Heartland

How a lonely child came to fall in love with a monster

When he was five, Neil’s mother walked out of the family home. Two years later she returned with a new man; Derek Cross. His new stepfather prided himself on being an exemplary parent, kind, patient, never too tired to read him stories. Neil loved him. Yet underneath lurked another Derek Cross – a monster: conman, adulterer, liar, racist and a cold-hearted manipulator.

‘Moving and engrossing . . . Heartland is a tour de force’
Daily Mail

Shortlisted for the 2006 PEN/Ackerly Prize for literary autobiography

‘A wonderful memoir . . . a great example of how to wrest real life into a work of art’
Jonathan Coe, Guardian

‘The most disturbingly vivid fast-track into childhood’s unexpressed hugeness, that I have come across . . . fiction cannot compete with this’
Joanna Murray-Smith, Melbourne Age

‘Every morning, first thing, Derek Cross used to beat the dog. He liked things neat, and dogs like the one he had given his stepson, the author of this remarkable memoir, mess things up . . . Cross has given his own life story the shapeliness and ironic depth of fiction’
Sunday Times

‘Straight from the heart. Quite simply it cannot be faulted’
Big Issue

‘It is the relentless prosecution  of Derek that truly ignites the book . . . The way Cross puts the authorial boot in, tears shining in his eyes, is riveting’
Independent on Sundayread the full review

‘Moving and engrossing . . . Heartland is a tour de force’
Daily Mail

Heartland was shortlisted for the PEN/Ackerley Prize for literary autobiography 2006

Luther - Series 1

...the actors' skill - and Cross' admirable ability to explore his characters' boundaries without either calcifying or forsaking them - allows "Luther" to be superhuman in both the ordinary and extraordinary sense.

Los Angeles Times

Luther - Series 2

“Gritty, brooding, emotionally raw . . . whatever you call it, Luther is powerful TV.”

San Francisco Chronicle

Luther - Series 3

It gets darker, scarier and more captivating with each episode as Luther matches wits with killers and cops alike . . . the outstanding Elba broods like no other actor, and adds nuance to the series beyond the excellent writing of series creator Neil Cross and his team

Sunday Mirror