Southern Cross was one of those books that you want your time back after reading it. The story line reaches and stretches to make everything come together. I feel that all of the characters (adult and young alike) have this awkward teenage angsty feel about them. I understand that a writer can take some liberty in writing a book, but too much, and the book just stinks. This book in my opinion, stinks. I would relate it to one of those late night "B" movies that you start watching because you can't sleep, and before you know it, you continue watching the movie, just to see how foolish and outlandish it will get. And then you realize that it is 4 in the morning, and you should have been asleep hours ago, knowing that you'll regret having stayed up so late wasting your time. This is how I feel about this book.