She never should have saved him.

The debut novel from writer Louise Mangos, Strangers on a Bridge, has a very ominous story description that drew me in immediately. I have been provided an ARC by NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review. This was definitely on the top of my list to take a look at.

Strangers on a Bridge moves quickly, building both the scenic world around the characters as well as dropping you straight into the initial action moment described on the book cover. Mangos immediately starts world building by bringing you sensory into the world around her character, played dramatically (and wonderfully so) by the Swiss Alps.

This high level of description becomes characteristic of Mangos' writing very quickly, sometimes to the detriment of the scene. It's not quite clear if the author is deliberately leveling out the tension or has gotten just a bit carried away. However, once you've settled into the story, there's something comforting about the high level of detail. It creates a safe distraction from the intensity of the story itself

The flow of action and plot has a seamless natural flow. Because the book cover description already has you in a heightened sense of concern for the character, you definitely have "oh no" moments early on, but otherwise within the story, these moments are well done enough that if you didn't have a heads up to what's to come you would find them generally reasonable decisions.

While marked as Mystery & Thrillers, Strangers on a Bridge stays firmly in the Thriller genre, laying a clear groundwork for what is going on. Mangos skillfully taps into the known fear of a stalker. The scary unknown is the lengths they'll go rather than the mystery to unravel. As much as I may feel those "oh no" moments early on, where the building blocks of the eventual suspense are being put in place, Mangos stays realistic to stalking and the emotional impact that it creates on a victim. Unfortunately, she also stays honest to the disbelief that people have around a stalking victim, and reminds us that there's clearly more work to be done in the world to help victims.

Strangers on a Bridge will be published August 11, 2018.

Sadly, the writing fell flat pretty much from the first pages. It's so much description and personal inside-the-head that's irrelevant to any kind of thrill that I started losing any interest in what happens to Alice at all. Or her as a character.

Then I made a mistake of reading the other reviews and from there on it was just a slow down into I-don't-care-ness.

Switzerland is a very boring place. Beautiful but completely untrilling, unless you get your jollies from something like paragliding or hiking. It's actually anti-thrilling when it comes to any kind of human interactions. That's why I thought something like stalking would be a perfect match with this backdrop. It should work as a backdrop for mysteries and thrillers in general because it's so undiscovered and few actually manage to last here long enough to get to know it well.

I was hoping Louise Mangos would make this a rule. But so far...

Thank you Netgalley for the copy in exchange for my honest review.

I really wanted to enjoy this book, the synopsis sounds amazing....it's the most exciting part.
Alice is a highly unlikeable character full of bad decisions and stupidity. I would not class this as a thriller book. The author has a good writing style but sadly that's the only positive for this one.

Unfortunately, this book was a waste of time for me. Extremely unlikeable main character and some very strange and unbelievably dumb choices made by her as well. Alice seems to change her personality about a third into the book. So weird, but I won't rehash the entire story line-it is all in the book blurb. I must admit I am very surprised to see so may 4 and 5 star reviews. I honestly would not recommend this book as a psychological thriller or as a suspenseful mystery. While Alice is being stalked and harassed noone believes her and the police find her offensive (because she is a "foreigner" -she does not report the man who she once saved from committing suicide is on her property and that items are missing to the police though. She does not tell her husband Simon about his escalatingly creepy behavior either supposedly because he is stressed out from his job. What? Once your family is in danger I think it is okay to alert your husband and other child about a psycho with mental health issues may possibly harm them if you care about them as much as you say you do. The fact the story was set in Switzerland made it even more offputting. The ending left me with my mouth hanging open in disbelief and dissatisfaction-why did I finish reading this?

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the chance to read and give an honest review.

Alice is out on a run when she sees a man named Manfred about to jump off a bridge. She convinces him to walk away with her and visit a nearby hospital. He is now forever grateful to her for saving his life, a little too grateful. He visits her children at school, moves down the street from her, and calls her often. It's getting to be a little too much and now Alice is in fear for her family. Something happens to Manfred and has it become all Alice's fault?

I thought this was a little predictable. I was expecting a few more twists than there really were. I also wasn't a huge fan of Alice. I thought she made some pretty dumb decisions and it didn't seem very realistic. I have very little background knowledge of Europe, especially Switzerland and German, and I felt that really hindered my understanding of the book. Other than that, the plot was intriguing. I probably wouldn't read this one again.

Thank you netgalley and hq digital for this read for my honest review. I appreciate it!

I wanted to read this book because it was set in Switzerland and the story sounded intriguing. I did enjoy learning about the German-Swiss and landmarks and customs. Overall the story was solid and I liked the pacing. I did have a difficult time liking the main character, Alice. Some of decisions and actions had me shaking my head, but I guess that is how the story needs to play out. It would definitely be a scary thing to go through being in a country away from home and having something happen and the authorities not believing you. I would like to read more of Louise Mangos’s novels and will put her on my reading list.