I saw Christian White speak at the Sydney BAD Crime Writers Festival in late 2019 after his debut book, The Nowhere Child was well received by critics and readers alike (not that I'm implying there's no overlap between the two!). After hearing him talk about the appearance of snakes in the book I gave it a miss (as I'm quite phobic) but very much enjoyed his twisty second book, The Wife and the Widow.

It was only when I started reading promotional material for his latest release, Wild Place, that I discovered White also created the Netflix TV series Clickbait.

'Does his creativity know no bounds?' I wondered. I'm tempted to suggest he's taken more than his fair share and others (*points at self*) would like to borrow some. Please and thank you.

Tom's obsession with the case means he's an obvious suspect however he's our primary narrator and there's no indication he's being dishonest as he tries to learn more about Tracie's disappearance. There is however a whiff of something - the way he keeps remembering her gushing approach to him at the end of the school year... a sense of foreboding perhaps.

The police are fairly sure Tracie's just run away (as there's reference to her packing some clothes) but we also learn she believed she was being followed in the lead up to her disappearance.

I was at Uni at the time and I can't remember whether concern about satanism was in fact a big deal in the late 1980s though perhaps it reflected the arrival of the era of goth-like dressers. From memory we called them 'swampies' but I can't recall thinking they were devil worshippers. (It was more about superficial stuff like their taste in music and clothes and their hairstyles!)

Which of course could be the case here in Camp Hill. And at the heart of this novel is the question of whether there are sinister and macabre factors at play, or if something far more mundane behind Tracie's disappearance.

White creates a great sense of place here. Not just in the desolate and eerie Wild Place but also in the suburban neighbourhood setting and I certainly was drawn into the politics and idiosyncrasies of the close-knit community.

There were a couple of confusing elements for me - and it's likely that I missed something rather than them actually being gaps. The police for example are sure Tracie's run away because clothes are missing, but I can't recall reference to that later... her having clothes with her. Similarly I couldn't quite get some of the timelines right in my mind when we learn more about Tom's son Marty and his fallout with best friend and neighbour Sean (the accused devil-worshipper) and an obsession that continued into the present day. 

And finally there's some emphasis on the reasons for Tracie's parents' separation but I wasn't sure this was pursued as I expected it would be.

That aside, this is well-paced and there are some fabulous twists at the end - most of which I did not see coming - and of course just when readers think the story of Tracie's disappearance is closed, White drops another surprise in at the very end.

Christian White has done it again with this amazing twisty mystery thriller.

Welcome to Wild Place, the book is set in December 1989 in a small town in Australia. 17 year old Tracie Reed goes missing from Camp Hill. Police put it down to a runaway teenager as she had just finished school. Her Mum and Dad know otherwise, they know she has gone missing and will stop at nothing to try and find Tracie. They get the local neighbourhood watch involved and that is when English teacher, Tom Wittter gets involved in trying to solve the case. What he finds is satanic rituals and teenagers who think they have summoned a demon. The evidence he accumulates points the finger at the young next door neighbour, Has Tom worked out what happened or is there more to the story?

I can safely say I enjoyed reading this one and devoured it pretty quickly. This is my second Christian White book and he absolutely did not disappoint with this story. I did not see the ending coming and wow! I recommend reading this one if you enjoy mystery thrillers that are set in Australia.

Thank you Netgalley and Affirm Press for a copy of this book for my honest review.

"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 @affirmpress and @netgalley for the ARC in exchange for this honest review.

Thanks to Netgalley and Affirm Press for an E.ARC of this novel.
This was a very interesting book to read and I could totally relate to the Australian Suburbs of 1989, just remembering how things where so much different than today, and it doesn’t feel like it was that long ago.
The Author has captured the characters, neighbourhoods and events really well. All the characters are enjoyable to read.
So what happened to Tracie Reed and why?
No spoilers, but you will be very intrigued by the way it all unfolds, and the suspect/suspects will keep you on your toes,(or your nose in the book).
Very enjoyable and I will definitely be reading more from this author.

I have read both of Christian's other novels and really enjoyed them so I was looking forward to his latest release, Wild Place.
The story takes place in late 1989-early 1990 in a small Australian town of Camp Hill.
One night, 17 year-old Tracie Reed goes missing and her mother, who is in the process of a divorce, is concerned for her daughter's whereabouts. As is her former English teacher Tom Witter. He takes on the task of trying to uncover what happened, and a lot of twists, turns and surprises are revealed along the way. There is no doubt that Christian White is a great storyteller, however I must admit that this isn't my favourite of his. I didn't like the character of Tom, and as he features so prominently in the story, it put me off in a way, but this story did definitely hold my interest and have me turning the pages! The 80's references (Family Ties and mixed cassette tapes to name a few) were great, and I wouldn't have minded some more thrown in.
Overall, Wild Place is worth a read, especially for those who like mystery/thriller novels. 3.5 stars

Christian White’s third novel is again, another brilliant and compelling suspense set in a small country town near Frankston in Victoria but one that could be recognisable to anyone who grew up in the late 80s in Australia in any number of small towns. School teacher Tom Witter grew up in Camp Hill and always thought he’d escape after a somewhat unpleasant high school experience. Decades later and he’s back there, married with two sons and living in a good street where all the properties back on to a stretch of bush the locals call ‘the wild place’. It’s the end of the 1989 school year and although Tom’s wife has a list of jobs for him, a summer of holidays stretches before him. The idyllic atmosphere is disturbed though, when at the local neighbourhood watch meeting, the fact that young teenager Tracie Reed has gone missing is a topic of conversation.

Tracie had just finished school and was going to be studying journalism. However her parents were getting a divorce and that coupled with a few things missing from her room leads the police to dismiss her mother’s claims that she’s been taken and assume that like many other teens, Tracie is a runaway. Presumably looking for a more exciting life than one would find in Camp Hill – Sydney, Byron Bay, the Gold Coast maybe? It’s been three weeks though and Tracie’s small amount of cash wouldn’t have stretched that far. Tom puts up some posters around town of the missing teen and when his 13 year old son confesses something to him, he also decides to look for clues that might shed some light on her disappearance.

A lot of the inspiration for this book appears to have been taken from the “Satanic Panic” of the 80s, mostly in the United States but White takes that and reframes it in a small town in Australia. Tom Wittner’s neighbour Sean is a “kid gone goth” – hair dyed black, pentagrams, metal music and he makes the perfect scapegoat in the disappearance of Tracie, because he looks different to all the other kids. He draws attention and not the positive kind and the problem with amateur sleuths is, they see things and put them together and think they have the right answer. But is Sean really guilty? Is his introversion and interest in things deemed to be “weird” a sign of more troubling behaviour? Or is he just a kid who likes black hair and loud music?

Like a lot of small towns, the further you get into this book, the more you realise so many of the characters have secrets and that not a lot is what it seems on the surface. The nice homes, the manicured lawns, the neighbourhood watch meetings provide a nice facade but some of these residents have definitely got things that they’d like to hide. I have to admit, I spent a huge part of the novel having no idea what had happened to Tracie and every time I thought I’d figured it out, something else would happen that would make me realise my guess was way off. I really appreciate a novel that presents so many potential outcomes for the reader to ponder over and there’s some honestly, quite shocking twists here towards the end of the book when things are slowly starting to fall into place and make sense.

Not only does Christian White write compelling stories, he also excels at creating characters that are so incredibly ordinary – and I mean that as a compliment, in that they all feel so real like they are the people you live next door to, go to school/work with, see at the supermarket but who are deeply layered and far more complex than they appear at first read. This was so reminiscent of an Australian summer of my childhood, with kids playing in the street, exploring the bush (even when they’ve been told not to) and having New Year’s parties with the whole street invited. Everyone knowing what everyone else was up to as they hose their lawns, wash their cars, get the mail, etc. The whole neighbourhood watch thing, which you couldn’t walk down a street without seeing half a dozen of those stickers in windows in the 80s.

This is clever, well constructed page turner with plenty of shocks and an ending that I think will provide a lot for discussion and thought among its readers. Very enjoyable and would probably make an excellent mini-series.

8/10

Wild Place is an engrossing and twisty mystery-thriller, set in the deceptively idyllic world of 1980s Australian middle-class suburbia.
It's the run-up to Christmas 1989 and 17-year-old Tracie Reed has gone missing from her home in the (fictional) suburb of Camp Hill, on the Mornington Peninsula in greater Melbourne. Initially, local police are dismissive, treating Tracie's case as that of a teenage runaway. She'd taken a backpack of clothes, after all, and had been affected by the recent breakdown of her parents' marriage. Tracie's mum, Nancy is adamant that Tracie wouldn't just disappear and not make contact, and tells the police that Tracie had felt that she was being watched in the weeks leading up to her disappearance.
Christmas comes and goes, and there's still no sign of Tracie. The lead detective goes on holidays, and the case is temporarily transferred to Detective Sharon Guffey, who grew up in the area.
Meanwhile, local resident Tom Witter, who had been Tracie's high school English teacher, attends his local neighbourhood watch meeting. Tom's family home is located on Keel Street, backing onto the same area of urban bushland reserve, known as "Wild Place", as Tracie's home in nearby Bright Street. For readers who may be unfamiliar, the proximity of areas of bushland is relatively common in suburban areas surrounding Australia's largest cities.
Tom is deputed to distribute "Missing Person" posters around the neighbourhood, and becomes preoccupied with Tracie's disappearance. His involvement leads him into contact with the police, and it transpires that he and Detective Sharon Guffey were close friends during their own school days at the high school where Tom now teaches. Both Sharon and Tom's wife, Connie, caution him against intruding any further into the investigation of Tracie's disappearance, but Tom is a little like a dog with the proverbial bone, and starts hypothesising about potential suspects. After the spectre of satanic ritual is raised as a possibility (I remember well the hysteria around this subject that flared now again during the 1980s and 1990s in Australia), his suspicions fall on local "goth" teenager, Sean Fryman. What follows is rather horrifying sequence of violence and xenophobia, during which the layers of this suburban paradise are gradually peeled back, revealing the fear, guilt, blame and jealousies that skulk beneath.
Having enjoyed Christian White's previous two releases, The Nowhere Child and The Wife and the Widow, I launched into Wild Place anticipating another multi-layered mystery plot with plenty of twists and surprises. And I wasn't disappointed - this was an engrossing read with a strong sense of setting in time and place. While a couple of aspects of the "big reveal" had occurred to me as possibilities while reading, the conclusion came as a shocking, but fitting, surprise.
Christian White has created a cast of complex characters, ranging from the somewhat comic caricatures of the members of the Keel Street Neighbourhood Watch committee to Sean's teenage angst and isolation, to the family relationships within the Witter family unit, to Tom's own intricate knot of motivations and insecurities. While the reader doesn't necessarily support the decisions the characters make (sometimes feeling like yelling at the page; "NO! Don't do that!"), we can't help but understand their motives of self-protection, retribution or bystander curiosity.
I'd recommend Wild Place to any reader who enjoys high quality contemporary Australian crime fiction (albeit with a recent historical setting) featuring complex protagonists, multi-layered plot and plenty of twists.
My thanks to the author, Christian White, publisher Affirm Press and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this title prior to publication.

Wild Place is the third novel by author Christian White and my second read from him. I was still not over “that twist” from The Wife and the Widow, and the author has come up with another story with exciting twists and surprises.

The story is based in a Victorian suburb Camp Hill. In the summer of 1989, as the world is getting ready to welcome the new year, a teenage girl, Tracie Reed, goes missing. While to police assumes that she has run away, her mother believes something terrible has happened to her. After a local neighbourhood watch meeting, high school teacher Tom Witter decides to do his own investigation and find out what happened to Tracie. As he walks through the wild place, a patch of woods behind their homes, he comes across some evidence and suspects his next-door neighbour is somehow involved. Will Tom find out the truth behind Tracie’s disappearance?

This book had me hooked from the first page and flowed so easily. It is fast-paced and an instant page-turner.

Thank you, @Netgalley and @affirmpress, for my copy of the book to relish.

Christian White's latest mystery/thriller is a good read, but unlike his previous two novels, I couldn't really identify that one thing that would make it stand apart from all the other good Aussie domestic thrillers that are out there. Reading his note at the end, I understand where the inspiration came from and what he thought was the one thing, but for me it wasn't strong enough to make it a memorable read.

It's just before Christmas 1989, and Tracey Reed has disappeared from her Camp Hill home. At first the police tend to think she has run away, but her separated parents know better. The local, active Neighbourhood Watch group are doing what they can to help, which is why Tracey's former teacher, Tom Witter, is putting up posters around the suburb and exploring Wild Place, the 'community forest' on the edge of the neighbourhood. He knows which house the Reeds live in, because everyone knows everyone, and is dismayed to see that there is a view into Tracey's bedroom from the forest. Someone could have been watching her, as she had told her mother the night before she disappeared. The finger of suspicion is pointed at a number of different people in the community as secrets are revealed and the investigation gradually builds momentum.

White captures the era very well and deftly conveys the sense of claustrophobia that can build in a small, suburban community when something goes wrong. If you like your beach reads a little on the darker side, this could be a perfect choice.

Thanks to Affirm Press and Netgalley for the opportunity to read the latest offering from Christian White.

I loved this latest thriller from Christian White.and what a twisty one it was. Just when you think youve worked out whodunnit, another twist is added to the tale.to leave you guessing again
And Wham! another surprise or two.

Set in 1989 in a bucolic suburb not far from Melbourne, with a remnant 'Wild Place' piece of bush that the residents share it felt like stepping back in time to when the world was a more carefree place.
Until you start to hear the undertones and wonder what is lurking in the depths of dark water beneath your feet.

How far would you go to protect your family??

Having enjoyed White's previous books, I was looking forward to reading this and was not disappointed. The story was quite compulsive and hard to put down. The characters, especially that of Tom Witter the teacher were very well developed and themes of Satanic rituals, bullying and suburban living were very interesting. Lots of surprises and everything pulled together really well in a surprise ending. My book group that reads mysteries will love this.

Wild Place ♡ this was the absolute perfect book to read while camping in the blue mountains. I found the start of this book a little confusing but the second half was really addictive with lots of twists and turns. 4/5 stars.

Thank you to @netgalley and @affirmpress for the arc. This book comes out this week and I highly recommend reading it.

A very enjoyable page turner, with a couple of nice twists at the end, though in my opinion not up to the standards of Christian White's two previous novels.

Set in the Victorian suburb of Camp Hill, this is a mystery story exploring what happened caused Tracie Reed to go missing one evening in December 1989. With several people having dubious reasons for being suspects in her disappearance, Detective Sharon Guffey, who has her own backstory, is out to find the truth.

This story has unexpected plot turns right up to the last page, and is well worth the read, however the suspense and intrigue isn't up to that in previous Christian White novels, in parts it does feel a bit contrived.

Christian White has proven yet again that he can do no wrong when it comes to writing a great thriller.
This book is set in a stifling Australian summer, circa 1989. It's the perfect decade for this story, because of satanic panic of course. A teenage girl is missing and at least one of the neighbourhood boys is a suspect in her disappearance because, you know, he likes heavy metal music, among other things.
Told from multiple pov's that help fill the gaps and progress the story in a logical fashion, this clever book is best devoured in one or two sittings. Ultimately you learn why 'good' people do bad things.
I really loved the way this all came together, I was surprised by the 'who', I was sure I had it figured out, so glad to be wrong!
Christian White has become an auto-buy author for me, I don't even need a synopsis. I see his name, I buy it.
Even though I've been lucky enough to receive a digital arc, I'll still be buying a copy for my shelf. It's that good. Out 26th October in Australia, run, don't walk people!

It must be hard to come up with original plots when you are a writer and perhaps to have a contract for x amount of books for a publisher or writing to a deadline. Maybe I read too much of the same genre also because when I read this book, it felt like the author had watched and read the same movies/books as me. Don’t get me wrong the story was engaging and a page turner but it reminded me of Anna Baileys Tall Bones and the movie Prisoners, such were the similarities.
Set in 1989, Wild Place is an area of untamed land that sits in a suburb with many houses back fences and gates leading to it. It is also a short cut the locals take to get between streets.
There is a collection of families we are introduced to at the beginning who are all at a neighbourhood watch meeting. The dialogue between the characters reminded me of The Thursday Murder Club book and I though oh no another copy but instead of a retirement village it’s a neighbourhood. Thankfully I was wrong. When a local girl Tracie, goes missing, her mother is convinced it’s foul play. Her daughter had complained she was being followed and spied upon. The police think she may have run away and aren’t looking too hard. Local school teacher Tom Witter becomes convinced that he somehow holds the key to finding this girl and starts looking for her himself. It’s hard to say too much more without giving away some of the twists, needless to say the more Tom looks the more secrets from the neighbourhood he uncovers.

#netgalley #wildplace

Wild Place is the third novel by author Christian White. I've read The Wife and the Widow and loved it so was excited to hear about this one.
Set in a small town in Victoria, Australia the story follows a community on the brink following the disappearance of 17 year old Tracie Reed. At first the large number of characters felt confusing but as you learn how they all tie together it becomes easier to follow. The main character, Tom who was Tracie's English teacher searches for answers and a suspect. The characters are realistic and believable and the author portrays the grieving and impacted family and friends well.
The story is full of shocks and twists as it races towards the chilling ending. I read the book in one sitting. The pace moved quickly and kept you engaged throughout.
Overall, I'd recommend this novel to anyone seeking an easy to read suburban thriller. I'd definitely read more by this author.

The newest thriller from Christian White definitely didn’t disappoint. After reading the nowhere child a couple of years ago I was super excited to give this one a go! This story felt like so much more than the typical whodunnit plot line, as it encompassed so much more character depth and the messier ending was different to what you'd usually expect. I did feel that some information towards the end of the book was sort of dropped out of the blue that I hadn’t seen coming (which can definitely be a good thing!), but also like it could have been peppered into the storyline a bit more. If you were a fan of the nowhere child and wife and the widow, even just a fan of crime fiction I would 100% recommend giving them this one a go! I’d love to hear your thoughts if you’ve read this!

What a doozy! I could not put this down. Read in under 24 hours. I loved Christian White’s first 2 books - full of twists and turns and they just keep you turning pages quicker and quicker to find out what happened, and this one was no different. My mind was going a hundred miles an hour towards the end.
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It wasn’t the ending I wanted - but I think that makes it even better. And I loved the epilogue. Set in suburbia in 1989 (loving the 80’s for my last 2 reads!), and in a creepy coincidence this one also had some cult and satanic references going on, this is the story of a young girl who goes missing one night. It is too easy to give spoilers and I think any slip could give this one away, so I’m not saying any more. 🤐
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I think if you loved his first 2, you’ll also love this one. Thank you @netgalley for my advanced copy ebook. Soooooo good!!!

Thank you Netgalley and Affirm Press for the opportunity for the ARC to read and review.

I would like to begin with "wow!". As with every mystery and thriller books, not everything is as it seems, and not everyone is who you think they are.

When a local missing teenage girl goes missing, the police simply treat this as a run-a-way, ignoring the mother's plea. However, the local neighbourhood watch and school teacher Tom Witter takes interest in the case and begin their own investigation, leading to Satanism and a teenage outcast.

As I progressed further into the book, I found myself gripped and hooked. Just as you think you know whose responsible, you realise you are wrong!

I loved ‘Wild Place’. It starts with the introduction of interesting characters, quiet suburbia and some ‘normal’ families. It moves on to reveal small glitches in the supposed undistinguished lives of these characters. Then the unusual becomes the norm – a missing girl, possible satanic worship, a dark, wild place behind the suburban backyards and a ‘snow globe’ full of seemingly good people who might have done some bad things. I was expecting the unexpected but was caught out – there are several twists and turns. Thoroughly recommend ‘Wild Place’ for an enjoyable, compelling and absorbing read.