The Incident on the Bridge

Gr 8 Up—A fascinating peek into the fractured mind of a kidnapper is marred by a somewhat stereotypical portrayal of teens and an ending that feels unnecessarily abrupt. The book opens slowly and fairly tediously, as readers meet self-centered teens who are tied together by their shared experience when one of them is kidnapped. Although a few of the teens may engender sympathy or produce a flash of recognition from readers, most begin the tale as simply unlikable. The adults don't fare much better. Soon after Thisbe is dumped by her wealthy Mexican drug-dealing boyfriend, Clay, she "borrows" his car and disappears from a bridge that is a common suicide spot. The police think Thisbe is dead, but her sister Ted is sure that Thisbe would never jump. Thisbe's friends and acquaintances, a witness, and the local authorities take turns narrating the chapters. Readers who hang in until the end are rewarded with a quickly paced, well-written denouement, only to have the rug pulled out from under them once the kidnapped teen is discovered. There, the story ends. A short, odd epilogue of sorts refers to all but one of the major characters not by name as throughout the rest of the book but by gender (as a boy, a girl, and a woman) and precipitously ends the book.