From Publishers Weekly
Thirty miles outside of London lies a suburban utopia called Pangbourne Village, an exclusive residential development in which all the houses are new, the security system is impeccable, parents are happy and children are provided with a nonstop roster of structured activity. But fans of Ballard's High Rise , in which he turned an apartment tower into a warring miniature city, will recognize his dim view of fabricated societies. Indeed, in his eerie new novella's first moments, Pangbourne's 32 adults are found murdered, and the complex's 13 children, all but one of them teenagers, have vanished. Written as a police psychiatrist's forensic diary, the story unfolds as an investigation that quickly points to the children themselves as culprits. Though the author sketches a sharp portrait of complacent privilege in Thatcher's England and tells a provocative story with a jolting final twist, the explanation of a carefully coordinated plot among the youths--"in a totally sane society, madness is the only freedom"--is unduly glib. At just over 100 pages, that's really all there is to it; this is, in every sense, a minor work by a major writer.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to the
Hardcover
edition.
Review
'A tight, macabre tale. . . A well-constructed and superbly written novella. As a malevolent gesture in the direction of facts we prefer to ignore, it provides a salutary chill.' Jonathan Coe, Guardian 'In words as crisp as a well-cut film, Ballard's gripping story shocks middle-class assumptions to the roots.' Mail on Sunday 'Has the impact of a black-and-white television documentary. The writing is elegant, taut and economical, the story gripping.' Sunday Times 'A particularly chilling fable . . . Ballard in a nutshell.' Nicholas Lezard, Guardian 'Simultaneously a detective novel, a psychological horror novel and a dystopian political novel. Running Wild may well be remembered as one of the major political novels of our time.' New York Review of Science Fiction
Ballard turns prophet again in this tale of schoolkids arming themselves to the teeth and commiting gross acts of violence. A psychiatrist attempts to find the reasons why a group of rich professionals are dead, and their children apparently kidnapped. Grenville is as baffled as everyone else, until he decides to spin the situation around - what if the children haven't been kidnapped at all but are the perpetrators of the massacre? (Kirkus UK)
