The Serpent's Bridge

The Serpent's Bridge

Volume One of the Serpent Series

Author : S Z Estavillo

Page count : 398 

Summary:

Compelling dialogue, rich, gritty prose, and characters you won't forget - if you loved The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets Nest by Stieg Larsson, or Ink and Bone by Lisa Unger, you'll love The Serpent's Bridge.

Recovering alcoholic Detective Anaya Nazario remains haunted by her father's murder. Lucas Nazario was the highest-ranking Puerto Rican LAPD detective, and his case has gone unsolved for twenty-four years since his murder. 

When Mexican immigrants are targeted by a serial killer, Nazario senses a connection and fights to keep the leadless case open. The homicide investigation centers on Sanctuary Baptist, a church composed of immigrants led by Pastor Stan and his wife. 

Nazario's personal and professional worlds collide when she is compelled to collaborate with her former lover, Special Agent Blake Huxley. As their lives merge once more, the FBI and Detective Nazario stop at nothing to find a killer.

Is this the same monster who killed her father and left him for dead under a bridge?

Can she put a stop to the murders before more families lose loved ones?

Review:

This book cost me a good night's sleep. I started reading it in the evening and just couldn't stop. The ending is absolutely shocking and unexpected, making up for the more stationary passages. 

Ananya Nazario is a brilliantly written character, enigmatic, fascinating and sympathetic. This is on-the-edge-of-your-seet fiction. Page-turning at its best. The book is full of baddies, twists, turns and revelations and I can't recommend this series highly enough. 

"But, at fifty, her life was only beginning, and freedom had never tasted sweeter. Every day, she aimed to try something new"

One of the best thriller books I've ever read. Engaging the whole way through, with excellent characters and plotting. Nazario is a fascinating character and one of the most unusual you will ever meet in crime fiction. Intelligent, prickly, intensely private and with a strong moral core, even if that morality is not one that always makes sense to others, she may not seem to be an obviously sympathetic character, but I know I'm not alone in liking her a lot.

The characters are all so real and individual that this never happens especially Millie Ann. The author moves smoothly between characters and points of view to create a story that is complex, dense and detailed, and the result is spellbinding. Unfortunately, the ending leaves you hanging and wanting to dive right into the second book in the series. 

Rating : 4.5/5

About the Author:

S Z Estavillo has been passionate about writing since childhood, with a defining moment in second grade when her teacher predicted, "You're going to be a writer someday." Her biracial heritage, being half-Korean and half-Puerto Rican, deeply influences her book themes. As a staunch advocate for diversity and inclusion, SZ works tirelessly to amplify the voices of underrepresented and marginalized communities within the publishing industry.

Balancing her roles as a devoted mother and an enthusiastic digital marketer, SZ brings her professional expertise into her personal passion, amassing over 85,000 followers on social media. She uses her platform to inspire and uplift the writing community with motivational and positive content. Along with her two children and two senior dogs, she enjoys the simple pleasures of family sushi outings in their Los Angeles home