Rating: 
Summary: Brilliant
Review: Pat Barker's portrait of young murderer Danny Miller is nearly flawless. This is a disciplined, tight, wonderfully controlled novel in which Barker's skills include her ability to conjure up powerful images in very few words, flawless dialog & excellent character portraits. A good story is told in a very short space, making it a quick (& difficult to put down) read. There's a cultural issue that might make the novel a bit less credible to U.S. readers: it's true that in Britain young murderers can be released quite quickly & when they are, they are given new identities. So far as I know, this never happens in the U.S. & the prevailing social sentiment would seem to be against it. Actually, though, it's of course a very humane if risky & experimental approach. Barker's novel couldn't be more relevant in Britain at present: two boys (Robert Thompson & Jon Venables) are being released under new identities after being held in custody for the 1993 murder of 2-year-old James Bulger. The issues surrounding their release (threats of violent vengeance, questions of reform, an out-of-control media frenzy) are identical to those surrounding Danny Miller. ... I've spent more than two years working on a non-fiction book about a group of young killers & this included lengthy interviews with several members of the group, including the ringleader, & based on this, Barker's depiction of Danny is brilliant. She must've done considerable & thorough research to have some of the nuances down. ... My only quibble is the idea Danny doesn't remember two key events in the book (I won't spoil it by saying too much) is silly. People can be shocked after committing a serious crime, but I don't personally believe that they are unaware of what they're doing at the time &, more to the point, it isn't convincingly done in the novel. It just comes across as silly the two times Danny zones out. ... Despite that, this is brilliant & a must-read for true crime enthusiasts, those interested in juvenile crime & people pondering issues of punishment, reform, rehabilitation and the ability (or not) to change.
Rating: 
Summary: Psychological thriller
Review: The only other Pat Barker novels I've read were those of the Regeneration trilogy, and it's easy to recognize her style in "Border Crossing", once again the reader is taken into the intimate relationship between a psychologist and his patient. This one does not have the same scope as the trilogy, really just a novella or extra long short story with only 216 pages, a page turning psychological thriller that's easy to read in a night..
One day while walking by a river Tom witnesses an accident and rescues a man from drowning. Coincidentally this man turns out to be Danny, a child murderer now released who once was evaluated by Tom to judge if he was fit to stand trial in an adult court. Tom decides to begin therapy sessions with Danny to help him understand his past, and more questions are raised than answered. Readers that like nice clear cut endings might be disappointed with this, what is good and what is evil are very ambiguous in this story; and certainly will give pause for thought about child criminals, especially children who kill.
I gave this a 4 star rating because of the plot line involving his wife - while interesting this was somewhat disconnected from the story. The ending has been left wide open for a sequel and I wouldn't mind hearing what becomes of Danny Miller.
Rating:
Summary: Awesome!
Review: This book reads like an awesome psychological journey! It brings you through so many emotions, and even after you finish reading it...The charcters stick with you.
Rating:
Summary: A Psychologically Engaging Novel
Review: This engaging and very readable novel explores the inner life of a psychologist, Tom Seymour. Tom is trying to cope with the possible break-up of his marriage when he is visited by a figure from his past, Danny Miller. More than a decade earlier, Tom testified in court that Danny understood the difference between right and wrong and therefore was fit to stand trial as an adult. In the electrifying opening chapter, Tom meets the adult Danny, and is subsequently forced to consider the extent to which he may have contributed to Danny's problems. The book explores themes including trust, betrayal, what we owe to other human beings, and the consequences of our actions. The title has multiple layers of meaning, but clearly one of the borders that fascinates Barker here, as it did in the _Regeneration_ trilogy, is the border between psychologist and patient. How much of a barrier should Tom draw between himself and Danny? What are the consequences if Danny crosses that border? Is there a danger in being too close to someone like Danny, even if one has the best of intentions? Finally, how different is Tom from Danny? Is there a little bit of cruelty in all children, all people? Although this novel touches on a hot button issue--children and punishment--it steadfastly resists plot cliches. Danny Miller is a complex, enigmatic, intelligent, untrustworthy, yet at times movingly vulnerable character. The novel is all the stronger for refusing to reduce him to the role of either victim or monster.
Rating:
Summary: Border Crossing - A compelling read
Review: This is an easy, compelling read from start to finish. Engaging characters, take you through the story of a boy murder ( or is he) and that of his psychologist. At the time the author makes one thinks about wider issues, of capacity, morality, and moral responsility. When someone serves time in prison, what is a good outcome, what should we expect from them and from those around them. If these themes sound a little heavy - worry not, Barkers fluent style and ability to keep us guessing, mean that you wont want to put this book down.
Rating: 
Summary: Alright...
Review: This was a good psychology lesson, but nothing else. I got it from the library 'cause I liked the cover. It was alright, but I wouldn't put it on my list of favorite books.
Rating:
Summary: Shades of the Past
Review: To be haunted by the ghost of someone dead is a disconcerting enough experience, but the ramifications of a haunting by the living are far more immediate and potentially devastating. Tom Seymour, the protaganist of Pat Barker's nuanced novel "Border Crossing" is a renowned psychologist with a failing marriage whose past comes back to him when he rescues a former patient from a possible suicide attempt. But even as he drags the young man half-dead from the ocean, the questions bubble to the surface. Was this a chance meeting? Or had the patient, whom Tom had treated a decade before as part of the legal team prosecuting a young boy for a brutal murder, come back into his life with some kind of sinister purpose? Answers are elusive as the Tom relives his past, and examines his own culpability in the unravelling of the boy's life. His search for the truth about Danny, a boy who grew to manhood with the shadow of a murder conviction over his head, plays out over the backdrop of Tom's divorce and the questioning of many of the fundamental beliefs of his life. The facts he uncovers, and those he doesn't, give him insight into his own life that seems more necessary than welcome. If mysteries are the most compelling stories, and people the most complex mysteries, than Pat Barker has created a small masterpiece here. The author puts forward Tom's frustration and obsession with subtle skill, as the puzzle of Danny's persona eludes a solution like a Rubik's cube. Each approach to the truth thwarted starts Tom down a different road, one with new, and possibly more dangerous, consequences. For such a small book there's much substance here. The writing is gentle and accessible, evenly paced, graced with subtle and thoughtful innuendo. Barker gives us just enough about Danny in the end, not to think we've answered every question, but to imagine we're asking the right ones.
Rating:
Summary: Shades of the Past
Review: To be haunted by the ghost of someone dead is a disconcerting enough experience, but the ramifications of a haunting by the living are far more immediate and potentially devastating. Tom Seymour, the protaganist of Pat Barker's nuanced novel "Border Crossing" is a renowned psychologist with a failing marriage whose past comes back to him when he rescues a former patient from a possible suicide attempt. But even as he drags the young man half-dead from the ocean, the questions bubble to the surface. Was this a chance meeting? Or had the patient, whom Tom had treated a decade before as part of the legal team prosecuting a young boy for a brutal murder, come back into his life with some kind of sinister purpose? Answers are elusive as the Tom relives his past, and examines his own culpability in the unravelling of the boy's life. His search for the truth about Danny, a boy who grew to manhood with the shadow of a murder conviction over his head, plays out over the backdrop of Tom's divorce and the questioning of many of the fundamental beliefs of his life. The facts he uncovers, and those he doesn't, give him insight into his own life that seems more necessary than welcome. If mysteries are the most compelling stories, and people the most complex mysteries, than Pat Barker has created a small masterpiece here. The author puts forward Tom's frustration and obsession with subtle skill, as the puzzle of Danny's persona eludes a solution like a Rubik's cube. Each approach to the truth thwarted starts Tom down a different road, one with new, and possibly more dangerous, consequences. For such a small book there's much substance here. The writing is gentle and accessible, evenly paced, graced with subtle and thoughtful innuendo. Barker gives us just enough about Danny in the end, not to think we've answered every question, but to imagine we're asking the right ones.
Rating:
Summary: "Regeneration" revamped
Review: When child psychologist Tom Seymour pulls a would-be suicide from a river, he recognises the young man as Danny Miller, the child whom Tom's assessment had helped imprison for the brutal murder of an old woman thirteen years ago. Now out of prison and supposedly starting a new life, Danny has hunted Tom down in the hope that he might be able to help him understand the killing. With his own life troubled and his marriage collapsing, Tom succumbs to the temptation to travel into Danny's past. The problem is that what he finds there is not particularly riveting, and certainly not unusual enough to account for an act which society regards with horror as completely beyond the boundaries of "normality". Unlike, say, Peter Shaffer's "Equus", when Danny finally remembers the murder there is little depth, no sense of climax, no sense of a mystery unravelled, not even much horror. The novel sets up the idea of a journey into the mind of an outcast, the child who kills, but never lives up to what it promises. The second problem is the characterisation. Danny Miller is a pale reworking of Billy Prior, Barker's brilliant creation in "Regeneration", complete with Prior's unpleasant father, manipulative charm and "wintry smile", but nowhere near as interesting (especially once you recognise him as Prior). Tom isn't even a shadow of "Regeneration"'s Dr Rivers, and there is even less substance to the supporting cast, his wife, his colleagues, and the people whose lives Danny has passed through. Although there are hints that there will be trouble between Tom and Danny, since Danny seems to blame Tom for his imprisonment and is renowned for getting people who deal with him to "cross the invisible line", the relationship barely develops, again being a lack-lustre echo of the intense but still professional relationship between Rivers and Prior. Barker is capable of extraordinary writing, as evidenced in her superb "Regeneration" trilogy, a remarkable exploration of people who kill and what it does to their psyches. It's a pity that she seems to have been rewriting it ever since.
Rating:
Summary: A Dubious Meeting
Review: While psychologist Tom Seymour and his wife were walking alongside the river, trying to find a way to save their marriage, they came across a young man who swallowed a bottle of pills before throwing himself in the water. Barely thinking, Tom dived in to save the man. He later realises that he knows the man he saved as Danny Miller. In fact, it was his expert testimony that helped to convict Danny, who was 10 years old at the time, of murder. So, was it fate or coincidence that their paths should cross again in such dramatic circumstances? It turns out that Danny is very keen to talk to Tom about the crime he was charged and convicted for. He blames Tom for convincing the jury of his guilt. The rest of the book then deals with the circumstances leading up to the murder, what Danny was like as a child and how he dealt with his childhood incarceration. Ultimately, the truth about the murder is revealed. However, the journey towards this destination is not a particularly eventful one. Apart from Danny's admissions towards the end of the book, there was not a lot that grabbed my attention.
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