Cry the Night is a psychological thriller. A group of young bushwalkers are engrossed in a struggle for survival, stalked by a demented serial killer. "This is an enthralling read and should appeal to a wide audience, in particular devotees of murder mysteries," writes Alan Halbish of Halbooks Publishing and Consulting Service, in his appraisal of the manuscript. "The practice of keeping the chapters short entices the reader to continue just a little further into the story. It displays strong potential for adaptation to a movie or a television mini-series." Buy your copy! Amazon Amazon.co.uk Froogle Barnes & Noble.com Books A Million It was an unexplored wilderness in a remote part of Australia. The terrifying ordeal started as a weekend trip into the country. Four young men and one teenage girl. A sexy tease. Then the horrific discovery. Someone evil was among them. Within the tomb-like hidden place, his most dreadful secrets remained safe. Or so it seemed . . . Cry the Night takes the reader on a tour into a world of delusion and sexual darkness - in a story that delves into the mysterious depths of insanity. Excerpt When found, the body of the ten-year-old girl was lying face up in a shallow depression. Her tangled brown hair draped her shoulders and was littered with twigs and yellowed leaves. Her face was peppered with sand. At some point during her struggle she'd been pushed down into the bed of the creek. Her mouth and throat were filled with sand. Her nostrils. Even her eyes. Small granules impregnated the mesh of her eyelashes and coated the rims of her corneas. A beautiful girl. The dead girl was the eldest of two sisters who lived in town, some forty miles away, both last seen the previous afternoon. She was within a clearing, about fifty yards upstream from a remote road, in among ridges and valleys that usually lay dormant, undisturbed. She was explicitly exposed, with her dress lifted above her waist. The intricate floral patterns were bunched and torn. Her underpants were down to her knees, stretched between parted legs. One knee angled off the ground slightly. Legs desperate to escape, despite death. Yet later examinations would reveal that she had not been sexually violated. Bruising and deep scratches on both sides of her thin neck were evidence of an overpowering grip. Death was invited to take her. The girl had endured suffering and her life had expired slowly. A furrowed impression in the sand tailed from the heel of her left shoe, and indicated a final, hopeless movement. The girl's eyes were expressionless and in death stared up at the peace of a clear blue sky. Her killer's face was an irretrievable imprint on the retinas of her eyes. A moment ot terror. A small voice pleading for life.

PSYCHOLOGICAL THRILLER!
In March 1981, the small town of Traviston, Australia changed forever. Shattered and scarred following the brutal murder of ten-year-old Sarah Nielson, and disappearance of her six-year-old sister, Rebecca, the residents began distrusting those around them, keeping their children safe behind closed doors, or others simply moved away from the horror. The only thing that was ever determined was that Rebecca most likely knew her kidnapper, and all that remained were Rebecca's dress and underpants. Somewhere in this small town, a killer roams free.

Years later, a bushwalking expedition consisting of four men and a sixteen-year-old highly sexual girl turns deadly when they explore unchartered ground. Past and present are about to collide when some very deadly secrets are discovered. Now that the killer's sacred and hidden area is found, the killer will stop at nothing to keep things quiet.

At times the storyline was very disturbing, and I had to remember that this was a story not a news article. The prologue grabbed me from the start and Mr. Miller brought the case to life through smooth dialogue and flowing narrative. Once hooked, I read it in one sitting.

The characters each have their own unique personality, and Kirsty bothered me a bit. She was almost too sexually charged, and you just knew she would end up getting into trouble, but again without her total disregard for innocence, the storyline just would not have been the same. She learns a harsh lesson, and by the end I grew very fond of her.

Lots of twists and turns bring the reader to incorrect guesses, and the ending does produce a bit of a shock. Psychological suspense fans will enjoy this riveting story where past and present collide and deliver some horrific events."

Tracy Farnsworth, The Romance Readers Connection.

THE AUSTRALIAN OUTBACK

CRY THE NIGHT explores the mind of a monster. Not a monster born, but one made that way by the madness of his own mother. Her twisted religiosity destroys her child and looses an evil upon a remote Queensland community. In his first novel, artist Glenn Miller uses [the old man's] memories, dreams and fantasies, as well as his abhorrent actions, as media for a horrifying portrait of a sick soul. The uncomfortably explicit details of [his] perverted life both attract and repel and even evoke a bit of sympathy for the man the boy might have become. [He] is now nearing sixty; he could be any one of several men living in the area.

CRY THE NIGHT opens in 1981 with the discovery of ten-year-old Sarah Nielsen's body and no trace of her younger sister Rebecca. That time marks the beginning of the town's decline with many of its citizens leaving. Almost two decades after the tragedy, Ed and Adam, young men in their twenties, return to their mutual uncle's Tennin Creek cattle property to explore the nearby wilderness and its many caves. They are joined in their bushwalk by Ed's brother Keith, who works for their Uncle Jack, sixteen-year-old Kirsty, a budding siren who revels in her power to excite males of any age, and Will, a sullen teen with a new rifle.

Despite the warnings about the number of people who have entered the uncharted areas never to return, the five go farther into the bush than they had planned -- too far. The old man sees them heading toward 'his county', wherein his secrets are hidden. The terrible ordeal to come will be a time of testing for each member of the group as they are pitted against a combination of a mad mind, an unforgiving nature, and their own weaknesses. Their sanity and very survival are at risk. While some will rise to heroism, not all will return home.

CRY THE NIGHT can't be skimmed. It moves up and down the timeline, interspersing the present with the past, the real with the unreal. To experience the full effect of the electrifying plot and the revelation of the various personalities, you shouldn't skip ahead to see what comes next, even when the tension becomes nearly unbearable.

Several major, soundly portrayed characters people CRY THE NIGHT. Though Ed and Kirsty emerge as the main protagonists, Keith took my fancy from the first. (I couldn't help wondering who the brothers were patterned after. Ed shares the author's profession; is Keith another aspect of Mr. Miller's personality or one he aspires to?) You may find Kirsty's teasing exhibitionism in the earlier chapters disturbing, but in no way did she, any more than the other victims, ask for the terror inflicted upon her. Minor characters help set the atmosphere, open and hidden, of the community, and deepen the mystery.

[The old man] is both the raison d'être and the major conflict of CRY THE NIGHT. Though more instinctual than cerebral, he inspires the same reluctant fascination as a Hannibal Lecter. Be warned that the causes and effects of his insanity are not for the delicate or impressionable mind. Enter his world at your own risk.

CRY THE NIGHT is complex, haunting, provocative and horrific, but ultimately compelling.

Jane Bowers, Romance Reviews Today www.romrevtoday.com


CRY THE NIGHT

What kind of sick monster killed a little girl, left her body in a wild, remote area of Australia, and kidnapped her younger sister, who has not been found after years of intense searching? Did she survive, or was she also brutally murdered? Eventually it was presumed that the young sister was also dead.

The memories of the tragedies intruded upon Ed’s mind years later, and he was sorry that he had ever forgotton about them.

After a lot of preparation for a bushwalk, Ed, his brother Keith, their cousin Adam, a teenager Will, and a young girl Kirsty, planned to go into the area where the young child was found. Ed couldn’t help wonder about the fate of the younger girl. The group promised each other that they would only explore the lower caves and not go too deep into the forestry because of the danger of getting lost, as was the fate of others who challenged the wilderness. But the best laid plans…

While the bushwalkers set out on their trek, we meet the ‘old man’, and read some of the thoughts that are running through his mind. Memories of the atrocities he suffered as a child at the hands of a mentally ill mother. With each kidnapping the ‘old man’ does, his flashbacks bring forth more memories of the tortures he endured at different stages of his young life. He attributes his present state of a killer to his mother and the cruelties to which she subjected him.

The story takes us on the trek in one chapter, then carries us into the mind and onto the actions of the ‘old man’ in the next. It is a game of hide- and-seek, with no ollie-ollie-ox-in-free. This hunt is to the death. One big problem for the bushwalkers, they don’t know they are being watched. It is one danger they had not counted upon.

There is so much to this story that to describe one incident would only give away another, or at least clue you in to too much. So let’s suffice it to say this is a thriller you will have a tough time solving. The ending is a surprise that this reviewer has taken as a promise of a sequel.

Mr. Miller has woven together a very descriptive view of some treacherous terrain in Australia; given us well rounded, believable characters who come alive on the page; put us into the mind of a killer we want to catch ourselves, and blended all this into one great thriller.

CRY THE NIGHT is Mr. Miller’s first novel, with the promise of more to come. I’ll be waiting.

Reviewed by: Shirley Truax, Charter member of RIO

For: Blue Iris Journal

Copyright©2001 Shirley Truax