Luke could almost count the pig’s strides as it closed in…His father lay frantic in the dust, scarcely able to raise his head…The pig would kill him.
Luke doesn’t live with his dad, but he still idolises him. Dad is a hunter, a hard man who knows everything about guns. When Luke is suspended from school for hiding a gun in his locker, Luke’s mum is horrified, but Luke thinks she’s over reacting. He needed the gun to practise his shooting in the bush after school.
When Mum is unexpectedly hospitalised, Luke finds himself unexpectedly able to accompany his father on a pig-shooting expedition. He’s the only kid with a group of men – men who will, it seems, shoot at anything that moves. Luke starts to see the other side of shooting and killing. And when the expedition turns dangerous, he wonders whether all this is worth the thrill of the chase.
First published in 1992, a CBCA Notable Book in 1993, Crossfire has been reprinted along with other works by James Moloney, so that they can be enjoyed by a new group of teens. The story remains authentic fifteen years after first publication, with the high action text and timeless conflicts not being outdated.
This is an exciting and thought-provoking read, especially suitable for teenage boys.
Crossfire, by James Moloney
UQP, 1992, 2007
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