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The Crossing
B. Michael Radburn
Redemption is born of guilt, and weighs heavy on even the strongest man.
Traumatised by the disappearance of his daughter Claire, Taylor Bridges’ marriage breaks down, and he exiles himself to Glorys Crossing in Tasmania. Taylor is the only ranger in this isolated town adjoining a national park… a town dying a slow death as the rising waters of the new dam project slowly flood it.
Struggling with the guilt of Claire’s disappearance, Taylor is a chronic sleepwalker. When another young girl the same age goes missing, Taylor begins to question himself… uncertain of what happens when he sleepwalks.
It’s a race against time not just to find the missing girl, but in Taylor’s search for redemption and a past better left lying at the bottom of the new lake.
“…the top ten of my favourite authors…Radburn shows no signs of being a beginner, with profound emotions riddling his well-developed characters. As a thriller and mystery writer, he keeps us guessing…suspenseful and unexpected.” – Glam Adelaide
B. Michael Radburn
B. Michael Radburn - Author of The Taylor Bridges Series and Blackwater Moon.
Radburn is a self-professed bloke from the “wrong side of the tracks”, whose fall into writing offered an escape from the fatal attraction of drugs and alcohol. Wonderful high school teachers made him realise that writing, when shared, offered faith in one’s self.
Writing from his farm in the hauntingly beautiful Southern Highlands of NSW, his work reflects both natural and supernatural environs. Described as “Ian Rankin meets Stephen King”, Radburn is the author of three full-length novels: The Crossing, Blackwater Moon and The Falls.
Radburn loves his family, jamming out the blues and his motorcycle! He also loves giving back and inspiring others from all walk of life – his Harley Davidson chapter (Sydney HOG) works with Father Chris Riley’s Youth off the Streets program.
Radburn uses these opportunities to talk to youth living rough in Sydney – offering reading and writing as “therapy” and sharing his own teenage experiences.
“This innovative thriller is gripping throughout…fast pace and three-dimensional characters gave it a momentum that held my attention until the end… The tried formulas of crime fiction are jettisoned in The Crossing, adding an element of surprise to what otherwise might have been a traditional set-up… The Crossing delivers the thrills that it promises.”
Roze Abraham, Good Reading Magazine
“…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. An impressive Australian thriller, full of anxious anticipation and simply tingling with tension. One for the dark, cold winter nights ahead!”
Ron Minshull, ABC Radio 612 Weekend Bookworm
“…a novel guaranteed to send shivers down spines.”
Sunday Tasmanian (Book Chat)
“…undoubtedly poignant… the result is really quite moving… Radburn has written a most unusual book in The Crossing… the emotional journey of this man, combined with the wonderful sense of place that is built around him, really makes The Crossing one of those books to step outside your comfort zone with.”
Aust Crime
”…It’s a shame this book isn’t being published until May as it would make a superior summer read.”
Paul Landymore, Bookseller+Publisher
“Riveting! Bristles with menacing suspense and believably secretive characters. if you enjoy a delicious shiver, come to the drowning Tasmanian town of Glory’s Crossing. Radburn has the stuff, and will enthrall you with this tale of nightmares, loss, grief and redemption. The Crossing rocks!”
Leigh Blackmore, Australian Horror Writers' Association
“Ian Rankin meets Stephen King meets Bear Grylls. B. Michael Radburn has nailed his debut novel set in the Tasmanian wilderness and Pantera Press has once again found another original story from a great up and coming author. Keep them coming.” Click here for Berkelouws.
Maria Channels, Berkelouw Books (Balgowlah)
“I enjoyed it for its atmosphere and its tortured souls making their way back to the world.” Click here for Daltons
Meredith Wright, Daltons Books (Canberra City)
“The Crossing, a mystery with a hint of the supernatural. Author B. Michael Radburn weaves a tale of kidnapping, deception, and murder that is peppered with many intersecting themes. The conflicts range from dealing with the loss of a loved one, managing the subsequent unrelenting guilt, to finding oneself a stranger among neighbors…”
ChiZine
“… I did enjoy reading this book… it is great to read a mystery novel set in Australia instead of America or the UK… You really feel like you can relate to the characters… as is with a good mystery things are never quite as they seem… I would give this book 7 out of 10…”
Lynn MacDonald, Central Coast Advocate
“Plenty of suspense in this thriller…”
Wish Magazine in The Australian
“…felt a bit frightened and found my heart pounding at the ‘jumpy bits’.”
Gloss
“Set in an imminent Tasmanian ghost town… Told through the eyes of park ranger and chronic sleepwalker, Taylor Bridges, the story traces the disappearance of a young girl under circumstances that mirror Bridges’s own daughter’s disappearance on the mainland one year earlier. Plunged into a world of redneck vigilantes, apparitional Tasmanian tigers, and an oppressive winter, the book’s opening chapters are unrelentingly bleak…”
Australian Book Review
“A story of mystery with a supernatural twist that you won’t be able to put down.”
Narromine News
“…the top ten of my favourite authors…Radburn shows no signs of being a beginner, with profound emotions riddling his well-developed characters. As a thriller and mystery writer, he keeps us guessing…suspenseful and unexpected.”
