Allie: A Bridge and Sword Novel

Bridge & Sword #0.5

by J.C. Andrijeski

Allie Taylor harbored a fascination with seers for as long as she can remember. A second, psychic race discovered on Earth, seers are exotic, beautiful, hyper-sexual, dangerous as hell, and really danged expensive to own. Unfortunately, a lot of the world doesn’t share Allie’s enthusiasm for them. As more and more Seers appear on the streets of San Francisco where she lives, protests have broken out. Seers can’t venture into public without papers issued by their owners and a collar restraining their psychic sight, but that’s not enough to calm the anti-seer fanatics. They want all the Seers dead, or banished from the United States forever. When Allie travels to New York to see her boyfriend’s band, she gets caught in a terrorist attack. She’s saved by a man she’s never seen before, a tall, mysterious stranger with pale, glass-like eyes and black hair, who seems to crop up everywhere she turns. Meanwhile, someone starts leaving her cryptic, vaguely threatening notes about the end of the world, and her boyfriend starts blowing her off for one of his lame band groupies.

Then things get a lot worse. A bizarre religious cult targets Allie for an end of the world ritual, and her visit to New York goes from bizarre to potentially fatal. ** A different version of this novel was previously titled “New York” THE BRIDGE AND SWORD SERIES is a dark, gritty psychic warfare epic from a USA TODAY and WALL STREET JOURNAL bestselling author. Set in an alternate version of Earth where a second race of beings called “Seers” live alongside humans, this is for fans of romantic, character-driven science fiction and fantasy worlds, filled with twists and turns and backstabbing betrayals, with heroes and villains who are often the same people.

Genres: Ebooks, Fantasy, Science Fiction, Amazon

348 pages, Paperback

Published April 19, 2023

About the author

Also publishes under the name Julie Light


JC Andrijeski is a USA TODAY bestselling author who writes sexy, apocalyptic and cyberpunk-y science fiction romance and mystery books, often with a metaphysical bent. Current works include the gritty, epic, psychic warfare romance, ALLIE'S WAR, which follows Allie Taylor and her antihero partner, Revik, in their attempts to save the world from a dark, psychic force. Her dystopian science fiction romance series, ALIEN APOCALYPSE, features Jet Tetsuo, survivor and slave under alien conquerors, and her GATE SHIFTER series is about a shape-shifting alien and a tough-girl PI from Seattle. Her newest launch is QUENTIN BLACK, a science fiction romance and mystery series that’s a spin-off from Allie’s War but set in our own version of Earth.

JC has a background in journalism, history and politics, travels extensively and has lived abroad in Europe, Australia and Asia, and from coast to coast in the continental United States. She currently lives in Bangkok, Thailand.

To learn more about me and my writing, please visit http://jcandrijeski.com. For more about the Allie's War series, visit http://allieswarseries.com

If you want to get an automatic email when JC's next book is released, join THE REBEL ARMY at tinyurl.com/JCAndrijeski.

Reviews

[Coco.V]

🎁 FREE on Amazon today (12/27/2019)! 🎁

[Mandy (MP Book Reviews)]

Allie Taylor lives in a world with two races - humans and seers. These seers are enslaved by governments, corporations and the wealthy. They are psychic in nature and have a high sexuality. Allie is fascinated by these exotic beings even though she is never likely to ever meet one. Then her boyfriend's band has a gig in New York and seers are visible on the streets there. Whilst she is experiencing trouble with her boyfriend she observes seers being tasered, a terrorist attack and she seems to have a crazy stalker leaving her weird cryptic notes. She also finds that no matter where she is there is a tall black haired buy with the most amazing eyes. Then her trip becomes downright dangerous when a a strange religious cult that venerates seers targets her in a strange ritual which could prove fatal to her.

Wow – great story! I really enjoyed reading about this period before the Bridge and Sword World series started It certainly helped me understand some of what happens in the books and why certain things happen and why the main characters Allie and Revik behave the way they do. Everything was well written and made perfect sense. I could empathise with the characters and understand their feelings and motivations. If you have not read any of the stories in the series this is a perfect introduction.

[Kristen Lewendon]

It’s been so long since I last read anything in this series that it feels like I’m starting all over again. It seems only logical that I should start over with the prequels. I’m trying to decide if this book is better read as a true prequel or after the first few books in the series. I don’t know if I can answer that because I can see advantages to both. Coming in to the series blind, there’s a visceral reaction in experiencing all of Allie’s confusion and terror firsthand. On the other hand, I can also see where there are some almost tongue-in-cheek references to what we’ll learn further into the series. I think this book starts to give us a broader view of what’s going on behind the scenes before Revik steps fully into Allie’s life. There is a lot of background information and detail in this book, so there are times that the pace slows down to accommodate that. The action sequences are edge-of-your-seat-exciting. As I begin to learn about Allie, Revik, their world and the people in it, I’m drawn to learn even more. Now, I can’t wait to move this series from “wanting to read” to “read”.

[Myrna Richmond]

I read the whole bridge and Sword series and it is one of my favorites. I was completely enamored with it I thought it was wonderful and was so sad when I came to the end. I never till now read the prequel to find out how everything started. I am so glad I have now finally got round to .correcting that error. It is so interesting, Ali had no idea at all about what was in her future. As a reader this would be the first glimpse into an amazing world and a thrilling adventure. I envy those who will read this saga for the first time because it is just so wonderful and compelling. You are in for an amazing treat. Revik and Ali are unforgettable.

[T.]

I downloaded New York--a Bridge and Sword prequel--as a free ebook from Amazon. I absolutely loved this unique and well written story. Great characters, and lots of twists to keep the reader guessing what would happen next. I wish I'd read this prequel before I'd read Rook, as it slotted so much of the storyline into place. A wonderful apocalyptic/paranormal series--anything by this author is fantastic, really. New York is the perfect introduction to the Bridge and Sword characters and gives the reader a taste of the world-building where seers (collared and used as slaves) and humans coexist in a dystopian setting. The ride isn't a smooth one.

[Darryl]

Even though the title said prequel, I was disappointed that nothing really happened in this book until the very end. If I had started from book 1, maybe the book would not have been disappointing, because I kept wanting things to happen, or at least begin to answer some questions. I thought the characters were fleshed out well, though the overall world created was very much a mystery, with tiny little peeks into the world. Since this is part of the Dominion Rising anthology, it made it frustrating since this was my first intro into this story. It would have been better if book 1 had been in its place. Unfortunately, my frustration is enough that I am not interested enough to read book 1.

[Daniell Marsh]

I haven't read any books by this author before and this one sounded good so checked it out. I liked the main character. She wasn't always perfect with her interactions with the others and her boyfriend. I get tired of stories where the main characters of the story are perfect in everything it seems. The story sucked you in and you wanted to see what happened. There was some parts I thought were funny and others sad, but a good story makes you feel those things. It didn't end on a cliffhanger but a stop for now. It did make you want to see what happens next with the characters.

[Panda99]

An interesting world, with a fast paced story
This prequel is the first book that I am reading in this series, and I kinda feel like I should go back and start at the beginning. As a standalone, I found the world intriguing and the characters well written. As a New Yorker, I felt like this story could have been set anywhere it didn't really capture an alternative New York atmosphere. I did find the struggle of the seemingly superior slave race disturbing.

[Joy Ki`Ili]

Her guardian angel or not

This part is referenced in the main books but not as in depth as here. It is good to get the background story, it's been expanded to and will be included in the box set. It's great when all the pieces start coming together.

[debturk1970_bookvibes]

This was ok but I now wish I'd read it before the Bridge & Sword Series, It should be Book #0.5 NOT Book #11!!😞😢 Because of that it was a bit disappointing. If I'd read it first I don't think Book #1 would have been so kind bending!!🙈😕

Debbie, 1970, UK

[Stephen Levesque]

Sorry not my cup of tea. Never have liked and still don't like these type of books. Good Luck!

[Gigi]

A very quick read...

If you are curious and want to read more about that stolen make-out session with Revik and Allie, in New York, this is the story for you!

[Hillary]

The book was very cryptic. Even the explanations were cryptic and mostly unhelpful. I read the whole book and still don't know why most of it happened.

[Rosemary Hughes]

An introduction to a world of humans and seers, as well as another species, felt extinct.
Where Allie fits in is all part of the story.

[Joy Ki`Ili]

A little vacation

This is a great background story and it's been expanded too, it really gives you an idea how sheltered Allie's life growing up has been. This is definitely a teaser to get you to read the series and it works out great when all the pieces start coming together.

[nichola santore]

As

[Penelope]

Really enjoyed reading and getting my head around a different style of species and the workings of mind magic. Definitely want to read the series now.