the book. Third person narration may have been able to correct this. For instance, although I know alcoholism was one of the themes of the book, it just got irritating to hear something to the effect of ”I need a drink’ on every other page when 3rd person narration could have shown her alcoholic side a little better. These are just my own thoughts, though. Several people on librarything and Amazon have loved the book, so be sure to check out their reviews for a balanced opinion.

2009, 225 pp. ( )

“The Last Bridge” is the story of 28-year-old Cat Rucker returning to her hometown upon her mother’s suicide. Her mother has left a mysterious note: “Cat, he’s not who you think he is. Love, Mom”. The story is told in both present and past; we learn about Cat’s very dark past, and share her growth in the present. This is a very dark story (lots of dysfunction, abuse, abandonment, etc). But it is ultimately hopeful.

Cat is not a sympathetic character at first – she’s an angry alcoholic without many obvious redeeming qualities. Yet, as the story unfolded, I began to admire her strength. Her past completely explained her present disposition. And as she uncovered more and more about her past, she began to heal.

I enjoyed the author’s writing style. I thought the pacing was good, with no lulls. The present-to-past switches were very smooth, and well timed to continually uncover more background information. The characters are well developed, even those who aren’t particularly likeable. I look forward to reading more by Ms. Coyne. ( )

A book I hated to set down--even when it was finished. Interesting and believable characters in a tight plot. I punctuated the end of many chapters with a deep sigh to release the tension. I stopped and re-read many sentences and a few paragraphs because I wanted to relish Teri Coyne's wit. Wish I were reading it on a Kindle so I could bookmark and annotate and pull them all up again. There was a lot of very clever writing in The Last Bridge and a great story as well. Highly recommended. ( )

I was still very undecided by chapter 7 if I was going to continue reading or not. The main character Alex or "Cat" is an alcoholic and much of the beginning text is about her trying to figure out where she's going to get the next drink and complaining about how miserable her life is.

By the end of the book, I was more into it and even pulling for Cat a little, but I can't say that I found Coyne's style of writing all that great. There were inconsistencies that bothered me - things that a good editor should have caught....and particularly in the beginning, her use of similes in describing things seemed forced and unnatural. I was sick of reading the line from Cat "I begged, not knowing what for" (or something similar) - that appeared several times and throughout her life. I found it odd that Addison was still using orange scented shampoo 10 years after Cat first met him. I also thought it strange that an alcoholic of her degree seemingly went without a drink for a couple days, but could easily function other than being a little wobbly on her feet. Plot twists that seemed like they should be surprising, really weren't.

It's not a happy book. The main character had an awful childhood and survived (barely) an alcoholic father who physically and sexually abused her. She ran away and spent 10 years drinking herself into stupors and finally goes home only because her mother committed suicide.

I did get into it enough to want to see how it ended, but it took awhile and there were still these nagging things that kept coming up that bothered me. I won't jump up and run out to buy Coyne's next book. If you want to read a depressing book about abuse and alcoholism, this will fit the bill. You may find a bit of redemption eventually, but it's a struggle for both Cat and the reader to get there. ( )

A story of a dysfunctional family and the secrets that remain hidden for far too long, this first novel by Teri Coyne is written in a style that makes you want to keep reading. The cover of the Advance Reader's Edition likens Coyne's tale to those of Jodi Picoult or Sue Miller--pretty high praise indeed, but it certainly did have the feel of their novels. The teaser on the cover ("He isn't who you think he is") keeps the reader hypothesizing throughout the book. In the end, each reader may have a different spin on what it meant. A pretty solid good read. ( )

This book was fantastic! It has been a very long time since I have read a book this good. The simple innocence and reality of this book make it a pleasure to read. The story is one that will follow you long after the last page.

The Rucker children did not learn to exist with their father; they learned to survive their father. Now Alex Rucker is faced with the suicide of her mother, and the coma that her father has been in for years. After her absence of nine years she is being beckoned backto her home town of Wilton. Although Alex finds that more than what she had left awaits her, and she may not be able to run any longer. ( )

I hated for this book to end because it was so well-written that it drew me in right from the beginning and made me feel like I was part of the story and made me feel the agony of Cat, her mother, and the others. I was so glad for this book to end because it was so well-written that it drew me in right from the beginning and made me feel like I was part of the story and made me feel the agony of Cat, her mother, and the others. It was easy to read for the above reasons. It was hard to read for the above reasons. The book was excruciatingly painful, but it could not have been any other way because of the subject matter, unless it had not been written so realistically.

I’ve read some of the reviews by other LibraryThingers, and cannot understand why so many didn’t like Cat. Think about it. If you had been through the things she had been through, what kind of person would you have turned out to be? Methinks thou dost protest too much. Or something. I loved Cat and hurt for her. I can’t say any more because it might be a spoiler. Suffice it to say that I liked the ending, even though it wasn’t wrapped up in a neat little package.

This book exhausted me, so I’m off for some light reading, now – maybe a nice little murder mystery or a soothing little horror story. (Insert maniacal laughter here.) ( )

i really liked this book. It had a tight plot with complex characters and I feel this is an excellent first novel by this author.She reminds me somewhat of jodi picoult. ( )

This book will stay with me for days and weeks to come. I couldn't put it down. It was so griping and horrifying and yet at the end, hopeful.

http://girlsjustreading.blogspot.com/... ( )

Alex "Cat" is an abused alcoholic. From a young age her life is headed in a downward spiral as she is raised by an abusive father and present, yet weak, mother. Unforgivable abuse sends Cat running from home and abandoning her life, her family and her independence.

From page 1, The Last Bridge is depressing. Our main character is the victim of life. If something bad happens in life, it happens to her and she has no means of dealing with it all. Similar to Wally Lamb's "She's Come Undone", Cat is a magenet for all things negative.

Although Coyne's style is smooth and easy to read, not leading us on a path of an overabundence of metaphors & similies, our "heroine" (loose term...) was so negative that it left me with no room for sympathy. ( )

I received this book in the mail as part of the Early Reviewers program. I moved it from one pile of books to another in my house and allowed several others to jump ahead of it in line to be read by me. Since the book was not one I actively researched and acquired, it was a serendipitous treat I finally got into it. Despite the difficult subject matter (violent family abuse and neglect, alcoholism) and a constant pit-of-your-stomach feeling one gets when one knows that something bad is going to happen on the next page, I nevertheless could not wait to turn on to the next page. Teri Coyne does a very good job of taking us through the main character's (Cat) perspective of confronting what forced her to run away from her home and family 10 years earlier. ( )

Cat Rucker returns to her family's Ohio farm after her mother's suicide, only to have painful memories of domestic violence surface. Family secrets unfold with every gripping page. ( )

"The Last Bridge" was an unexpectedly profound novel for me. It is the story of an amazingly strong teenage girl in a horribly dysfunctional, violent family. While most stories with this much violence turn me off, the author handled the situations well, bringing the reader *through* them and leaving room, always, for healing and redemption.

This book told the truth--the emotional truth--of growing up in a violent family. The insight and understanding of this author made this one of my very favorite "family drama" books. ( )

I received Teri Coyne’s The Last Bridge from the Early Reviewer program and read it in about five hours – partly because it arrived late and I wanted to have the review done before the next round of books. Nevertheless, even without that incentive, I would absolutely have devoured this book.

From the very first sentence, Coyne hooked me and kept me dangling on a thread to find out what would be the next revelation of Cat Rucker’s past. Her mother’s suicide, as well as the cryptic note she leaves addressed to Cat bring the latter back to a home she hasn’t seen for many years. These things combine with other factors to bring Cat face to face with her painful past.

The transition between past and present is handled in alternate chapters and is for the most part smooth and seamless. There were one or two instances where the change from past to present was sudden, but these did not really take away from the whole of the story.

Coyne’s characters are diverse, with varying motives and motivations. Not all are completely believable, though the story was so captivating that I was willing to suspend doubts about the “realness” of a character’s reactions.

The title of the book is a metaphor that is present both physically and figuratively in the story linking the threads of the narrative together. While The Last Bridge has an element of mystery to it, it is not the focus of the story, but instead serves as an anchor to the several different relationships Cat has had with male figures, from abusive to overwhelming.

I would definitely recommend The Last Bridge as worth your time reading – with one caveat – if an unremittingly dark and depressed main character or being able to handle the reality of abuse does not describe your preferred fare, then this book may not appeal. I found it a compelling read.

The Last Bridge is the story of Cat, an alcoholic (to put it mildly), who returns to her home town after her mother's suicide. Her mother leaves a cryptic suicide note ("Cat, he isn't who you think he is") that drives the suspense of the plot. The story unfolds through a series of flashbacks unveiling physical and sexual abuse and family secrets. The book is well written and entertaining, but also dark and depressing. A good effort for a debut novel.

[This book was reviewed as part of LibraryThing's Early Reviewers group] ( )

I read this book in a night, caught up in the horrible, suspense driven story of the abusive relationship between father and daughter; and also by the unfolding love story. After I read it so quickly, I just as quickly forgot it...but flipping through the pages and reading passages puts me right back into the world the book creates: both bleak and dimly hopeful. ( )

I picked up this book after recieving intending to just skim it for a minute (and come back to read it later) but found myself 25 pages in and simply unwilling to put it down. This tale will get inside your head and under your skin- I found myself having a dream clearly inspired by the events of the novel and usually I never dream (or at least remember my dreams).
Cat (really named Alex) comes home after her mother's suicide to find the puzzling note her mother left "He is not who he seems". Cat has been away for almost ten years- she returns and this homecoming drags the past out into the light.
The story uses the technique of alternating events of the past with events of the present very skillfully- it draws the reader in deeper and never jars you out of the storyline. This was a very involving and very emotionally difficult read as you see some of the things that have happened. I would reccomened this as better than Picoult's stories as it's written more realistically and less, it seems, with an eye on making some grand, current, topical message but rather it tells one woman's story. Excellent. ( )