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Subterranean
'The past is my shadow, forever behind me.'
Cassie Belrose was used to looking over her shoulder. Running away was what she did best - away from a possessive husband who wants her back, running from city to city, from job to job, to stay one step ahead of him.
Daniel Woodsman is at home in the dark; in the abandoned railway tunnels below the city where the homeless veteran has built his life since his injuries had taken away more than just his confidence.
Fleeing the Suits dispatched by her husband to bring her home, Cassie enters Daniel's domain in the subway where their two worlds collide.
Together, can they stop running long enough to begin living again.
Cassie Belrose was used to looking over her shoulder. Running away was what she did best - away from a possessive husband who wants her back, running from city to city, from job to job, to stay one step ahead of him.
Daniel Woodsman is at home in the dark; in the abandoned railway tunnels below the city where the homeless veteran has built his life since his injuries had taken away more than just his confidence.
Fleeing the Suits dispatched by her husband to bring her home, Cassie enters Daniel's domain in the subway where their two worlds collide.
Together, can they stop running long enough to begin living again.
240 pages, Paperback
First published July 1, 2020
21 people want to read
About the author
B. Michael Radburn
15 books26 followersB. Michael Radburn lives with his family in the beautiful Southern Highlands of NSW. Although he works for a large printing group, in his spare time Radburn enjoys farming his small property and taking road trips on his Harley Davidson. Aside, of course, from writing, he possesses a deep passion for music and treasures the time he spends with his guitar, banjo and harmonica.
Radburn has been writing successfully for many years, having published more than 80 short stores, articles and reviews in Australia and overseas.
Through the late '80s he was Publishing Editor of the Australian Horror & Fantasy Magazine and founder of Dark Press Publications.
Radburn has won several Melbourne University Literary Awards and more recently was short-listed for the Henry Lawson Festival Awards.
The Crossing was his debut novel. His second novel is Blackwater Moon. Radburn is currently working on his next novel, currently titled The Falls.
Radburn has been writing successfully for many years, having published more than 80 short stores, articles and reviews in Australia and overseas.
Through the late '80s he was Publishing Editor of the Australian Horror & Fantasy Magazine and founder of Dark Press Publications.
Radburn has won several Melbourne University Literary Awards and more recently was short-listed for the Henry Lawson Festival Awards.
The Crossing was his debut novel. His second novel is Blackwater Moon. Radburn is currently working on his next novel, currently titled The Falls.
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
August 29, 2020
This was a quick fun read. I enjoyed the Sydney setting very much and the parts which take place in the tunnels were intriguing. There is a lot of action, some interesting characters, a slightly unusual romance and a very satisfying ending. All good.
This the third book I have read by this author and I have enjoyed all of them very much. Recommended.
This the third book I have read by this author and I have enjoyed all of them very much. Recommended.
August 26, 2020
B. Michael Radburn has written a wonderful allegorical tale of a young woman fleeing the evil forces that chase her into the underworld where she finds a safe haven.
The young woman is Cassie Belrose, who has been trying to stay one step ahead of her controlling husband and his henchmen and the underworld is the labyrinth of unused railway tunnels under Sydney. There she finds her rescuer, Daniel Woodsman, a returned soldier hiding from the world as he recovers from the physical and psychological damage he sustained in Afghanistan. Although she is safe from those who hunt her, hidden underground with Daniel, Cassie knows it can only be a brief respite and she must soon emerge and flee the city, but knows she may need to confront her demons before she is free.
I loved all the aspects of this story. The graffiti artist called Boo whose quotes start each chapter and seem to be sending a message to Cassie were a nice touch. The Sydney streets and parks are instantly recognisable and the tunnels under Sydney are fascinating, making for an inspired location for a man broken by war to hide and lick his wounds. Daniel is a lovely character, warm and generous despite his past. Cassie has also been damaged by her past and slow to trust but knows a good man when she sees one. Daniel's wonderful band of homeless veterans does much to highlight the plight of returned soldiers and our country's poor treatment of them. Overall, this was a treat to read and finished with a most satisfactory ending.
The young woman is Cassie Belrose, who has been trying to stay one step ahead of her controlling husband and his henchmen and the underworld is the labyrinth of unused railway tunnels under Sydney. There she finds her rescuer, Daniel Woodsman, a returned soldier hiding from the world as he recovers from the physical and psychological damage he sustained in Afghanistan. Although she is safe from those who hunt her, hidden underground with Daniel, Cassie knows it can only be a brief respite and she must soon emerge and flee the city, but knows she may need to confront her demons before she is free.
I loved all the aspects of this story. The graffiti artist called Boo whose quotes start each chapter and seem to be sending a message to Cassie were a nice touch. The Sydney streets and parks are instantly recognisable and the tunnels under Sydney are fascinating, making for an inspired location for a man broken by war to hide and lick his wounds. Daniel is a lovely character, warm and generous despite his past. Cassie has also been damaged by her past and slow to trust but knows a good man when she sees one. Daniel's wonderful band of homeless veterans does much to highlight the plight of returned soldiers and our country's poor treatment of them. Overall, this was a treat to read and finished with a most satisfactory ending.
June 19, 2020
Cassie Belrose was sick of running. But she had no choice. Her name changed, her address changed – but always the twins she called the Suits would find her, locating her for the husband she loathed. She was currently in Sydney, working in the Burns unit of a big hospital but on the way home from work this night, she spotted the Suits once again. Had they seen her? Would she escape this time?
Daniel Woodsman had been in the railway tunnels under the city for the past eighteen months, a veteran from Afghanistan who had made his home in the silence and freedom of the tunnels, his lack of confidence after the horrors of the war keeping him company along with the quotes from "To Kill a Mockingbird", namely Boo. The night he met Cassie was the night both of their lives would change…
Subterranean is the latest novel by Aussie author B. Michael Radburn and it was breathtakingly brilliant. Cassie and Daniel’s characters are so well crafted, it felt like I knew them. The streets of Sydney, with Hyde Park easily recognisable, the railway stations – and those tunnels! The storyline is unique; I raced through the pages, unable to put it down. Subterranean is one I highly recommend.
With thanks to Atlas Publishing for my ARC to read in exchange for an honest review.
Daniel Woodsman had been in the railway tunnels under the city for the past eighteen months, a veteran from Afghanistan who had made his home in the silence and freedom of the tunnels, his lack of confidence after the horrors of the war keeping him company along with the quotes from "To Kill a Mockingbird", namely Boo. The night he met Cassie was the night both of their lives would change…
Subterranean is the latest novel by Aussie author B. Michael Radburn and it was breathtakingly brilliant. Cassie and Daniel’s characters are so well crafted, it felt like I knew them. The streets of Sydney, with Hyde Park easily recognisable, the railway stations – and those tunnels! The storyline is unique; I raced through the pages, unable to put it down. Subterranean is one I highly recommend.
With thanks to Atlas Publishing for my ARC to read in exchange for an honest review.
June 26, 2020
Subterranean is a stand-alone novella by award-winning Australian author, B. Michael Radburn. When Cassie Belrose wakes, bandaged, rested, in a small room somewhere in Sydney's underground railway, her first instinct is to get out, to get back to her flat. But then she remembers the events of the previous night, and understands that the safety it represented is gone.
Over the last year, Cassie has been relentlessly pursued across the breadth of the country by the Suits, twin minions of her rich, influential and connected husband, Jeremy Carter. With the benefit of hindsight, Cassie recalls numerous aspects of Jeremy’s behaviour, early in their relationship, that should have rung alarm bells about his controlling nature, but she was overwhelmed by his charm and, perhaps too, his money.
During her most recent, and probably most menacing, encounter with this ruthless pair, she’d been rescued by an unknown man. Before long she realises that, in this place, so foreign to all she knows, she feels safer than she has done in her months on the run: it feels like a sanctuary.
She has dubbed her enigmatic, reticent rescuer Mr Nobody: piercing blue eyes above a scarf hiding facial scarring betray an unspoken tragedy in his past, but he is clearly extremely capable, judging from the place he inhabits. Cassie is intrigued: why is he hiding down here?
She realises, of course, that this respite must be temporary, but she’s so tired of running. Could she learn to trust this man, to accept his help? And what power could the two of them possibly wield against her husband?
In Subterranean, Radburn gives the reader a riveting little tale. The present-day narrative is bookended by the start and end of the fable-like story of a noble princess persecuted by an evil prince. The wise and, for Cassie, often pertinent, epigraphs of a graffiti artist tagging as Boo, precede each chapter, and the text enhanced with evocative illustrations by Marco Ferraccioni.
The main setting, the hidden tunnels below Sydney’s streets, is utterly fascinating and very well rendered, while the descriptions of the city streets will resonate with any readers who know Sydney even a little. As well as the domestic abuse angle, the story highlights the many veterans of war and armed conflict who fall through the inadequate net of support the government currently provides. This is fiction that grabs the reader from page one and doesn’t let go.
This unbiased review is from a copy provided by Atlas Productions.
Over the last year, Cassie has been relentlessly pursued across the breadth of the country by the Suits, twin minions of her rich, influential and connected husband, Jeremy Carter. With the benefit of hindsight, Cassie recalls numerous aspects of Jeremy’s behaviour, early in their relationship, that should have rung alarm bells about his controlling nature, but she was overwhelmed by his charm and, perhaps too, his money.
During her most recent, and probably most menacing, encounter with this ruthless pair, she’d been rescued by an unknown man. Before long she realises that, in this place, so foreign to all she knows, she feels safer than she has done in her months on the run: it feels like a sanctuary.
She has dubbed her enigmatic, reticent rescuer Mr Nobody: piercing blue eyes above a scarf hiding facial scarring betray an unspoken tragedy in his past, but he is clearly extremely capable, judging from the place he inhabits. Cassie is intrigued: why is he hiding down here?
She realises, of course, that this respite must be temporary, but she’s so tired of running. Could she learn to trust this man, to accept his help? And what power could the two of them possibly wield against her husband?
In Subterranean, Radburn gives the reader a riveting little tale. The present-day narrative is bookended by the start and end of the fable-like story of a noble princess persecuted by an evil prince. The wise and, for Cassie, often pertinent, epigraphs of a graffiti artist tagging as Boo, precede each chapter, and the text enhanced with evocative illustrations by Marco Ferraccioni.
The main setting, the hidden tunnels below Sydney’s streets, is utterly fascinating and very well rendered, while the descriptions of the city streets will resonate with any readers who know Sydney even a little. As well as the domestic abuse angle, the story highlights the many veterans of war and armed conflict who fall through the inadequate net of support the government currently provides. This is fiction that grabs the reader from page one and doesn’t let go.
This unbiased review is from a copy provided by Atlas Productions.
July 14, 2020
Aussie author and Carpe Librum favourite B. Michael Radburn is back with Subterranean; a story about a woman on the run after leaving an abusive relationship and a homeless Army veteran living in the abandoned train tunnels beneath Sydney's streets. Cassie is being pursued by twins hired by her husband who put me immediately in mind of the twin brothers Leonel and Marco Salamanca from Breaking Bad.
Daniel is trying to recover from the physical and emotional trauma experienced in Afghanistan and when these two flawed characters meet, the reader can't resist hoping they will find a way to help each other.
Subterranean is a novella and a quick read, however the presentation in smaller format paperback, large font and with the inclusion of several illustrations gave me the immediate impression this was a YA novel. This stand alone novella can easily be read by a YA audience, but it's a confusing presentation of an adult novella in my opinion. The shadowy cover design captures the feel of the story perfectly and I could easily have done without the illustrations and large print.
As with his Taylor Bridges series, Radburn does an excellent job of bringing Australian characters to life and describing the Australian landscape. In Subterranean he convincingly captures Sydney's urban and underground environment and the pips of the ABC Radio News broadcasts were a very nice touch.
Highlighting the plight of our own homeless veterans and the lack of services from the Department of Veterans' Affairs in this novella was an added bonus and as a fellow veteran, I hope this helps shine a light on this important and ongoing issue.
However, Subterranean's ending was the real highlight for me. It was an unexpected climax I didn't realise we were working towards and which provided a very satisfying end to the story. A great read!
* Copy courtesy of Atlas Productions *
Daniel is trying to recover from the physical and emotional trauma experienced in Afghanistan and when these two flawed characters meet, the reader can't resist hoping they will find a way to help each other.
Subterranean is a novella and a quick read, however the presentation in smaller format paperback, large font and with the inclusion of several illustrations gave me the immediate impression this was a YA novel. This stand alone novella can easily be read by a YA audience, but it's a confusing presentation of an adult novella in my opinion. The shadowy cover design captures the feel of the story perfectly and I could easily have done without the illustrations and large print.
As with his Taylor Bridges series, Radburn does an excellent job of bringing Australian characters to life and describing the Australian landscape. In Subterranean he convincingly captures Sydney's urban and underground environment and the pips of the ABC Radio News broadcasts were a very nice touch.
Highlighting the plight of our own homeless veterans and the lack of services from the Department of Veterans' Affairs in this novella was an added bonus and as a fellow veteran, I hope this helps shine a light on this important and ongoing issue.
However, Subterranean's ending was the real highlight for me. It was an unexpected climax I didn't realise we were working towards and which provided a very satisfying end to the story. A great read!
* Copy courtesy of Atlas Productions *
July 4, 2020
More in my next Good Reads blog at www.sandiwallace.com/blog/.
August 22, 2020
This was a red hot mess of a read. I wanted to like it but it was just terrible, from beginning to end.
The characters were not fleshed out very well, despite their background stories being potentially compelling and the “villains” were soap opera cliches. Key plot points were rushed over - probably because they were so ridiculous they couldn’t be explained properly.
The timeline doesn’t even stack up. Cassie met her husband while jogging in Perth listening to a Taylor Swift song from 2014. Somehow they were married so long she still has a groove in her skin from where her wedding ring had been and had been on the run for a long time and had lived in Adelaide and Melbourne before the story taking place in Sydney in “winter 2015”.
But the worst part is this is a classic example of when a male writer tries to write a female character and gets it hopelessly wrong. The character’s voice. The actions she takes. Romanticising stalking. A 29 year old woman in 2015 who is interested in General Macarthur’s corn cob pipe to the point it is referenced several times. A woman whose internal monologue gratingly addresses herself as “girl” constantly for the first few chapters but then stops doing so in the remainder.
It is a short read. I picked it up based on the ratings here in Goodreads and couldn’t believe what I was reading. Save yourself the couple of hours.
The characters were not fleshed out very well, despite their background stories being potentially compelling and the “villains” were soap opera cliches. Key plot points were rushed over - probably because they were so ridiculous they couldn’t be explained properly.
The timeline doesn’t even stack up. Cassie met her husband while jogging in Perth listening to a Taylor Swift song from 2014. Somehow they were married so long she still has a groove in her skin from where her wedding ring had been and had been on the run for a long time and had lived in Adelaide and Melbourne before the story taking place in Sydney in “winter 2015”.
But the worst part is this is a classic example of when a male writer tries to write a female character and gets it hopelessly wrong. The character’s voice. The actions she takes. Romanticising stalking. A 29 year old woman in 2015 who is interested in General Macarthur’s corn cob pipe to the point it is referenced several times. A woman whose internal monologue gratingly addresses herself as “girl” constantly for the first few chapters but then stops doing so in the remainder.
It is a short read. I picked it up based on the ratings here in Goodreads and couldn’t believe what I was reading. Save yourself the couple of hours.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 2, 2020
A fast-paced and immensely readable story that kept me hooked. The story is prefaced and concluded by a charming allegorical fairy-tale. Cassie is a totally relatable character, as is Daniel. He is both an enigmatic and interesting character who we gradually come to understand. There is enough gritty realism to make the story authentic. It makes one think about the fate of those veterans traumatised by their service. I was provided with a free copy of the book by the publisher but was not obligated to write a review.
August 18, 2023
Such an enjoyable read. I loved the main characters and the relationship that built between them. The trust that was built, then lost and rebuilt. A simple, engaging novella.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews