Nate Morrissey, a successful New York lawyer, has just been asked to take on a client that will require he travel to Mount Kelven – the place he grew up in; the place he fell in love in; the place of that horrible tragedy; the place he fled from 18 years ago.
Nate was a fearless boy who grew up to know no limits. He was successful in all that he did, until one fateful night when he and Laura, the girl he loved so fiercely, decided to elope. When they arrived at the Justice of the Peace, they changed their minds, but not before both of their families came rushing to stop them. The combination of stormy weather, emotionally driven parents, and a power outage on the lift bridge was more than enough to produce the worst tragedy the residents from Mount Kelven had ever witnessed. Now, 18 years later, Nate will revisit Mount Kelven, that tragedy, and Laura. What he finds during his stay in Mount Kelven will again change his life.
Patrick Garry has succeeded in writing a gripping emotional novel that claims your attention on the first page. With witty characters and heart gripping revelations, “A Bridge Back” is a very satisfying read that shows us among many things, that by always looking back you can’t see in front of you. I would highly recommend this to anyone looking for a great book! ( )

Nate Morrissey hasn't been back to his home town of Mount Kelven in 18 years. He left after his parents were killed in a tragic car accident, something he blames himself for, and never returned. Now his boss has asked him to go there to look into the filming of a documentary that relates to the car accident and Nate begins to realize that he can't keep running from his past. The story evolves once Nate arrives in Mount Kelven and realizes that a lot has changed since he left. He gets involved with saving his grandfathers hotel and gets reacquainted with his ex-girlfriend who also has issues stemming from the night of the accident. Nate's world gets turned upside down and he realizes he can't look toward the future until he deals with his past.

"A Bridge Back" is more about Nate's journey to escape the past that has been holding him back than about finding out what is really going on with the hotel or what may have really happened the night of the accident. I get what author Patrick M. Garry was trying to do but must admit I felt a little cheated by the ending. Once Nate had his big epiphany, the story just kind of ended with a summary of the events that followed and everything was tied up rather quickly. I was really looking forward to a confrontation being played out between Nate and his brother-in-law and instead, I got a paragraph basically saying it happened and telling me the result. I just wish the loose ends had been tied up with a little more detail.

Though I was disappointed with the final chapter of the book I did enjoy everything leading up to the ending and had a hard time putting the book down. The characters are all very complex but also very real and the author does a good job of developing each of them. I also thought his description of the setting, Mount Kelven, was very well done and I was able to picture the town very clearly in my head. Honestly, I would recommend this book to anyone interested in well thought out characters who are easy to relate to and, to anyone interested in the journey involved in freeing oneself from their past. ( )