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3.75 AVERAGE
3.75 AVERAGE
Not my fave Christian White but it was good. I enjoyed the satanic panic story line - I thought it was well written and highlighted the true panic in the 80s/90s.
The ending was just straight up heartbreaking. It made me so sad - I had seen one of the twists coming, but the other really got me.
The ending was just straight up heartbreaking. It made me so sad - I had seen one of the twists coming, but the other really got me.
Good easy to read thriller! I picked up a few of the things early on but still a goodie.
TW: death, mental health, drug use.
Christian White has done it again! Another book where I sit there and try to pick apart with a fine tooth comb and the twist just gets me! I don't know how he does it, but gosh he is such a mastermind at plot twists!
This book seemed so eerily familiar, set in the late 80's in suburban leafy Melbourne and mirrored some of my own upbringing. I find that because of these familiar settings, I connect with the story so deeply and get sucked in and lost in the world almost immediately.
This book focuses on a missing teenager, and the local town becoming super slueths and putting their two cents worth in as they play the game of "whodunnit". School teacher Tom feels that he has the key to the mystery and connects with the missing girl's father to become vigilantes to solve the crime, but the deeper they dig, do they become closer, or further from the truth? Another great read and can't wait to grab my hands on whatever Christian White writes next!
Christian White has done it again! Another book where I sit there and try to pick apart with a fine tooth comb and the twist just gets me! I don't know how he does it, but gosh he is such a mastermind at plot twists!
This book seemed so eerily familiar, set in the late 80's in suburban leafy Melbourne and mirrored some of my own upbringing. I find that because of these familiar settings, I connect with the story so deeply and get sucked in and lost in the world almost immediately.
This book focuses on a missing teenager, and the local town becoming super slueths and putting their two cents worth in as they play the game of "whodunnit". School teacher Tom feels that he has the key to the mystery and connects with the missing girl's father to become vigilantes to solve the crime, but the deeper they dig, do they become closer, or further from the truth? Another great read and can't wait to grab my hands on whatever Christian White writes next!
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Christian White is fast becoming one of my favourite Aussie authors! What a great read. The characters and the writing are so engaging. I love a crime/mystery where you really do not know who did it until the last minute. Could not put it down.
Disappointed by this book. The scenario seemed so improbable I couldn't engage.
A teenage girl goes missing and most people think she has just run away from home but Tom Witter, local school teacher, is convinced that there is more to the story than that. School is on summer break, so he has time on his hands.
He has two sons and the son of a local neighbour - Sean - has become a goth and an outcast in the community. Tom discovers that on the night of the girl's disappearance his youngest son and Sean were conducting a seance in the local 'Wild Place' woods nearby. As a result, Tom researches about satanic rituals and pentatonic symbols and becomes obsessed.
A Neighbourhood Watch meeting is called to discuss the situation and Tom accuses Sean of being involved in the disappearance of the missing girl and everyone gets very agitated. The father of the girl - Owen - is present at the meeting. Tom and Owen go to confront Sean at his home - and there unfolds a crazy roller-coaster of a story - much of which is so incredible it lost me.
A teenage girl goes missing and most people think she has just run away from home but Tom Witter, local school teacher, is convinced that there is more to the story than that. School is on summer break, so he has time on his hands.
He has two sons and the son of a local neighbour - Sean - has become a goth and an outcast in the community. Tom discovers that on the night of the girl's disappearance his youngest son and Sean were conducting a seance in the local 'Wild Place' woods nearby. As a result, Tom researches about satanic rituals and pentatonic symbols and becomes obsessed.
A Neighbourhood Watch meeting is called to discuss the situation and Tom accuses Sean of being involved in the disappearance of the missing girl and everyone gets very agitated. The father of the girl - Owen - is present at the meeting. Tom and Owen go to confront Sean at his home - and there unfolds a crazy roller-coaster of a story - much of which is so incredible it lost me.
Christian White is officially my favourite author. All 3 books have wowed me. I did not see the twists in this book coming. I honestly struggled to get into the book however preserved due to love the other books so much. Worth it! Highly recommend to anyone, especially those who enjoyed ‘The Nowhere Child’ and ‘The Wife and the Widow’.
‘Somewhere along the way, something had gone wrong.’
December 1989, Camp Hill, Victoria. Seventeen-year-old Tracie Reed goes missing. The police think she is just another runaway who will turn up in a couple of days. But neither her mother Nancy, nor her father Owen, believe that. The Reeds are divorcing and while that has unsettled Tracie, neither of them thinks she has run away.
Camp Hill is a small suburb, the kind of neighbourhood where most neighbours know each other. There is an active neighbourhood watch, and no shortage of people who observe those around them. Oil leaks under cars, missing garden gnomes are important topics of conversation, as are rumours about satanic rituals. When Tracie goes missing, other parents are concerned. Teenagers are told not to venture into the Wild Place, the community forest behind several homes (including Tracie Reed’s).
When the Keel Street Neighbourhood Watch meets after Tracie’s disappearance, local schoolteacher, Tom Witter, married father of two sons, is tasked with posting missing person flyers. Tom is surprised that both his sons claim only vague knowledge of Tracie, but he quickly becomes focussed on a local youth. Tom and Tracie’s father Owen go on a hunt of their own which will not end well.
The search for Tracie puts this small suburban community under the microscope. Everyone, it seems, has something to hide. An old school friend of Tom’s, Detective Sharon Guffey, becomes involved in the case, bringing back memories for both.
There are plenty of twists and quite a few surprises as this story moves to its conclusion. While a couple of aspects can be figured out fairly easily, I was surprised by the final twist.
This is Mr White’s third novel, and the second I have read. Highly recommended.
Note: My thanks to NetGalley and Affirm Press for providing me with a free electronic copy of this book for review purposes.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
December 1989, Camp Hill, Victoria. Seventeen-year-old Tracie Reed goes missing. The police think she is just another runaway who will turn up in a couple of days. But neither her mother Nancy, nor her father Owen, believe that. The Reeds are divorcing and while that has unsettled Tracie, neither of them thinks she has run away.
Camp Hill is a small suburb, the kind of neighbourhood where most neighbours know each other. There is an active neighbourhood watch, and no shortage of people who observe those around them. Oil leaks under cars, missing garden gnomes are important topics of conversation, as are rumours about satanic rituals. When Tracie goes missing, other parents are concerned. Teenagers are told not to venture into the Wild Place, the community forest behind several homes (including Tracie Reed’s).
When the Keel Street Neighbourhood Watch meets after Tracie’s disappearance, local schoolteacher, Tom Witter, married father of two sons, is tasked with posting missing person flyers. Tom is surprised that both his sons claim only vague knowledge of Tracie, but he quickly becomes focussed on a local youth. Tom and Tracie’s father Owen go on a hunt of their own which will not end well.
The search for Tracie puts this small suburban community under the microscope. Everyone, it seems, has something to hide. An old school friend of Tom’s, Detective Sharon Guffey, becomes involved in the case, bringing back memories for both.
There are plenty of twists and quite a few surprises as this story moves to its conclusion. While a couple of aspects can be figured out fairly easily, I was surprised by the final twist.
This is Mr White’s third novel, and the second I have read. Highly recommended.
Note: My thanks to NetGalley and Affirm Press for providing me with a free electronic copy of this book for review purposes.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith