Crossing the Dark

By Heidi W. Boehringer

Praise for Chasing Jordan : "With this first novel, Ms. Boehringer gives notice that she is a writer to watch. This is my kind of novel. Whatever Heidi Boehringer writes next, I will read."--Harry Crews Mona, a high-ranking police officer, has rescued her teenage daughter Perdita from a dangerous criminal who has been using her as a sex slave. As both Mona and Perdita spiral into separate worlds of fear, isolation, and despair, Mona, with the help of her fellow officer and confidant Nick, tries to save Perdita from the depression that threatens to overwhelm her. But what if Mona falls victim to her own fury and despair? Heidi W. Boehringer lives in Deerfield Beach, Florida. She has appeared on National Public Radio's The Spoken Word and has written essays for The Miami Herald . She is also a conference speaker and teaches creative writing.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1852424982
• ISBN13: 9781852424985
• Release Date: November 2007
• Publisher: Serpent's Tail
• Length: 244 Pages
• Weight: 0.47 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.2" x 7.8"

Customer Reviews

"Rescue is not the same as recovery."

The inequities of life loom large in this haunting tale as a mother, a cop, rescues her thirteen-year-old daughter, Perdita, from her abuser, who has kept the girl captive and sold her services to a steady stream of customers. When Mona flees from Cesar with her daughter, her only thought is to get Perdita away from the man who has terrorized the girl, trusting in the legal system to put the monster behind bars. Staying with her ex for safety until the criminal is apprehended, Mona is desperate to protect Perdita, enduring uneasy close quarters with a parent who encourages the girl to drink to alleviate her fears. As the family dynamic escalates, Perdita is nearly crippled with fear, relieved only when Cesar is finally behind bars. But even that relief is tentative- and short-lived- another tragedy in the making. Though Mona is a police officer, she a mother first, missing shifts to be with Perdita, at the risk of losing her job, while partner Nick covers as best he can. Perdita's innocence forever lost, Mona hopes to mitigate the damage that Boehringer describes in painful detail, Perdita hiding in a nest of blankets in the bedroom closet of her father's house, barely able to function as she attends counseling sessions. Vacillating between her instincts and the psychologist's advice to return to normalcy as soon as possible, Mona treads a harrowing path, Nick her only comfort as events spiral out of control. This is such a visceral story- every mother's nightmare- that I am literally unable to put the novel down, even its flaws part of the fabric of the tale. The author captures Mona's desperation and Perdita's terror, a father's raging helplessness and a partner's growing fear for both mother and daughter. This story could easily disintegrate into a revenge fantasy, but Boehringer keeps control as the story would play out in real time, including Cesar's refuge in the legal system. Mona is a heartbreaking protagonist, her career at odds with her heart, Nick unable to protect his partner from the raw emotions that assail her. Fear, isolation and betrayal are poor solutions to a tragedy of this magnitude. Luan Gaines/2010.

Powerful, raw and riveting

I didn't think author Heidi Boehringer could top the raw, emotional roller-coaster of her first book, Chasing Jordan. But she's come awfully close with Crossing the Dark. What happens when every mother's nightmare comes true? What would you do if it happened to you? Written in spare, edgy style, Boehringer's thriller will keep you awake during the dark night ... and make you think about the book's outcome long after the morning comes.

Thought-provoking

Crossing The Dark is on of the most thought-provoking books I have read in a long time. I can not get it out of my mind. As with her first book, Chasing Jordan, Heidi Boehringer begins with an horrifying scene that no mother would want to go through and explores what happens next. The writing grips you and pulls you into this emotional story that will have you turning page after page to find out how Mona, a mother and police woman will deal with the rape of her daughter. This is one of my favorite reads to recommend to people simply for the raw emotions it evokes. You will not be disappointed.

Through a glass darkly

Heidi Boehringer is back with an even darker, edgier thriller than Chasing Jordan. This one deals with the unravelling of a female police officer's life and psyche after the unspeakable happens to her daughter. Boehringer never pulls a punch and always renders strong human truths with power. The writing is nothing short of brilliant and the scenes are cinematic and memorable. This author is really one to watch!

A tense psychological thriller

Unlike everyone else, police officer Mona Longo does not believe her thirteen year old daughter Perdita ran away with an older male teen riding a bicycle; she thinks something bad happened. For two weeks she went on leave and followed the clues until she found Perdita in a dilapidated shack in the Everglades where Cesar has sold her to customers and videoed the sex probably for Internet sales. She manages to rescue her distraught daughter and take one of his cameras, but Cesar gives chase shooting at them. Mona calls her partner Nick, but he fails to catch the thug. Mother and daughter temporarily live in the home of Mona's former husband and Perdita's dad Les, who is his obnoxious self. As Mona tries to help Perdita cope with depression, Les offers his offspring beer. Cesar is caught, but the DA offers him a plea bargain to the outrage of Mona. She begins to believe the judicial legal system is broken as Cesar has all the rights while her daughter has all the pain. Needing justice and closure for herself and Perdita, Mona begins a plan outside the legal system but inside nature's law. This tense psychological thriller grips the audience from the moment that Mona tries to safely expedite her daughter from the nasty Cesar and never slows down until Nicky's final depositions. The action-packed story line is driven by the anticipation of war between Mona and Cesar, as she knows if he gets out of prison he is coming for them; and he knows that if he gets out of prison she is coming for him. The laws of the jungle rules in Florida; as both antagonists understand that you mess with a lioness' cub, you better kill the momma or die trying. Harriet Klausner