Broken Road

'There's going to be a crusade. A boy came to the cathedral and preached. He's going to lead a crusade of children. And we'll take Jerusalem because we're innocent, we're closer to God. We'll be soldiers for Christ.'Rufus is an apprentice in his father's goldsmith workshop in Cologne, Gemany. One day he hears a boy, Nick, preach in the city centre. Nick's message and words are mesmerising and Rufus is spellbound. He is overcome with the desire to follow the flawed yet charismatic young Crusade leader on his journey to the Holy Land. And Rufus is not alone. Many children are captivated just as Rufus is, and leave their homes and families having fallen under Nick's spell. But what begins as a journey of innocence turns, terribly, into a journey of sorrow and despair.An extraordinary tale based on a historical event that has resonated through the ages.

Praise for B.R. Collins: A writer of real power, Praise for The Traitor Game: A wonderfully gripping book for teenagers . . . Brain food that's well worth feeding to your teenage boys - and stealing from them afterwards, Praise for A Trick of the Dark: A multilayered, metaphysical thriller . . . dark, uneasy and extraordinary, Praise for Tyme's End: From the moment we see Oliver's grandfather in thrall to Jack, watching as the older man pulls the legs and antennae from a beautiful green beetle and places it back in the grass, it's impossible to put the book down

B.R. (Bridget) Collins is a graduate of both university and drama school. Her first novel, The Traitor Game, won the Branford Boase Award in 2009. Her other books for Bloomsbury are A Trick of the Dark and Gamerunner. Bridget lives in Tunbridge Wells, Kent.http://www.jugjugjug.blogspot.co.uk/