Book Review and GIVEAWAY: The Bridge on Beer River, by Terry Tierney {ends 7/20}

Guest review by: Becki Bayley

When I push through the air-locked door, I see the back of a small woman sitting at a terminal on a wooden table lined with a keypunch machine, a card sorter, a tray of punch cards and an overflowing ashtray, all littered with cardboard chads. Next to the table rises a blue cabinet with white block letters identifying the PDP-11 main frame.

As I step up to the raised floor, Angie leans forward and her worn black jeans tighten around her cheeks, pushed up by the cushion of her stool. She spins to face me, resting her elbows on her knees, and she eyes me with a tilt of her head. I try not to stare at the cleavage framed by her wide necked black tee shirt, but she catches my glance. She grins and looks away as she sits up straight.

“You must be Curt,” she says in an official tone as she purses her blackened lips. “Your mustache is famous.”

Feeling suddenly warm despite the frigid air, I take her extended hand for a quick shake before she pulls it away.

“And you’re Angie.”

“Bingo.”

Curt seems to think he keeps to himself, but that’s nearly impossible in a town like Binghamton.

Official synopsis:

A rust belt city in decline retains the solace of romance, which often proves to be an empty promise or even a curse. With a wry perspective and unflappable determination, Curt embodies all the town's ills, including his own problems with drinking, work, and relationships, as he tries to save himself and rescue his friends in his own unconventional and unlawful ways. In The Bridge on Beer River, a novel-in-stories set in Reagan-era Binghamton, New York, characters scramble for subsistence while hoping for love and a better life.

While this is a chronological story of at least part of the fictional Curt’s time in Binghamton, his interactions with the other residents who come and go through the town often read almost like essays. Curt’s story doesn’t feel monumental, but his relationships with the people he knows are a bit more memorable. 

He has a few temporary girlfriends, or sometimes just hook-ups with women who seem to be in a similar stage in life. They all run in the same circles—working at the dairy, dancing at Pearl’s, and drinking or keeping up on gossip at Mother’s. There isn’t a real climax or goal they’re working toward. Most of them are happy to just make ends meet and do it all again the next day.

The writing style of this book was pleasant, and the hours spent immersed in Curt’s life in Binghamton were enjoyable. The book earned 4 out of 5 stars from this reader, and it could be recommended as a comfortable read to those who can remember a little about the start of computers as a part of our lives in the late 1970's and 1980's.

{click here to purchase from Amazon}

Becki Bayley is a Gemini with a Gemini husband, two kids, and two cats. See a few pictures of the books she reads and their family adventures on Instagram, where she posts as PoshBecki.

GIVEAWAY:

One of my lucky readers will win a copy of The Bridge on Beer River!

Enter via the widget below. Giveaway will end on Thursday, July 20th, at 11:59pm EST, and winner will be notified the next day via email, and have 24 hours to respond, or an alternate winner will be chosen.

U.S. residents only, please.

Good luck!

The Bridge on Beer River, by Terry Tierney