Hairpin Bridge is classified as a “psychological thriller.” I’d put it in the class of “silly psychological gore.” The audiobook is 10 hours long, but it seemed like it would never end. Nevertheless, I kept on listening. 

The story is set in the rural Pacific Northwest. The two main protagonists are Lena Nguyen and Corporal Ray Raycevic. Lena works in a Seattle electronics store and is a blogger. She has an inquiring mind. She is going to interview the cop who last spoke to her twin sister Camry and then reported her suicide at Hairpin Bridge. 

Lena doesn’t believe that Camry really killed herself. She is suspicious of Raycevic. The whole book is about the meeting between Lena and the cop. Some of the book is an account of Camry’s meeting with him too. 

There are various kinds of perspectives in the book and it isn’t always clear whose perspective the writing is from. That’s part of the author’s game with the reader. It is a constant flow of plot twists and revelations, not one of which is remotely plausible. But you get to go with the flow. 

Hairpin Bend is a dark story, but it is hard to take all the suffering at all seriously. There’s plenty of death and mental illness. The book both bucks and indulges in well worn stereotypes. There’s nothing about the story which isn’t gratuitous. The most innovative part of the story is the nerdy young woman going into battle against the experienced cop. For all its faults, the novel is skillfully written. 

The unabridged audiobook, performed by LuLu Lam and Sophie Amoss, keeps the atmosphere fairly light, underplaying the melodrama. 

Christian Perring is editor of Metapsychology Online.

Categories: Fiction, AudioBooks

Keywords: psychological thriller