Listen free for 30 days

Listen with offer

Preview

£0.00 for first 30 days

Try for £0.00
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Cross

By: Austin Duffy
Narrated by: Ruairi Conaghan
Try for £0.00

£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £13.99

Buy Now for £13.99

Pay using card ending in
Switch payment method
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.

Summary

1994, the summer of the ceasefire. In the Northern Irish border town of Cross, after decades of violent activity protesting British rule, a community plays out its end game.

Francie, a principled elder of the cause, has authorised the murder of a policeman – his teenage henchmen are triumphant at pulling it off. In the town square, the Widow Donnelly protests because her son has gone missing. Young Cathy Murphy, the daughter of a Protestant, is trying to find her place among a people who ignore her. And pathological Handy Byrne, whose marksmanship makes him a valuable weapon, is out of control.

Meanwhile, paranoia is growing because operations are beginning to go wrong. The townsfolk suspect a tout, but no one is willing to accept the evidence before their eyes.

From its dramatic first chapter, Cross is an extraordinary evocation of the loyalties and divisions within a town governed by its own variety of law, where violence is rewarded and complicity is second nature.
©2024 Austin Duffy (P)2024 Bolinda Publishing
Historical Fiction Literary Fiction Political Thriller & Suspense Ireland
Show More Show Less
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

Listeners also enjoyed...

 Great Britain? cover art
Keir Starmer cover art
The Padre cover art
Stakeknife's Dirty War cover art
The Long Game cover art
The Scarlet Papers cover art
The Fall of Boris Johnson cover art

Critic reviews

'A tremendous novel, powerful and compelling, written with great gritty authenticity.' (William Boyd, author of Any Human Heart)
'A thrillingly tense read … a novel of riveting clarity and international relevance for our turbulent times.' (Claire Kilroy, award-winning author of All Summer)
'There comes a point in a hunger strike, remarks an IRA operative in Cross, when a body begins to smell, ‘on account of the body starting to eat itself’. It’s a deeply resonant image, and a powerful metaphor for what happens in the book’s eponymous Northern Irish border town when the 1994 ceasefire forces it to make a reckoning with its violent past and uncertain future. It’s an intricately plotted game of cat and mouse where it’s never clear who’ll turn out to be the cat and who the mouse – a novel which brings Austin Duffy’s distinctive blend of black humour and moral seriousness to the literature of the Troubles.' (Carys Davies, author of Clear)

What listeners say about Cross

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    1
  • 4 Stars
    0
  • 3 Stars
    0
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0
Performance
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    1
  • 4 Stars
    0
  • 3 Stars
    0
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0
Story
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    1
  • 4 Stars
    0
  • 3 Stars
    0
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Audible.co.uk reviews

Amazon reviews
Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars
Profile Image for Jason Kelly

a time and place

A brilliant story set at the heart of a historic moment in time. Exploring a republican community subjected to turmoil as their world and beliefs are changing all around them. it manages to be both heartfelt and humorous while not shying away from the hatred and brutally that underscored the Troubles. I loved it and the narrator was excellent, the perfect choice for breathing life into the all the various characters, An easy five stars all round

Report this

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!