ABC Radio 612 reviews The Crossing

The Crossing by B. Michael Radburn

Set in the desolate, foreboding beauty of rural Tasmania, The Crossing is the story of park ranger Taylor Bridges, a man struggling with the guilt of his missing daughter and who finds himself at the centre of the disappearance of another young girl exactly one year later.

Glory’s Crossing, the small town where the story unfolds, is about to be submerged and is slowly drowning beneath the rising waters of a new dam. However, dark secrets lie just beneath the water’s murky surface and when the young girl disappears, Taylor’s quest for redemption means he is soon in over his head in his determination to find her.

Uncovering tales of past tragedies, confronting his own demons as well as the bleak environment, Taylor is also a chronic sleepwalker. When a girl the same age as his daughter mysteriously disappears, he is forced to question himself as well as the dwindling population of the former logging town. 

The result is a brutal crime mystery, where a troubled outsider has to break down the barriers and prejudices of an insular, dying small town. Overwhelmed with frustration, fatigue and remorse, this is also the story of how newcomers to small communities have to perform a series of intimidating rituals before begrudging – and only ever partial – acceptance is attained.

Characters such as the reclusive local intellectual, ‘The Librarian’, compete with figures of tragedy such as ‘The Raggedy Man’, a local resident falsely accused of child abduction in the past and who was savagely beaten and slashed to within an inch of his life by neighbours and people he once thought of as friends. Together with the uncooperative local police officer and a savvy detective drafted in from Launceston, Taylor finds himself in a classic race against time.

The Crossing is a riveting tale of deception and desperation; superb suspense combined with a sense of unbearable grief a parent must feel when losing a child. The author cites Stephen King as one of his literary heroes and, although there is a faint hint of the supernatural in the novel, it is the much stronger theme of redemption which carries an echo of the great novelist himself. The Crossing is an impressive Australian thriller, full of anxious anticipation and simply tingling with tension. One for the dark, cold winter nights ahead!

THE CROSSING by B. Michael Radburn

Published in Australia by Pantera Press.

Rob Minshull produces Weekends with Warren and is an avid reader.