Happy Reading

Toni's bookshelf: read

The Godfather of Kathmandu (Sonchai Jitpleecheep, #4)
Ape House
The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest
Operation Napoleon
Walking Dead
The Sentimentalists
The Heretic Queen
The Midnight House
Cross Fire
Peony in Love
Absurdistan
Nefertiti
Finding Nouf: A Novel
City of Veils: A Novel
First Daughter
A Place of Hiding
Amagansett
Peter Pan


Toni Osborne's favorite books »
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Monday, September 30, 2024

"The Last Bridge Across Mostar", by Jeana Kendrick


1992: war-torn Bosnia

This recreation of what life could have been during this grueling time is brought to us through the eyes of American Katrina Winslow who is accused of spying and had to risk her life to protect war orphans caught in the crossfire as the Serbians plot to destroy Mostar. While Croatian Captain Lucien Brezac helps Katerina to save the innocent. Their story is heart-pounding......

What a thrilling novel that tells us the experience in the Balkans. It may be a fiction but the events are historic. This well-written story places us front and center in the conflicts of several Yugoslavian republics. The prose brings to life the terrifying realities of war as Katerina and Lucien navigate the treacherous web of intrigue and violence. Flipping the pages rapidly to see if they will succeed in the quest to save the children and Mostar from destruction couldn’t have been done fast enough. This is one exciting journey that smoothly sails from the beginning till its closing chapter. Embarking on a journey of love and survival with Katerina and Lucien was a chilling experience and a hard one to fathom.

As the story navigates through unknown regions it was quite challenging to follow I wished I had a map in front of me I really couldn’t visualize where I was and who were all those characters one I definitely remember Slobodan Milosevic.. We come across a lot of characters to keep track of, so pay attention or you will have to reread some parts as I did.

The varied reasons for the country’s breakup ranged from the cultural and religious divisions between the ethnic groups this story does an excellent job highlighting this fact. You will come across a lot of praying, I guess being in their shoes I would have perhaps done the same...

No doubt this is a difficult read but so is war. The author tells us that she took liberty in the timing and events for the sake of the narrative and all inaccuracy is on her. After all this book is a fiction not a dissertation and we should take it as such.

My thanks to the publisher for giving me the privilege to review this story.

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