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3.75 AVERAGE
3.75 AVERAGE
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
"Why do good people do bad things?" is an interesting question, explored fully in WILD PLACE by Christian White.
Set in the heart of Australian suburbia, during the height of the summer of 1989, seventeen year old Tracie Reed vanished one night. Her parents in the middle of a fraught divorce, Tracie's behaviour had changed in the leadup and despite her mother's protestations to the contrary, police have basically dismissed her as a runaway. Part of the local neighbourhood watch, Tracie's high school English teacher, and neighbour, starts digging into her disappearance, worried about his own two boys, quickly settling on his own idea of a suspect - the teenager next door, Sean Fryman. Sullen, reclusive, a bit weird, with a love of gothic clothing and heavy metal music, there's nothing like being different to mark you out as a potential suspect in anything dodgy.
Right from the very start of WILD PLACE there's a sense of "otherness" going on. In the middle of supposedly tranquil, ordered suburbia there's one of those little pockets of bushland that used to be common - the titular wild place, that Tom's own house backs onto. The place where kids played, teenagers gathered for illicit assignations or just simply to smoke and hang out and snakes lurked, access to these places is increasingly disappearing as nature is wiped away and built out. Once Tracie goes missing though, the Wild Place goes from somewhere innocent and mildly threatening, to something lurking, mysterious and frightening. Especially as far as Tom's concerned as he bans his young son from every going there, and takes to exploring the area himself, finding plenty of odd things to worry over.
As the story progresses it increasingly becomes obvious that the "wild place" is a convenient scapegoat, and there is plenty of oddity and danger lurking much closer - in the houses and the people of the suburb, many of whom seem to be hiding a lot of secrets. To say nothing of a spot of "Satanic Panic" very common in the 1980's in particular. Carefully letting the boundaries of possibilities slide outwards, the author takes the reader from a contained, acceptable threat - whatever is other and lurking in the wild place, to the wider area - and the people in it. The possibility that the threat is within the community, one of them, nothing "other" about it at all slowly reveals itself, leaving the reader disconcerted and baffled, until the epilogue at which point you'd be forgiven for taking a rather different look at everyone around you.
Having never been a child of the suburbs, and only briefly an adult in those places it's books like WILD PLACE that could make you look more fondly on the wide open, sparsely populated areas of our world. You know where you stand with a snake, but this novel could leave you wondering if you ever really know that about people.
https://www.austcrimefiction.org/review/wild-place-christian-white
Set in the heart of Australian suburbia, during the height of the summer of 1989, seventeen year old Tracie Reed vanished one night. Her parents in the middle of a fraught divorce, Tracie's behaviour had changed in the leadup and despite her mother's protestations to the contrary, police have basically dismissed her as a runaway. Part of the local neighbourhood watch, Tracie's high school English teacher, and neighbour, starts digging into her disappearance, worried about his own two boys, quickly settling on his own idea of a suspect - the teenager next door, Sean Fryman. Sullen, reclusive, a bit weird, with a love of gothic clothing and heavy metal music, there's nothing like being different to mark you out as a potential suspect in anything dodgy.
Right from the very start of WILD PLACE there's a sense of "otherness" going on. In the middle of supposedly tranquil, ordered suburbia there's one of those little pockets of bushland that used to be common - the titular wild place, that Tom's own house backs onto. The place where kids played, teenagers gathered for illicit assignations or just simply to smoke and hang out and snakes lurked, access to these places is increasingly disappearing as nature is wiped away and built out. Once Tracie goes missing though, the Wild Place goes from somewhere innocent and mildly threatening, to something lurking, mysterious and frightening. Especially as far as Tom's concerned as he bans his young son from every going there, and takes to exploring the area himself, finding plenty of odd things to worry over.
As the story progresses it increasingly becomes obvious that the "wild place" is a convenient scapegoat, and there is plenty of oddity and danger lurking much closer - in the houses and the people of the suburb, many of whom seem to be hiding a lot of secrets. To say nothing of a spot of "Satanic Panic" very common in the 1980's in particular. Carefully letting the boundaries of possibilities slide outwards, the author takes the reader from a contained, acceptable threat - whatever is other and lurking in the wild place, to the wider area - and the people in it. The possibility that the threat is within the community, one of them, nothing "other" about it at all slowly reveals itself, leaving the reader disconcerted and baffled, until the epilogue at which point you'd be forgiven for taking a rather different look at everyone around you.
Having never been a child of the suburbs, and only briefly an adult in those places it's books like WILD PLACE that could make you look more fondly on the wide open, sparsely populated areas of our world. You know where you stand with a snake, but this novel could leave you wondering if you ever really know that about people.
https://www.austcrimefiction.org/review/wild-place-christian-white
3.5 stars. This book had enough going on to keep me interested, being well written and featuring a cast of intriguing and flawed characters to support the plot. The Satanic ritual component felt a little off to me, but I can see where White was trying to lead the reader. It was the ending that dropped this from a solid 4 star read to just 3.5 - it felt out of character and quite unjust. I would have liked to see more about what Nancy did with the information discovered in the epilogue, too. Nevertheless, a captivating read!
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Don’t bother
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I felt like I was watching a movie reading this, the way Christian portrays characters makes them so easy to visualise and connect with.
I went through a variety of emotions reading this book, sadness, anger, annoyance (I hope Ellie got some sort of comeuppance for being so nosy!), acceptance.. but mostly shock and disbelief.
When Nancy nodded at Owen taking the gun, it was like she was prepared for him to commit suicide and didn’t have any fight left in her, it broke my heart!
Then when Marty (sorry, Martin) was revealed as the stalker I was like ‘hmm okay, didn’t see it coming but I understand why’ but then he confronted his dad about the affair and I audibly screamed ‘WHAT’ - I know trusting the source of the story is a rookie error but not Tom, an affair with a student? I was shocked.
I loved that the ‘satanic cult’ played a big role but it was tied up in such a wholesome way with Sean just seeing the symbol as one of protection. Reading ‘his shot severed Sean’s brain stem’ was so harsh and I absolutely loved it, he let Sean get his redemption, he let us fall that little bit in love with his character and feel empathy for him as he was just as broken and damaged as the rest of us, and then took it all away - it was done so smoothly and perfectly, it was shocking and one of the best parts of the book IMO (still SO sad!)
Then we get to Connie, who knew her husband knew she killed a teenage girl, and they both pretended like it was nothing and they just worked-out to Jane Fonda together? WHAT?! I re-read this page five times, I would of loved to deep dive into Connie’s recollection of the events over a few chapters! Of course her being elusive is an amazing plot within itself, and the tape told us what happened and I’m sure more words probably wouldn’t of added to the story, I guess I’m still grappling with the thought - and it makes me think how my partner would react in the same situation (his storyline’s are always thought provoking in the best way)
I equally hate and love Christian’s cliff hanging endings, what does Nancy do with the tape? Does she survive having lost a daughter and a husband? (Albeit soon to be ex) Does Sharon truely leave it all alone or does the need for the truth chip away at her? Does Marty survive with the guilt of knowing his dads secret? I guess being set in 89’ means no DNA testing in AUS, but surely something would lead back to Connie, or at least not Sean?
I would like to think Sharon locked away all part of her past life and when Nancy inevitably came rushing to her with the tape of Tom, the case would be closed with Sean named as the killer and she couldn’t re-open the case if she wanted to, so she walked away. Sharon deserved more, I hope in the book universe she’s settled down somewhere far away enjoying life, and I hope Nancy got a chance to heal - if not I hope she’s with Tracie.
I feel like everyone was fighting their own demons this whole book as well as contributing to the overall plot - I don’t know how Christian does it but god, it makes for good reading!
I went through a variety of emotions reading this book, sadness, anger, annoyance (I hope Ellie got some sort of comeuppance for being so nosy!), acceptance.. but mostly shock and disbelief.
When Nancy nodded at Owen taking the gun, it was like she was prepared for him to commit suicide and didn’t have any fight left in her, it broke my heart!
Then when Marty (sorry, Martin) was revealed as the stalker I was like ‘hmm okay, didn’t see it coming but I understand why’ but then he confronted his dad about the affair and I audibly screamed ‘WHAT’ - I know trusting the source of the story is a rookie error but not Tom, an affair with a student? I was shocked.
I loved that the ‘satanic cult’ played a big role but it was tied up in such a wholesome way with Sean just seeing the symbol as one of protection. Reading ‘his shot severed Sean’s brain stem’ was so harsh and I absolutely loved it, he let Sean get his redemption, he let us fall that little bit in love with his character and feel empathy for him as he was just as broken and damaged as the rest of us, and then took it all away - it was done so smoothly and perfectly, it was shocking and one of the best parts of the book IMO (still SO sad!)
Then we get to Connie, who knew her husband knew she killed a teenage girl, and they both pretended like it was nothing and they just worked-out to Jane Fonda together? WHAT?! I re-read this page five times, I would of loved to deep dive into Connie’s recollection of the events over a few chapters! Of course her being elusive is an amazing plot within itself, and the tape told us what happened and I’m sure more words probably wouldn’t of added to the story, I guess I’m still grappling with the thought - and it makes me think how my partner would react in the same situation (his storyline’s are always thought provoking in the best way)
I equally hate and love Christian’s cliff hanging endings, what does Nancy do with the tape? Does she survive having lost a daughter and a husband? (Albeit soon to be ex) Does Sharon truely leave it all alone or does the need for the truth chip away at her? Does Marty survive with the guilt of knowing his dads secret? I guess being set in 89’ means no DNA testing in AUS, but surely something would lead back to Connie, or at least not Sean?
I would like to think Sharon locked away all part of her past life and when Nancy inevitably came rushing to her with the tape of Tom, the case would be closed with Sean named as the killer and she couldn’t re-open the case if she wanted to, so she walked away. Sharon deserved more, I hope in the book universe she’s settled down somewhere far away enjoying life, and I hope Nancy got a chance to heal - if not I hope she’s with Tracie.
I feel like everyone was fighting their own demons this whole book as well as contributing to the overall plot - I don’t know how Christian does it but god, it makes for good reading!
mysterious
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
3.5 stars: I gave it a slightly higher rating because of the sheer readability and twists of the book- I flew through the second half in half a day!
I did take issue with some things in it though- I think because of the setting (1989 Australia - also a good thing to read on New Year’s Eve because it’s set then!) we’re really submitted to white dad humour for the whole thing and the good thing is cancel culture isn’t invented yet so they can say whatever they want right? I sort of get that he was trying to set up these characters as gullible so they would easily believe in Satanic cults, but I just didn’t appreciate lines such as: “Sharon had always been good at breaking balls” when the female detective was just summarising her case.
The character Tom literally said “Not all men are like that Cassie” - the nerve to say that after he was lusting after both the female detective and his neighbour. AND the missing 17 year old. I mean come on mate.
Some old guy literally said “back in my day” and “Ever since women stopped being housewives, kids are being left unsupervised for hours on end” and no one challenged it.
I know he was trying to make it seem like the crowd was riled up, but he didn’t try and make it ironic or obviously ludicrous.
I think the ending was rushed by putting in too many twists, it was shocking but I think they could have drawn out the shown down at the pool for longer.
I did take issue with some things in it though- I think because of the setting (1989 Australia - also a good thing to read on New Year’s Eve because it’s set then!) we’re really submitted to white dad humour for the whole thing and the good thing is cancel culture isn’t invented yet so they can say whatever they want right? I sort of get that he was trying to set up these characters as gullible so they would easily believe in Satanic cults, but I just didn’t appreciate lines such as: “Sharon had always been good at breaking balls” when the female detective was just summarising her case.
The character Tom literally said “Not all men are like that Cassie” - the nerve to say that after he was lusting after both the female detective and his neighbour. AND the missing 17 year old. I mean come on mate.
Some old guy literally said “back in my day” and “Ever since women stopped being housewives, kids are being left unsupervised for hours on end” and no one challenged it.
I know he was trying to make it seem like the crowd was riled up, but he didn’t try and make it ironic or obviously ludicrous.
I think the ending was rushed by putting in too many twists, it was shocking but I think they could have drawn out the shown down at the pool for longer.
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No