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Kristy H (1252 KP) rated Hairpin Bridge in Books
Jun 17, 2021
A harrowing, page-turner of a thriller
Lena Nguyen arrives in Montana to figure out what happened to her twin sister, Cambry. Three months ago, Cambry supposedly committed suicide on Hairpin Bridge, but Lena simply cannot believe it's true. Now she's at the bridge, driving her sister's abandoned car, to find out what really happened. She's meeting Corporal Raymond Raycevic, the highway patrolman who found the body, at the scene itself. He seems apologetic and straightforward. Still, Lena remains suspicious. Records show Raycevic pulled Cambry over for speeding just a hour before her death. And what about the sixteen attempted 911 calls she made in the dead zone? Or the fact that Raycevic's name appears in the final text Lena ever received from Cambry? Despite the fact the sisters were basically estranged, Lena needs to know what happened to Cambry. But the more she digs, the more Lena's own survival may be in jeopardy out there on Hairpin Bridge.
"I have to know. What happened to you, Cambry?"
I actually read Adams' NO EXIT not that long ago and that book totally stressed me out. This one did the same, though thankfully a kid wasn't full and center. Goodness, he excels at writing at tense, action-packed books. This thriller certainly keeps you guessing--I was never exactly sure what was real or what was truly happening or had happened.
HAIRPIN BRIDGE, crazily enough, mostly takes place on a bridge (who knew?), but it alternates between the past and present. It's told in snippets, with Lena and Raycevic's perspectives in the here and now, and then pieces of Lena's blog, as well as what seems to be Cambry's past flashbacks, but could be Lena's own interpretation of what happened. This part was the hardest for me, as that was incredibly confusing. The idea is to keep you off-balance and prevent you from knowing what was really happening, but sometimes I felt a bit too confused.
This thriller feels more like a movie than a book at times, with its dramatic tension and constant "what on earth can happen next" feel. Lena comes across like an action hero in moments, and I often wondered what else Adams could throw at us. (Oh, he could come up with more insanity, don't worry.) The result is a book that's dark, action-packed, and sometimes completely horrifying. It's incredibly dramatic, but wow, does it keep you turning the pages. I know I finished this one in less than 24 hours. I absolutely had to find out what happened to Cambry, Lena, and Raycevic.
As I felt with NO EXIT, I'm not sure I really enjoyed this book. It's more that I survived it. I admire its structure, and it's great having a page-turner to fly through. I would have liked being a little less confused, but there were some great, terrifying twists here. If you don't mind a graphic and dark thriller, I recommend this one. 3.75/4 stars.
"I have to know. What happened to you, Cambry?"
I actually read Adams' NO EXIT not that long ago and that book totally stressed me out. This one did the same, though thankfully a kid wasn't full and center. Goodness, he excels at writing at tense, action-packed books. This thriller certainly keeps you guessing--I was never exactly sure what was real or what was truly happening or had happened.
HAIRPIN BRIDGE, crazily enough, mostly takes place on a bridge (who knew?), but it alternates between the past and present. It's told in snippets, with Lena and Raycevic's perspectives in the here and now, and then pieces of Lena's blog, as well as what seems to be Cambry's past flashbacks, but could be Lena's own interpretation of what happened. This part was the hardest for me, as that was incredibly confusing. The idea is to keep you off-balance and prevent you from knowing what was really happening, but sometimes I felt a bit too confused.
This thriller feels more like a movie than a book at times, with its dramatic tension and constant "what on earth can happen next" feel. Lena comes across like an action hero in moments, and I often wondered what else Adams could throw at us. (Oh, he could come up with more insanity, don't worry.) The result is a book that's dark, action-packed, and sometimes completely horrifying. It's incredibly dramatic, but wow, does it keep you turning the pages. I know I finished this one in less than 24 hours. I absolutely had to find out what happened to Cambry, Lena, and Raycevic.
As I felt with NO EXIT, I'm not sure I really enjoyed this book. It's more that I survived it. I admire its structure, and it's great having a page-turner to fly through. I would have liked being a little less confused, but there were some great, terrifying twists here. If you don't mind a graphic and dark thriller, I recommend this one. 3.75/4 stars.
Awix (3310 KP) rated Inception (2010) in Movies
Aug 17, 2020
It's possible that Inception isn't the best film of the 21st century so far, but I'm blowed if I can think of a better candidate. What starts off looking like a slick thriller with SF trimmings - expert psycho-thief takes on one last job, breaking into a businessman's subconscious mind to implant a suggestion - turns into a dizzyingly complex and astonishingly self-assured examination of memory, reality, and the medium itself, with the execution matching the strength and ambition of the concept.
Consider: the film is based around a whole series of concepts and rules created out of whole cloth, which have to be explained to the audience. Most movies would really struggle to do only this. But Christopher Nolan not only succeeds, he uses it simply as the basis for a story rich in other layers of metaphor and emotion, while also playing with the rules of cinematic grammar and genre - the dreamscapes are implicitly likened to film narratives, with the successive levels resembling increasingly outlandish thriller sub-genres (gritty urban action, Mission Impossible, Bond) the further removed from the real world they are. But what is cinema if not a chance for people to share a dream together? Dreams as good as this one are vanishingly rare, alas.
Consider: the film is based around a whole series of concepts and rules created out of whole cloth, which have to be explained to the audience. Most movies would really struggle to do only this. But Christopher Nolan not only succeeds, he uses it simply as the basis for a story rich in other layers of metaphor and emotion, while also playing with the rules of cinematic grammar and genre - the dreamscapes are implicitly likened to film narratives, with the successive levels resembling increasingly outlandish thriller sub-genres (gritty urban action, Mission Impossible, Bond) the further removed from the real world they are. But what is cinema if not a chance for people to share a dream together? Dreams as good as this one are vanishingly rare, alas.
Awix (3310 KP) rated The Terminator (1984) in Movies
Feb 18, 2018 (Updated Feb 18, 2018)
Undoubted leader of the pack when it comes to post-punk low-budget SF movies is, let's be honest, highly derivative, but makes up for this with sheer inventiveness and economical storytelling; unusually grim tone helps, too.
Future warriors from post-apocalyptic future arrive in 1984 Los Angeles; one is intent on killing hapless young waitress, the other seeks to protect her. Time travel plot is cleverly retooled as the basis of gritty action thriller; performances are much better than you might expect, too - you can't imagine anyone being more perfectly suited to their role than Arnold Schwarzenegger is here (and I don't say that very often). Every other film and TV series in this particular franchise ultimately does nothing but diffuse the impact of this brilliant movie.
Future warriors from post-apocalyptic future arrive in 1984 Los Angeles; one is intent on killing hapless young waitress, the other seeks to protect her. Time travel plot is cleverly retooled as the basis of gritty action thriller; performances are much better than you might expect, too - you can't imagine anyone being more perfectly suited to their role than Arnold Schwarzenegger is here (and I don't say that very often). Every other film and TV series in this particular franchise ultimately does nothing but diffuse the impact of this brilliant movie.
Erika Kehlet (21 KP) rated Micro in Books
Feb 21, 2018
I really wanted to like this book, but the dialog was so painful I almost didn't finish it. The descriptions and action scenes felt too choppy. There were more continuity issues and contradictions than I can count (for one, thing, if you are out of visual range of something, you can't look back in the next sentence and see what said something was doing!) and by the time we're 90% into the book I KNOW who Karen is and there is no reason to refer to her or any other character by their full names anymore, at least not so frequently.
The basic idea was good - and it had the potential to be an entertaining, if far-fetched, techno-thriller, but I couldn't recommend this even to die-hard Michael Crichton fans.
The basic idea was good - and it had the potential to be an entertaining, if far-fetched, techno-thriller, but I couldn't recommend this even to die-hard Michael Crichton fans.
Awix (3310 KP) rated Skyscraper (2018) in Movies
Jul 18, 2018
Utterly derivative and calculated mash-up of the thriller and disaster movie genres as Dwayne Johnson has to rescue his lovely family from a really tall building which is on fire, and some evil criminals who are not.
Not what you could honestly call bad in any department, but any soul or originality seems to have been ground out of the script, which may well have been written by software. The only exception to this is - it's not even a proper subplot - the fact that Johnson's character has a prosthetic leg, which keeps turning out to be relevant to the action in all kinds of odd ways. But this just serves to make the film odd rather than actually interesting. In the end it's okay, just really bland.
Not what you could honestly call bad in any department, but any soul or originality seems to have been ground out of the script, which may well have been written by software. The only exception to this is - it's not even a proper subplot - the fact that Johnson's character has a prosthetic leg, which keeps turning out to be relevant to the action in all kinds of odd ways. But this just serves to make the film odd rather than actually interesting. In the end it's okay, just really bland.
Matthew Krueger (10051 KP) rated The Commuter (2018) in Movies
Feb 4, 2020
All Aboard The Train: Ticket Please
The Commuter- combines the Taken franchise, Non-Stop and Run All Night mixs it with Murder on The Orient Express and Strangers on a Train. All those togther results into this movie. A decent action suspense thriller starting Liam Nesson.
The Plot: Insurance salesman Michael is on his daily commute home, which quickly becomes anything but routine. After being contacted by a mysterious stranger, Michael is forced to uncover the identity of a hidden passenger on the train before the last stop. As he works against the clock to solve the puzzle, he realizes a deadly plan is unfolding, and he is unwittingly caught up in a criminal conspiracy that carries life and death stakes for everyone on the train.
I would reccordmend watching this movie, cause its good.
The Plot: Insurance salesman Michael is on his daily commute home, which quickly becomes anything but routine. After being contacted by a mysterious stranger, Michael is forced to uncover the identity of a hidden passenger on the train before the last stop. As he works against the clock to solve the puzzle, he realizes a deadly plan is unfolding, and he is unwittingly caught up in a criminal conspiracy that carries life and death stakes for everyone on the train.
I would reccordmend watching this movie, cause its good.
Hazel (2934 KP) rated Rise of the Enemy (The Enemy #2) in Books
Apr 24, 2020
What we have here is another winner from Mr Sinclair and yet another off my to-be-read pile!
Having recently read the first in the series, "Dance With The Enemy", I admit to being a little nervous as to whether this instalment was going to be as good however, I needn't have worried .... this is just as good and had been hooked from start to finish.
With loads of action and suspense, fantastic characters and excellent story, this is a riveting spy thriller and one I would highly recommend. This is the second in the series and although not absolutely essential, I would recommend you read the first ... believe me, you won't be disappointed.
Once again, belated thanks go to Clink Street Publishing and NetGalley for my copy in return for an honest review.
Having recently read the first in the series, "Dance With The Enemy", I admit to being a little nervous as to whether this instalment was going to be as good however, I needn't have worried .... this is just as good and had been hooked from start to finish.
With loads of action and suspense, fantastic characters and excellent story, this is a riveting spy thriller and one I would highly recommend. This is the second in the series and although not absolutely essential, I would recommend you read the first ... believe me, you won't be disappointed.
Once again, belated thanks go to Clink Street Publishing and NetGalley for my copy in return for an honest review.
The Cross and the Curse
Book
AD 634. Anglo-Saxon Britain. A gripping, action-packed historical thriller and second instalment in...
Seven (1995)
8.6
Rate It
Movie Watch
Gluttony. Greed. Sloth. Wrath. Pride. Lust. Envy. Two cops (Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman) track a...
Se7en
Dean (6925 KP) rated Black and Blue (2019) in Movies
Jan 25, 2021
Decent crime thriller
One of the films I missed as it didn't get a long release at the cinema in the UK. Naomie Harris plays a rookie cop in a rundown area of New Orleans. With corrupt cops and gangs working together in the supply of drugs. Soon she is hunted by both through the neighborhood after capturing a murder by the corrupt cops on her bodycam.
Overall it was an enjoyable watch, a little slow at the start and middle section. It had quite a low budget feel to it despite some big cast names. Worth a watch but far from the better films with a similar plotline. @21 Bridges (2019) is one example that had more action.
Overall it was an enjoyable watch, a little slow at the start and middle section. It had quite a low budget feel to it despite some big cast names. Worth a watch but far from the better films with a similar plotline. @21 Bridges (2019) is one example that had more action.