The Bridge of Deaths - M.C.V. Egan

THE BRIDGE OF DEATHS
AUTHOR: M.C.V.Egan
Genre:  History, Mystery
ISBN-13:  9781463410414
NO. OF PAGES: 372
PUBLISHER: Authorhouse (2011)
PRICE: Rs. 934 (on flipkart.com)

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:   M.C.V. Egan lives in South Florida with her husband and teenage son. She is fluent in four languages; English,Spanish,French and Swedish. From a young age became determined to solve the 'mystery' of her grandfather's death, she has researched this story for almost two decades. The story has taken her to Denmark, England and unconventional world of past lives and psychics. (from http://thebridgeofdeaths.com )

SUMMARY: On August 15th, 1939 an English passenger plane from British Airways Ltd. Crashed in Danish waters between the towns of Nykobing/Falster and Vordingborg. There were five casualties reported and one survivor. Just two weeks before Hitler invaded Poland with the world at the brink of war the manner in which this incident was investigated left much open to doubt. The jurisdiction battle between the two towns and the newly formed Danish secret police, created an atmosphere of intrigue and distrust.
In the winter of 2009-2010 a young executive, Bill is promoted and transferred to London for a major International firm. He has struggled for the better part of his life with nightmares and phobias, which only seem to worsen in London. As he seeks the help of a therapist he accepts that his issues may well be related to a 'past-life trauma'.

Through love, curiosity, archives and the information superhighway of the 21st century Bill travels through knowledge and time to uncover the story of the 1939 plane crash.

The Bridge of Deaths is a love story and a mystery. Fictional characters travel through the world of past life regressions and information acquired from psychics as well as archives and historical sources to solve "One of those mysteries that never get solved" is based on true events and real people, it is the culmination of 18 years of sifting through sources in Denmark, England and the United States, it finds a way to help the reader feel that he /she is also sifting through data and forming their own conclusions.

The journey takes the reader to well known and little known events leading up to the Second World War, both in Europe and America. The journey also takes the reader to the possibility of finding oneself in this lifetime by exploring past lives. (from  http://thebridgeofdeaths.com )

SWARNALI SPEAKS: I got this as an e-book from the author (through FL) to review.  M.C.V.Egan’s book The Bridge of Deaths was a serious read, not something you could start and end in one go. But by “serious” I don’t mean the book isn’t interesting, its that it is not a light read and takes a lot of time to read and comprehend. The book is very intriguing and informative.

The best thing about the book is the amount of research of the background of the World War II that the author has done and the minute detailing that has been paid attention to in the writing of the book. What I particularly liked is how the author has documented each information source in the footnotes,so that the reader can easily refer to them for further reference,if required.

The author has created characters who are individuals with very real fears and dilemmas. One particular instance is that Catalina is somewhat unaware that she is scared of knowing the truth, the fear arising from the fact that the search for the truth which constitutes a major part of her life would come to an end and her life may suddenly lose all the motivation and reason that it had for so many years. Each person in the book has a distinct personality and is etched out individually, both emotionally and psychologically. Another interesting feature about the book is the fact that the author herself is a character in the book. She uses her middle name Catalina in the book to represent the character. 

Several ideas are dealt with in the book apart from the search behind the mysterious crash of the British Airways plane. The religious idea of a previous life, the possibility of incidents from that previous life haunting us in our present life in dreams and a psychological delving into the psyche of the characters are some of them.

The book has romance, history, mystery and psychology all rolled into a great combination. The fiction and real parts in the book are really well blended. I thoroughly enjoyed reading the book.

MY RATING: 4.5 / 5