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The Key-Stone of the Bridge
Now available as an audiobook, narrated by the author.
Reunite, a happy-go-lucky Scully, foul-mouthed Doc, naive Robbie and the stoic Donald at an allegedly haunted and isolated shelter amid the creaking bonds of an alliance built in the amber whisky haze of their misspent youth. Throw in the ashes of a departed friend and give them a simple mission, then anything could happen and frequently does in this delightful whisky soup.
The Key-Stone of the Bridge is a very Scottish tale, full of chills, thrills, mystery and suspense, as in beautiful and unusually calm winter weather, the four men complete their task.
Then well, things start to get a little strange.
The mountains are usually deserted in winter but two visitors appear seeking shelter and tell of meeting a mystery hiker. That night has some strange goings on but they blame that on the whisky. Then when there is no sign of the mystery hiker, the four decide to look for him or his body. But the weather deteriorates, their misfortune grows and they return to find their sanctuary gone. Now, they are in a fight for their own survival.
Will they struggle through reach civilization and finally discover the shocking truth about their guests and the mystery hiker?
Reunite, a happy-go-lucky Scully, foul-mouthed Doc, naive Robbie and the stoic Donald at an allegedly haunted and isolated shelter amid the creaking bonds of an alliance built in the amber whisky haze of their misspent youth. Throw in the ashes of a departed friend and give them a simple mission, then anything could happen and frequently does in this delightful whisky soup.
The Key-Stone of the Bridge is a very Scottish tale, full of chills, thrills, mystery and suspense, as in beautiful and unusually calm winter weather, the four men complete their task.
Then well, things start to get a little strange.
The mountains are usually deserted in winter but two visitors appear seeking shelter and tell of meeting a mystery hiker. That night has some strange goings on but they blame that on the whisky. Then when there is no sign of the mystery hiker, the four decide to look for him or his body. But the weather deteriorates, their misfortune grows and they return to find their sanctuary gone. Now, they are in a fight for their own survival.
Will they struggle through reach civilization and finally discover the shocking truth about their guests and the mystery hiker?
162 pages, Audiobook
First published June 5, 2014
1 person is currently reading
355 people want to read
About the author
Craig Meggy
11 books5 followersCraig Meggy is a Scottish independent author and occasional editor of Music Crosswords and Word Puzzles.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
October 10, 2014
This book was fascinating. I enjoyed the descriptions and setting, even the Scottish brogue. Meggy turns what could be a slow or overly-sentimental plot into a story with mystery and chills, peppered with delightful humor.
Being centered around the five main characters, one being absent, the character dynamics and interactions are just what I expect from the men reliving their glory days. Their stories were so enjoyable, I found myself laughing aloud many times and receiving as many looks from strangers in crowded places.
The only reason I am not giving The Key-Stone of the Bridge five stars is because I didn't find it personally life-altering; I still think it is brilliant. I enjoyed the story and the style and I definitely look forward to Meggy's next work.
Being centered around the five main characters, one being absent, the character dynamics and interactions are just what I expect from the men reliving their glory days. Their stories were so enjoyable, I found myself laughing aloud many times and receiving as many looks from strangers in crowded places.
The only reason I am not giving The Key-Stone of the Bridge five stars is because I didn't find it personally life-altering; I still think it is brilliant. I enjoyed the story and the style and I definitely look forward to Meggy's next work.
October 18, 2014
Trying to think of how to review this book I think I will start with the good things about the style of the writing and how it's written.
You can really tell this guy loves his home country considering how well he described the scenery of the place. You have no trouble imagining what the place looked like.
The author also did someone you don't seem to find many people do- use slang for the characters. It's a really good way to make your characters come to life and give them individual personalities (apart from certain ones which I will speak about soon).
The main problem I found in this book is the grammar. I found it very hard to read because of the lack of commas, words being spelt right and confusion with the quotes.
For example, one minute in the quotes you would see the word being written as "no'" and next it would be written as "no".
While we're on the subject of quoting, one part that was completely wrong was the English peoples' quotes. It was too stereotypical which made them too unrealistic. Seriously, they weren't in the book long and I lost count the amount of times I read the word "chaps". NOBODY in England says chaps. I must admit that I rated this book one star less because how much this annoyed and offended me.
Now I've mentioned everything that I wanted about the way it's written I should say what I thought of the story.
When I read what the story was about I was very interested to read it. Mentioning of a mysterious hiker sounded intriguing to me. Turns out the the story was not what I expected. I thought this was going to be about some mystery hiker trying to kill people but instead he just still remains a mystery and wasn't involved much during their stay. This dissapointed me.
A lot of this book just involeved them sitting around talking and the rest of it was them going hiking. I dunno. Maybe this book just wasn't for me.
Since this was a book I won I wanted to give the author a really good review to help them out. That would mean being dishonest though and I need to give my honest opinion. So I feel bad to say I had to give this book 2 stars. :(
You can really tell this guy loves his home country considering how well he described the scenery of the place. You have no trouble imagining what the place looked like.
The author also did someone you don't seem to find many people do- use slang for the characters. It's a really good way to make your characters come to life and give them individual personalities (apart from certain ones which I will speak about soon).
The main problem I found in this book is the grammar. I found it very hard to read because of the lack of commas, words being spelt right and confusion with the quotes.
For example, one minute in the quotes you would see the word being written as "no'" and next it would be written as "no".
While we're on the subject of quoting, one part that was completely wrong was the English peoples' quotes. It was too stereotypical which made them too unrealistic. Seriously, they weren't in the book long and I lost count the amount of times I read the word "chaps". NOBODY in England says chaps. I must admit that I rated this book one star less because how much this annoyed and offended me.
Now I've mentioned everything that I wanted about the way it's written I should say what I thought of the story.
When I read what the story was about I was very interested to read it. Mentioning of a mysterious hiker sounded intriguing to me. Turns out the the story was not what I expected. I thought this was going to be about some mystery hiker trying to kill people but instead he just still remains a mystery and wasn't involved much during their stay. This dissapointed me.
A lot of this book just involeved them sitting around talking and the rest of it was them going hiking. I dunno. Maybe this book just wasn't for me.
Since this was a book I won I wanted to give the author a really good review to help them out. That would mean being dishonest though and I need to give my honest opinion. So I feel bad to say I had to give this book 2 stars. :(
October 31, 2014
The Key-Stone of the Bridge is a fine tale about a band of like minded individuals who find solace and camaraderie in their joint ventures in to the Scottish mountains to escape modern life in all its complexities. The story follows the main character Scully being reunited with his friends of old during a trip to a haunted bothy in the Highlands. Their task is to scatter the ashes on top of a mountain of a recently departed friend, and past member of their group.
Craig Meggy uses a softened Scot’s dialect/slang, which suits the narrative perfectly. I felt an uncanny familiarity to a number of the character’s in the story which speeds along with brilliant patter and banter, with many funny anecdotes and quips which appeal to my humor. I particularly enjoyed a modern take and homage to Tam o’ Shanter by Robert Burns. The story like the scenery has a rugged feel to it with a supernatural or spiritual element, with an equal mix of aggression, humanity and compassion.
I would highly recommend The Key-Stone of the Bridge. I look forward to Craig’s next book in the trilogy.
The Key-Stone of the BridgeCraig Meggy
Craig Meggy uses a softened Scot’s dialect/slang, which suits the narrative perfectly. I felt an uncanny familiarity to a number of the character’s in the story which speeds along with brilliant patter and banter, with many funny anecdotes and quips which appeal to my humor. I particularly enjoyed a modern take and homage to Tam o’ Shanter by Robert Burns. The story like the scenery has a rugged feel to it with a supernatural or spiritual element, with an equal mix of aggression, humanity and compassion.
I would highly recommend The Key-Stone of the Bridge. I look forward to Craig’s next book in the trilogy.
The Key-Stone of the BridgeCraig Meggy
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews