Beneath Devil's Bridge Review

Author: Loreth Anne White

Genre: Suspense Thriller

Publisher: Montlake

Release Date: June 1, 2021

Preorder: Amazon Barnes & Noble

My Rating: 500 Shocking Hearts

A special thank you to Author Loreth Anne White for gifting me an inscribed paperback arc of this book.  Words can't express how much this book affected me and/or means to me.

A true crime podcaster. A retired detective. A case they can’t let go.

Review:

Twenty-four years ago, a small community was horrified and sickened by the rape, brutal beating and drowning of fourteen year old Leena Rai.  When a beloved school guidance counselor confessed to the crime, shock waves reverberated throughout the small, close-knit community and rumors ran rampant.  After his detailed confession, Clayton Jay Pelley refused to speak of the crime again.  He accepted his life sentence without benefit of a trial, leaving the police and community frustrated with unanswered questions and dangling case threads.  

Now Pelley is talking to Trinity Scott, a young, ambitious true crime podcast reporter.  Upon her arrival in Twin Falls, Scott relentlessly pursues everyone with ties to the old case including one of the original investigators, retired Detective Rachel Walczak, whose life course was tragically altered by the murder and subsequent investigation.  Her refusal to be interviewed motivates Scott to dig deeper into the past, and she unknowingly sets off a series of events that quickly spiral out of control when episodes of her podcast begin to air.  The release of Trinity's interviews with Pelley sends shock waves rumbling through the community as new questions are raised and the past and present collide.  People are nervous.  People are scared.  People are lying.  Why?  Was Clay's confession twenty four years ago a truth?  Or lie?  If he didn't kill her, who did?

Inspired by a true crime, White has penned a thriller I promise will leave you dazed and searching for answers while trying to come to terms with a crime so cold-blooded, so heartless, so unimaginable that it begs the question "Why"?   Dark, unsettling, disturbing on many levels, Beneath Devil's Bridge forces readers to acknowledge the dark side of human nature. Unfolding through multiple points of view and then/now chapters, the story moves forward like an avalanche - picking up momentum, rolling over you page by page, chapter by chapter, podcast after podcast until it buries you.  As I burned through pages with heart pounding, the only thing I could hear was these character's voices in my head - their lies, deceit, accusations - brought to life through flawed characters, twisted plot lines and all five senses.  All thanks to the expertise of an author who excels at manipulating and transporting readers into unsettling scenes alongside unreliable narrators hiding game-changing secrets. White's masterful rendering of this story shines a light on some ugly truths still prevalent in society today.  The reading experience will be greatly enhanced if you go into it as I did - knowing little.  However, I'll leave you with one quote to ponder: "If it takes a village to raise a child, does it also take a village to kill one?"

If I'm lucky, maybe once in a blue moon, I read a book that leaves my mind reeling, heart aching and soul searching. One that haunts me long after The End.  Beneath Devil's Bridge is one of those books. 

Loreth Anne White has a gift for rendering thought-provoking stories that demand attention, respect and intimate soul searching.  Stories that inspire, entertain and motivate.  Stories that hurl you at warp speed toward electrifying endings you most likely won't see coming.  Highly recommended for fans of true crime, suspense thrillers, mysteries and 5 star books in any genre.

 

Synopsis:

True crime podcaster Trinity Scott is chasing breakout success, and her new serial looks like it will get her there. Her subject is Clayton Jay Pelley. More than two decades ago, the respected family man and guidance counselor confessed to the brutal murder of teenage student Leena Rai. Why he killed her has always been a mystery.

In a series of exclusive interviews from prison he promises to tell Trinity the truth about what happened that night beneath Devil’s Bridge. What Clayton says shocks the Pacific Northwest town of Twin Falls to the core. But is Clayton lying now? Or was he lying then?

As ratings skyrocket, Trinity is missing a key player in the story: Rachel Walczak, the retired detective who revealed Pelley’s twisted urges and put him behind bars. She’s not playing Clayton’s game--until Trinity digs deeper and the podcast reverb widens. Then Rachel begins to question everything she thinks she knows about the past.

With each of Clayton’s teasing reveals, one thing is clear: he’s not the only one in Twin Falls with a secret.

Is Trinity finally getting to the truth? Or falling victim to a killer’s sick game? 

Loreth Anne White is an Amazon Charts and Washington Post bestselling author of thrillers, mysteries, and suspense. With well over 2 million books sold around the world, she is a three-time RITA finalist, an overall Daphne du Maurier Award winner, Arthur Ellis finalist, and winner of multiple industry awards.

A recovering journalist who has worked in both South Africa and Canada, she now calls Canada home. She resides in the Pacific Northwest, dividing time between Victoria on Vancouver Island, the ski resort of Whistler in the Coast Mountains, and a rustic lakeside cabin in the Cariboo. When she’s not writing or dreaming up plots, you will find her on the lakes, in the ocean, or on the trails with her dog where she tries—unsuccessfully—to avoid bears. For more information on her books please visit her website at lorethannewhite.com

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