An edge of the set drama/mystery Australian mystery that was hard to put down. Never underestimate a story like this. It will have you sitting up late at night until you reach the very end

It's prior to New Year celebration at the end of 1989, a local teenager, Tracie is missing from her suburbia of Camp Hill. The local police considering this case as a runway teenager, as Tracie's parents is in a process of divorce, and also she brought a backpack of clothes. However, Tracie's mum, Nancy, still believes that Tracie was abducted as prior to her disappearance, Tracie voiced her concern about someone stalking her.
🔯
At the same night Tracie went missing, some of neighborhood kids played ouija board game in the Wild Place, the forest behind this neighborhood. Sean was one of them, and there is a rumour that Sean is a Satanic followers and so the accusation of Tracie's disappearance kind of going into him.
🔯
A local neighborhood meeting was held and Tom Witter, Tracie's ex literature teacher, was assigned to put the missing posters around the neighborhood. He also believes something foul has happened and involves himself in the unofficial search.
🔯
There are plenty of twists and quite a few surprises as this story moves to its ending. Great plotting with clever misdirects, and the ending left me gasping. 😱
🔯
Wild Place is the third novel by best-selling Australian screen-writer and author, Christian White. I have put Christian White as my auto-buy author since I read his first book, Nowhere Child.
❗So, if you have not read his first and second book (The Widow & The Wife), you need to grab those two as well❗

"Wild Place" by Christian White delivers an enthralling narrative that immerses readers in a world of mystery and suspense. The author's vivid descriptions of the Australian landscape provide a captivating backdrop for the story's events. White's writing captures the essence of his characters' emotions, making them feel relatable and genuine. The pacing is generally well-maintained, although there are moments when the tension could be heightened. The plot's twists and turns keep readers guessing, and the resolution ties up loose ends satisfactorily. While certain aspects could be further explored for added depth, "Wild Place" remains a compelling and engaging read that showcases Christian White's storytelling prowess.

Another great christian white white novel set in Australia. Lots of twists and turns, and good suspense throughout. The setting in suburban Melbourne is familiar.. I appreciated the satanic element, true to the time period. Overall a very satisfying page turner, that kept my attention right to the end.

Sometimes suburban life isn't quite as idyllic as it seems.

When teenager Tracie Reed goes missing, the serenity of Camp Hill is shattered and the neighborhood tongues start wagging. Did you see anything? Did you hear anything?

As the small town endeavors to uncover the truth behind Tracie's disappearance, a multitude of other secrets are uncovered. The secrets that in suburban life, should be forgotten once they are swept under the carpet.

This is my second Christian White read, and to say I'm hooked would be an understatement.

5 stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Special thanks to Netgalley for providing me with this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

I liked this way more than I thought I would.
The twists and revelations had me guessing right up to the end.
It made me examine myself and I wonder, in the midst of a missing teenager, would I be swept up by neighbourhood watch conspiracies? Or would my commonsense prevail and not jump to conclusions? I don’t know. It’s easy to be swayed by mass hysteria.
I was 9 in 1989 Australia. And the scene setting reminded me of parts of my youth. I didn’t have a “Wild Place” but there were secret places I’d ride my bike to in the school holidays.
Such a great read.
Thanks NetGalley

I received Wild Place by Christian White from Affirm Press via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Wild Place is an engaging mystery with a fast story and a whodunnit that I personally found to be a little unexpected. Rather than leaving me delighted, the unexpected twist left me feeling a little disappointed.

I love reading stories set in Australia, particularly mysteries and particularly in my home state of Victoria, because I feel like I can relate more to the characters and the setting. However, in this particular case there was a disconnect that I felt might be because the characters are a little two-dimensional and unrelatable.

Despite the few hiccups, Wild Place did keep me interested enough and was an easy enough read that I made it through to the end without much difficulty and without feeling like it was a slog.

A lot of the staples of a great thriller are worked into Wild Place but I found it to be pretty forgettable overall. A good read but don’t expect anything earth-shattering.

In 1989 a 15 year old girl goes missing from a small town in Australia. While the police believe she ran away a local teacher obsessed with case and the girl's father believe a satanic ritual had something to do with her disappearance and they set out to solve the case themselves.

Christian White has a style/flow to his writing that I really connect with. I speed read through his words each time and this story certainly kept me turning the pages but the issue I found was with the plot. It didn't feel as solid as White's previous novels for me. There were characters that in the end their parts in the story felt almost pointless and there were sub-plots that got left behind as the story went along. Overall it was an enjoyable enough read but definitely my least favourite of White's three books.

I have read both The Wife and the Widow (Loved it 5 stars!) and The Nowhere Child (Meh 3 stars) so was intrigued to see which way my enjoyment would go with this standalone thriller

Christian White does a great job of leading you down the garden path only to slam you straight into the brickwall and you have to rethink everything you thought you knew. Superbly twisty with plenty of red herrings and surely not moments. A solid 4 stars for me and a big thanks to Negalley for the ARC.

*Thanks to NetGalley and Affirm for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.* I have been a big fan of Christian White's writing since I read 'The Nowhere Child' a few years ago. 'The Wife and the Widow' was also brilliant, so I had high hopes for his latest offering, 'Wild Place' and it did not disappoint. The book is set in the summer of 1989 and focusses on a missing teen from the town of Camp Hill in Australia. As is always the way in a good mystery, thing are not what they seem and people are not who they pretend to be. A thoroughly enjoyable read, that kept me guessing until the end.

Christian White delivers another tense thriller that grips you from the beginning and doesn't let go until his signature twist at the end. The late 80s suburban setting of this book will be familiar to many of his Elder Millennial and middle-aged readers, and I really enjoyed how this grounded the story. Kids still playing outside until dark, nobody has a mobile phone, everybody in the street knows your business.
I must admit I thought the Satanic Panic aspect hinted at in the blurb would have a greater impact on the plot, but what the story really revealed is the way anyone who was slightly different could not to be trusted by the dominant hegemony at the time. I also did not like the main protagonist, so this did reduce my investment in his life and the way that things went for him.
I must admit I guessed one plot twist but the other left me gasping - as per usual with White's work, it hits you out of left field and yet makes perfect sense. I love the feeling I get when reading his books, there's a moment when all the small puzzle pieces that have been casually dropped into the story all come together and make a perfect, horrible truth.
White is in my mind the best Australian thriller writer publishing at the moment, and I will read anything he puts out.

What can I say? A very easy to read, well put together book. If you have not read any of Christian White's books, Wild Place is going to be a very interesting introduction.

But... I did not find it more exciting that White's first book - Nowhere Child. It travels along the same tropes, tools and twists - take a crime, dress it up with something exciting, being it a cult or Satanists and you get yourself a story.

Teenage girl disappears from quite suburbia of Mornington Peninsula in the late 80s... Yeah, the fact that I know the place and still remember the 80s made this story more 'tangible' for me.

However.... well, it's a nice read if it is the first one of White's...

Wild Place is set at the end of 1989 in a typical Australian suburb with a green space popular with adventurous kids exploring the bush, dog walkers, and lovers. It’s typified by nice homes, green well-kept lawns, neighbours who know each other, and an active Neighbourhood Watch Committee. The green space in this story is Wild Place.

When 17-year-old Tracie Reed goes missing police believe she is just another runaway. Her parents, Donna and Owen, although in the midst of a divorce, agree. Tracie would not do that. Her former schoolteacher, Tom Witter also believes something more sinister has happened especially as Tracie had changed her appearance and felt she was being watched and followed.

Tom is on school holidays. He is supposed to be dealing with a list of jobs his wife has left for him but when Tracie’s disappearance is raised at a Neighbourhood Watch meeting Tom is asked to post photos of Tracie around town.

While the whole affair is another fascinating topic for town gossip, Tom’s involvement turns into an obsession to find out what really happened.

Believing some a satanic ritual has occurred in Wild Place he searches the reserve for clues. Tom tries to convince the police it is more than a missing person case, but they ignore his theory, so Owen and Tom take matters into their own hands. Her body is finally found in Wild Place.

Tom’s investigation puts several people on his suspect list but most pointedly, Sean, a former best friend of his eldest son. Sean has turned goth with a passion for heavy metal music. He has a pentagram tattoo with a similar design to the necklace Tracie wore. He also keeps a snake in his darkened bedroom. Tom and Owen take matters into their own hands.

It started slowly as a relaxed read, lulling the reader into a false sense of relaxation. About halfway through things got more intense as Tom and Owen’s investigation becomes the main storyline. There are many twists and turns, with secrets and lies slowly being revealed.

Although it is a murder mystery the focus is on Tom’s actions, not the police investigation.

It is an entertaining enough read but not one I call brilliant and after a while in the second half Tom started to annoy me. The ending certainly came as a shock but felt a bit rushed.

The characters are believable; some I am sure I have met while I lived in suburbia.

I must commend the author on his setting – middle class Australian suburbia. It brought back memories of 80s music (like it or hate it you can’t forget it), cars, cassettes, food (Vienetta!), fashion, and more.

My favourite Christian White so far. Loved the sinister undercurrent that ran through this entire book. Instead of a whiplash twist that others have this was a clever and tense unfolding of events that leave you gripping the book with white knuckles. All the stars!

5★
“There it was again: a soft metallic click, a long, slow creak. A window in one of the other rooms was being slid open from the outside.”

Okay – that put me on the edge of my seat! There’s nothing like being home alone and hearing stairs or doors or windows creak. Another terrifying sound is that of a gun being cocked at night in a warehouse where the main character is hunting for someone (or vice-versa). Mostly, though, this isn’t that kind of story. Hair-raising for those involved, but not for us at home, whether you’re in Australia, where this takes place, or not.

A seventeen-year-old girl has disappeared before Christmas in the summer of 1989, after saying she was spending the night with a girlfriend. Turns out she didn’t. One of her teachers, Tom Witter, goes to the Neighbourhood Watch meeting where flyers are produced to hand out. He takes them home to show his family and tells his sons, Kieran and Marty, to stay out of the woods, aka the Wild Place.

Kieran, though, at thirteen, loves war movies, so he sees the Wild Place through combat goggles.

“Wild Place was summed up in the name: a wild patch of land in the middle of the most un-wild place you could imagine. It wasn’t big, exactly, but it was big enough. Any bigger, and it might roll out into the neighbourhood and consume the houses like in ‘The Blob’.

According to legend, the bushland was home to a killer clown, was the secret burial place of the Beaumont children, and contained a hidden pit filled with venomous snakes. Kieran didn’t really believe any of that, but he lived in hope.”

An obvious suspect is a neighbour, Sean Fryman, Marty’s former best friend and someone Kieran always looked up to. In the last year or so, Sean has turned dark, listening to heavy metal, keeping a pet python, and wearing tattoos with satanic significance.

Kieran misses Sean’s company. Marty, on the other hand, seems to have grown out of the friendship, dressing better, behaving better and getting ready to move out on his own to be closer to uni next year.

The neighbourhood gets stirred up, grieving parents face the public, and Tom keeps trying to help, trying to find out what happened. This is the busy summer holiday season, when people aren’t following their usual routines, and neighbours begin to stickybeak, watching each other. The only real plans they have are for the New Year's Eve party.

Tom decides to do a little stickybeaking himself and visits Sean. After all, this is a kid who was like a third son to him for many years, spending a lot of time, and eating a lot of meals, with the Witter family. How much could he have really changed? He goes to the Frymans’ house and checks Sean’s room. He picks up some record album covers as Sean comes in.

“A vampire had entered the room. This man-boy was an undead version of the original. His hair was long and black, and hung in a greasy tangle over his face. It made Tom think of vines growing over the mouth of an ancient cave, filled with monsters.”

Yes, Sean had certainly changed. All in all, it kept me reading and wanting to see what would happen next – the test of a good mystery! I didn’t guess the results but I certainly recognised the community and the individuals involved and could see how these things could happen. Some of it would seem a little far-fetched, except that I see even more outlandish news reports these days. There ARE monsters among us!

I haven’t yet read White’s second book, The Wife and the Widow, but I enjoyed this one and his debut, The Nowhere Child, which I reviewed here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Thanks for another good tale, Christian White, and thanks to NetGalley and Affirm Press for the copy for review.

I've been meaning to read a Christian White novel for ages now. I have his first two downloaded on my Kobo ready to go, so when I saw this on Netgalley I excitedly signed up straight away.

Maybe his first two have been overhyped, but I've been left disappointed by this suburban Satanic Panic mystery that is a super quick read of 300 pulp pages

Written mostly from the POV of high school teacher Tom Witter, Wild Place examines the disappearance of 17 year old Tracie at the end of 1989 and the role of the local Neighborhood Watch

Wild Place is the name they give to the bushland behind their suburban cul de sac.
Written in the style of Liane Moriarty, there are twists ahoy buti wasn't shocked at any of them

Highly recommend Christian White books! The setting being a few suburbs away, the music mention sending me back to my teen years and the issues of teen life made it a very relatable read!

3.5/5 - ARC courtesy of NetGalley and Affirm Press
Mystery Thriller

<b>When you tip over the first domino, you can't always control how the rest will fall.</b>

It's the summer of '89 in a suburban Australian town, and a local teen girl has gone missing. Teacher Tom Witter becomes obsessed with finding out what has happened. With talk of Satanic Rituals and a police team that won't seem to listen he bands together with the girl's father and the local neighborhood watch group to find out what really happened to her.

I love Christian White's writing style. He's always able to capture the essence of the environment in which his works are set, and this is no exception. It was easy to imagine the street and bushland where this book is set. The characters are well done, the plot was steady with us slowly being teased with more insight until finally we were given all the answers of what happened.

Not my favourite of his works, I was surprised by the ending but it didn't have the usual satisfaction I find from White usually, hence the 3.5 stars.

<b>Why do good people do bad things?</b>

I liked that this is Australian, I liked the fats pace of the book and it was quite thrilling and kept me reading.

Having not read his other books I enjoyed this one and found it had all the twists and turns, excitement and thrills of a good book of this genre. And although a bit of a slow start once it got going it kept going. The story, the characters and the setting all make for a good book.

Definitely recommend and will look out for the authors other books as well.

I loved this fast paced suspense/thriller.

Set in 1989 and early 1990, this book follows the disappearance of a teenage girl. Lots of twist, turns and possibilities of what might have happened the night she went missing.

A great read, if you are a fan of Christian whites previous books, you will love this one!