Book Giveaway And Quick Q&A With B Michael Radburn

B Michael Radburn (AKA Baz) writes tight, atmospheric, setting-rich crime novels. His exciting brand new release is The Falls, which is the second book featuring Taylor Bridges, although it can be thoroughly enjoyed as a standalone for those who have not read The Crossing. He has also previously published Blackwater Moon.

To celebrate the new release, Baz and I are partnering up to do a giveaway of one (1) paperback copy of The Falls. This is an Australia-wide giveaway, thanks to Baz’s publisher, Pantera Press.

To be in the running, go to my Facebook post, like that post and you’ll go in the draw once.
You’ll go in the running twice, by adding a comment, telling us why you’d love to win a copy of The Falls.
The winner will be drawn and announced on my Facebook page on Friday 23 September. Be sure to check the results, as the lucky winner will need to private message me in order to claim their prize.

Here’s a quick Q&A with Baz about The Falls which will have you falling over yourself to get onto Facebook and enter Baz’s giveaway.

Sandi: We sleep-walked through snow with Taylor Bridges, feeling his distress over the disappearance of his daughter Claire, his loneliness in the Tasmanian town of Glorys Crossing and fears when another little girl goes missing in The Crossing. What is Taylor involved with in The Falls?

Baz: Taylor was an accidental hero in The Crossing. An ordinary man – a park ranger – plunged into an extraordinary situation. In The Falls, he is a willing player, this time testing his own ability and boundaries.

Taylor believes his ghosts are in the past – until a raging forest fire in an isolated canyon of Eldritch Falls lays bare the remains of a young woman and a decade-old killing ground.

After the police enlist Taylor in their investigation, the evidence curiously points to a deranged preacher who reigned over The Falls a century ago. But when a crucial witness and a policewoman disappear, it’s clear that a disciple of The Falls’ dark history is on the loose.

Sandi: Taylor has been through tough times with Claire’s disappearance and events in The Crossing testing his marriage and arguably his sanity. How has he and his life changed as a result?

Baz: Recovering from the tragedy of Tasmania has no doubt tested Taylor, but he has come out of it a stronger person. Unfortunately, he finds that he still has to prove this to those who love him most, and he sees the Eldritch Falls murders as a place to demonstrate this. But when the killer comes too close for comfort, he finds himself wondering if this commitment wasn’t too soon.  

Sandi: Can you tell us how the storyline for The Falls came to you?

Baz: The environment plays an important driving influence in the Taylor Bridges series, as it has in my own life. When I was around fifteen, I stumbled upon an abandoned coal mine near Portland NSW where my grandmother lived. Unknown by my parents, I often disappeared to explore this place that overlooked a small lake just outside of town. It was very haunting, steeped with hints of its history, and overrun by the woodlands around it. When trying to explain the darkness in the mineshaft to a friend, I said it was a hungry darkness that seemed to swallow the light from my flashlight. I guess that was the genesis for The Falls.

Sandi: You live on a farm in an area described as “the hauntingly beautiful Southern Highlands of NSW” and have set Taylor’s books in the wilds of Tasmania and Victoria. How is environment your muse and why did you choose the particular locations for this series?

Baz: The word Environment has such a wide scope. We are all influenced by the environments that we choose to live in, but I think the most influential environment is the one we grew up in as children. In my case, it was the river lands between Penrith and Richmond and those majestic Blue Mountains that stand sentinel above them. The wilderness was my backyard, and it was the deeper darker places that compelled me most. I think it only natural that these places should influence my writing.

Sandi: Taylor is a quiet character outwardly, lumbered with baggage, yet with a big heart and conscience emotionally connects with readers, leaving us wanting more. Will he return in your upcoming books? Can you give us any hints about what comes next for Taylor Bridges or B Michael Radburn?

Baz: Interest in the franchise keeps growing. Both The Crossing and The Falls are available in hardcopy, eBooks and (just recently) talking books. I recently optioned the film rights for The Crossing, and am currently writing the screenplay with the director, so Taylor will be around in many mediums.

I have six books planed in the series, with scope for more if the interest from my readers remain strong. Book 3, The Reach, is set in the far reaches of The Hawksbury River when three withered bodies are found in the hull of a wrecked riverboat outside of the small logging town of Devlins Reach. I’m half way through the manuscript now and consider it the best story so far with the darkest antagonist to date. Taylor will be tested once again, but has learnt a few more tricks since his last cases. I’m really excited about The Reach.

Right, head over to Facebook and like and comment for your chance to win a copy of The Falls.

For more about B Michael Radburn, his books or upcoming events, please visit his publisher’s website here.