Turns up, gangster crosses river near motorway with hunter - that's one for the books (6)
I believe the answer is:
nimrod
'turns up gangster crosses river' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this definition defines the answer.
'near motorway with hunter that's one for the books' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'motorway' could be 'm' and 'm' is present in the answer.
'one' could be 'i' (Roman numeral) and 'i' is found in the answer.
'near' could be 'nr' (abbreviation used in addresses) and 'nr' is located in the remaining letters.
The remaining letters 'od' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This may be the basis of clue (or it may be nonsense).
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for nimrod that I've seen before include "Antarctic summit" , "'Mighty Biblical ruler, builder of the Tower of Babel (6)'" , "Mighty hunter of Genesis" , "OT hunter" , "Mighty Biblical ruler, said to have built Tower of Babel" .)