In the summer of 1989, a local teen goes missing from the idyllic Australian suburb of Camp Hill. As rumours of Satanic rituals swirl, schoolteacher Tom Witter becomes convinced he holds the key to the disappearance. When the police won’t listen, he takes matters into his own hands with the help of the missing girl’s father and a local neighbourhood watch group.
But as dark secrets are revealed and consequences to past actions are faced, Tom learns that the only way out of the darkness is to walk deeper into it. Wild Place peels back the layers of suburbia, exposing what’s hidden underneath – guilt, desperation, violence – and attempts to answer the question: why do good people do bad things?
Christian White’s debut novel was the hugely successful Nowhere Child – one of Australia’s bestselling debut novels ever. He followed that up with The Wife and the Widow… with that twist. Anyone who has read it will understand. While writing his third novel, White’s growing fanbase has been enjoying his foray into screenwriting. He wrote and produced the Netflix series Clickbait, with Tony Ayres, and has written a film for Paramount. To say this is his ‘moment’ is an understatement. With the release of Wild Place, White has hit his stride, taking his place as one of this country’s most accomplished thriller writers.
Like his previous works, setting plays an important role in Wild Place. This time, the novel is set in the late 80s, at the height of the Satanic Panic in the fictional town of Camp Hill, a combination of Victoria’s Mount Martha and Mornington. This ‘everywhere’ suburb adds to the sense of menace – the events that take place could happen anywhere. Camp Hill, like many ordinary places, has one local spot that holds some mystery – The Wild Place, a community forest about one kilometre in length, which many of the houses back onto.
The protagonist is Tom, who’s rather ordinary, which is the point. Local teen Tracie Reed has gone missing. Tom taught her but can’t really remember her, and nor can his son. Police believe she’s a runaway, however, her disappearance stirs something in Tom. Tracie lived on the other side of The Wild Place, where his own house backs onto. He says he wants his kids to remain safe, so starts his own investigation.
Wild Place is a dark take on the underlying desperation that can simmer in suburbia. With themes around masculinity, grief, and the secrets people hide, it explores why good people do bad things. This is another engrossing domestic noir from White, filled with breathless menace and twists and turns you won’t see coming. And yes, there is another big one. Perhaps there should be a recognised term for twists like these in future novels – The Christian White Curve Ball?
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