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3.75 AVERAGE
3.75 AVERAGE
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
"Most of all, he felt surprised. The fear and guilt and shame were real and deep, but they were already starting to fade... In their place, he felt the stirrings of something else: freedom."
Wild Place is set on the cusp of 1990 in suburban Melbourne, three weeks after the disappearance of teenager Tracie Reed. Did she run away or did something more sinister happen?
Wild Place is a wild ride - like you'd expect anything else from the one and only Christian White. White is an expert at writing fast-paced suspense novels that aim to shock. He masterfully unfolds the plot in a way that keeps you on the edge of your seat, guessing until the last pages (literally in this case, because of THAT heart-stopping epilogue).
His characters are always such ordinary Australians who are never inherently evil. As the book tagline questions: "Why do good people do bad things?" White did a great job with the book's setting as well, making me feel like I was in Melbourne suburbia in the last days of the 1980s too.
Honestly, I don't know what else to say other than if you enjoy compelling and suspenseful thrillers that you won't forget long after you turn the last page, then I encourage you to read Wild Place (and Christian White's other books as well).
Thank you so much to Affirm Press and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for this honest review.
Wild Place is set on the cusp of 1990 in suburban Melbourne, three weeks after the disappearance of teenager Tracie Reed. Did she run away or did something more sinister happen?
Wild Place is a wild ride - like you'd expect anything else from the one and only Christian White. White is an expert at writing fast-paced suspense novels that aim to shock. He masterfully unfolds the plot in a way that keeps you on the edge of your seat, guessing until the last pages (literally in this case, because of THAT heart-stopping epilogue).
His characters are always such ordinary Australians who are never inherently evil. As the book tagline questions: "Why do good people do bad things?" White did a great job with the book's setting as well, making me feel like I was in Melbourne suburbia in the last days of the 1980s too.
Honestly, I don't know what else to say other than if you enjoy compelling and suspenseful thrillers that you won't forget long after you turn the last page, then I encourage you to read Wild Place (and Christian White's other books as well).
Thank you so much to Affirm Press and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for this honest review.
I loved White’s latest novel.
It was well-developed for the most part but I do feel it lacked in actually discussing the purpose of the Satanic cults. I feel it was lumped in there for an extra hashtag point.
The characterisations were wonderful and the ending held its own. I wasn’t desperate to breeze through the end.
I definitely feel White is making his name engrained in Australian fiction.
It was well-developed for the most part but I do feel it lacked in actually discussing the purpose of the Satanic cults. I feel it was lumped in there for an extra hashtag point.
The characterisations were wonderful and the ending held its own. I wasn’t desperate to breeze through the end.
I definitely feel White is making his name engrained in Australian fiction.
Suburbia.
Family.
Safety.
Community.
When 17 year old Tracie Reed vanishes just after Christmas in 1989, it’s assumed she’s run away. Met a young man, or taken some time out to deal with her parents impending divorce. But local English Teacher Tom Witter can’t get Tracie Reed and her disappearance out of his head.
Wild Place describes an area behind suburban houses which really resonated with me. There was a huge paddock in the middle of the block where I grew up. From the street you couldn’t see it, but it backed onto houses around the whole block. As children we would play there for hours in amongst the trees. As kids it was a secret world. We thought it was adventurous and dangerous. We thought people couldn’t see us or find us.
WILD PLACE relies on this premise. Some of the neighbours devil worship and satanism might be at play, lurking within the shadows, and the strongest suspect is one of Tracie’s 18 year old neighbours. WILD PLACE considers the age-old assumption that only bad people do bad things as it digs beneath the community’s lies and deceptions. It’s a multi-POV story that’s gripping, intense, and dark. Particularly in its acknowledgement of the reality that sometimes the most dangerous places are the ones we know best, inhabited by the people we think we can trust.
WILD PLACE is the third book by Australian author Christian White. His previous books THE NOWHERE CHILD and THE WIFE AND THE WIDOW are books I recommend frequently. I’ll continue the trend with WILD PLACE because I think this is his best.
Family.
Safety.
Community.
When 17 year old Tracie Reed vanishes just after Christmas in 1989, it’s assumed she’s run away. Met a young man, or taken some time out to deal with her parents impending divorce. But local English Teacher Tom Witter can’t get Tracie Reed and her disappearance out of his head.
Wild Place describes an area behind suburban houses which really resonated with me. There was a huge paddock in the middle of the block where I grew up. From the street you couldn’t see it, but it backed onto houses around the whole block. As children we would play there for hours in amongst the trees. As kids it was a secret world. We thought it was adventurous and dangerous. We thought people couldn’t see us or find us.
WILD PLACE relies on this premise. Some of the neighbours devil worship and satanism might be at play, lurking within the shadows, and the strongest suspect is one of Tracie’s 18 year old neighbours. WILD PLACE considers the age-old assumption that only bad people do bad things as it digs beneath the community’s lies and deceptions. It’s a multi-POV story that’s gripping, intense, and dark. Particularly in its acknowledgement of the reality that sometimes the most dangerous places are the ones we know best, inhabited by the people we think we can trust.
WILD PLACE is the third book by Australian author Christian White. His previous books THE NOWHERE CHILD and THE WIFE AND THE WIDOW are books I recommend frequently. I’ll continue the trend with WILD PLACE because I think this is his best.
I found the snake handlers in White's first book less insidious than this. The twists made me want to throw my book across the room, just to get it away from me.
Trigger warnings: disappearance of a child, Satanic panic,
I was excited to read this, because The Nowhere Girl is brilliant and I really enjoyed The Wife and the Widow when it came out. This, ultimately, wasn't it for me but it *was* still compelling. White did a fantastic job of capturing the 1980s and the Satanic panic. There were elements of the story where I just rolled my eyes because they felt so completely far fetched, and I kind of wish there had been more of Tom having to deal with his high school bullies as an adult. But on the whole, this was just...solidly fine for me.
Spoiler
death of a child, murder, graphic descriptions of violence, cheating, drug dealing, student-teacher relationship, gun violenceI was excited to read this, because The Nowhere Girl is brilliant and I really enjoyed The Wife and the Widow when it came out. This, ultimately, wasn't it for me but it *was* still compelling. White did a fantastic job of capturing the 1980s and the Satanic panic. There were elements of the story where I just rolled my eyes because they felt so completely far fetched, and I kind of wish there had been more of Tom having to deal with his high school bullies as an adult. But on the whole, this was just...solidly fine for me.
In White’s third book, he has taken a classic crime trope and renewed it by using discussions of satan. His ability to transform suburbia into the setting of a gripping thriller always amazes me!
The satan and cult aspect was interesting, and made the book feel particular dark. This amongst the number of characters we are introduced to made the story slow to start. However after the 60% mark I felt eased into the setting and was a captivated reader. The storyline linear compared to his previous work, which was a bit of a surprise for me.
I was left guessing until the end and was shocked at the resolution, but I wasn’t as enthralled as I was with his previous books. Overall, an enjoyable book from one of my favourite Aussie authors.
The satan and cult aspect was interesting, and made the book feel particular dark. This amongst the number of characters we are introduced to made the story slow to start. However after the 60% mark I felt eased into the setting and was a captivated reader. The storyline linear compared to his previous work, which was a bit of a surprise for me.
I was left guessing until the end and was shocked at the resolution, but I wasn’t as enthralled as I was with his previous books. Overall, an enjoyable book from one of my favourite Aussie authors.
2.5* and disappointing after really looking forward to this. It wasn't terrible, the mystery was as good as any other, but the characters were just so awful and unlikeable. And the way the killer was revealed was just such a cop out - so fake and uninventive.
dark
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Pretty good mystery / crime fiction. Lots of twists.
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No