Running Wild (novella)

Last updated

Running Wild
RunningWild(1stEd).jpg
Cover of first edition (hardcover)
Author J. G. Ballard
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
Genre Dystopian fiction
Publisher Hutchinson
Publication date
1988
Media typePrint (Hardcover & Paperback)
Pages72 pp
ISBN 0-09-173498-3
OCLC 18629186
823/.914 20
LC Class PR6052.A46 R8 1988

Running Wild is a novella by British writer J. G. Ballard, first published in 1988. The novel takes the form of a detective novel, recounting the investigation of a mysterious massacre in suburbia [1] through the diary of a forensic psychiatrist.

Contents

Plot summary

Pangbourne Village is an estate for the upper middle class, protected by security fences [2] and discreet guards. Its ten families are wealthy, respectable, 40-something couples with adolescent children on whom they lavish everything money can buy.

One morning it is discovered that all the adult residents have been killed and the children have disappeared without trace. [3] Dr Richard Greville of Scotland Yard puzzles over the scanty evidence: it gives no leads to the identity of the murderers and kidnappers. No demands for ransom are received. No terrorist group claims responsibility.

The reader soon realizes that the missing children are also the missing murderers. Their controlled upbringing has left them no way to establish their own identities except by rebelling into criminal savagery. However, in a tradition of obtuse policemen going back to Inspector Lestrade in the Sherlock Holmes stories, Greville resists drawing this obvious conclusion - until the children strike again.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George R. R. Martin</span> American writer and television producer (born 1948)

George Raymond Richard Martin, also known as GRRM, is an American novelist, screenwriter, television producer and short story writer. He is the author of the series of epic fantasy novels A Song of Ice and Fire, which were adapted into the Emmy Award-winning HBO series Game of Thrones (2011–2019). He also helped create the Wild Cards anthology series, and contributed worldbuilding for the 2022 video game Elden Ring.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">J. G. Ballard</span> English writer (1930–2009)

James Graham Ballard was an English novelist, short story writer, satirist, and essayist known for provocative works of fiction which explored the relations between human psychology, technology, sex, and mass media. He first became associated with the New Wave of science fiction for post-apocalyptic novels such as The Drowned World (1962), but later courted controversy for works such as the experimental short story collection The Atrocity Exhibition (1970), which included the 1968 story "Why I Want to Fuck Ronald Reagan", and the novel Crash (1973), a story about a renegade group of car crash fetishists.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kelley Armstrong</span> Canadian writer

Kelley Armstrong is a Canadian writer, primarily of fantasy novels since 2001.

<i>The Atrocity Exhibition</i> 1970 collection of stories by J. G. Ballard

The Atrocity Exhibition is an experimental novel of linked stories or "condensed novels" by British writer J. G. Ballard.

Anthony John Horowitz, is an English novelist and screenwriter specialising in mystery and suspense.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Derry (Stephen King)</span> Fictional Location of the "It" Universe

Derry is a fictional town in the U.S. state of Maine that has served as the setting for a number of Stephen King's novels, novellas, and short stories, notably It. Derry first appeared in King's 1981 short story "The Bird and the Album" and has reappeared as recently as his 2011 novel 11/22/63.

David Pringle is a Scottish science fiction editor and critic.

<i>Cycle of the Werewolf</i> 1983 novella by Stephen King

Cycle of the Werewolf is a short horror novel by American writer Stephen King, featuring illustrations by comic-book artist Bernie Wrightson. Each chapter is a short story unto itself. It tells the story of a werewolf haunting a small town as the moon turns full once every month. It was published as a limited-edition hardcover in 1983 by Land of Enchantment, and in 1985 as a mass-market trade paperback by Signet. King also wrote the screenplay for its film adaptation, Silver Bullet (1985). It is King's shortest novel to date at 127 pages, which makes it technically a novella.

<i>Marooned in Realtime</i> 1986 novel by Vernor Vinge

Marooned in Realtime is a 1986 murder mystery and time-travel science fiction novel by American writer Vernor Vinge, about a small, time-displaced group of people who may be the only survivors of a technological singularity or alien invasion. It is the sequel to the novel The Peace War (1984) and the novella The Ungoverned (1985). Both novels and the novella were collected in Across Realtime.

<i>Millennium People</i> 2003 novel by J. G. Ballard

Millennium People is a novel by British writer J. G. Ballard, published in 2003. The novel is the story of a rebellion in the middle classes in an enclave of Greater London.

Running Wild or Runnin' Wild may refer to:

<i>The Fifth Head of Cerberus</i> 1972 novella by Gene Wolfe

The Fifth Head of Cerberus is the title of both a novella and a single-volume collection of three novellas, written by American science fiction and fantasy author Gene Wolfe, both published in 1972. The novella was included in the anthology Nebula Award Stories Eight.

<i>The Poof Point</i> 2001 television film directed by Neal Israel

The Poof Point is a Disney Channel Original Movie, based on the children's novel "The Poof Point" by Ellen Weiss, M. Friedman.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Daniel Abraham (author)</span> American writer

Daniel James Abraham, pen names M. L. N. Hanover and James S. A. Corey, is an American novelist, comic book writer, screenwriter, and television producer. He is best known as the author of The Long Price Quartet and The Dagger and the Coin fantasy series, and with Ty Franck, as the co-author of The Expanse science fiction series, written under the joint pseudonym James S. A. Corey. The series has been adapted into the television series The Expanse (2015–2022), with both Abraham and Franck serving as writers and producers on the show. He also contributed to Wildcards anthology series shared universe.

Marlen Haushofer was an Austrian author, most famous for her novel The Wall (1963).

Linda Ellen Evans is an American science fiction writer currently residing in Archer, Florida. She is an author of ten novels and four anthologies, as well as of several other co-authored novels. In 1996 her published novels had sold more than 100,000 copies. She has been published in English, German, and Russian, as well as hardback, paperback, and book-club editions.

<i>Logans World</i> 1977 novel by William F. Nolan

Logan's World (1977) is a science fiction novel by William F. Nolan. It is a sequel to Logan's Run (1967), written by Nolan and George Clayton Johnson.

In Agatha Christie's mystery novels, several characters cross over different sagas, creating a fictional universe in which most of her stories are set. This article has one table to summarize the novels with characters who occur in other Christie novels; the table is titled Crossovers by Christie. There is brief mention of characters crossing over in adaptations of the novels. Her publications, both novels and short stories, are then listed by main detective, in order of publication. Some stories or novels authorised by the estate of Agatha Christie, using the characters she created, and written long after Agatha Christie died, are included in the lists.

<i>This Is How You Lose the Time War</i> 2019 novella by Amal el-Mohtar and Max Gladstone

This Is How You Lose the Time War is a 2019 science fiction epistolary novel by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone. It was first published by Simon and Schuster. It won the BSFA Award for Best Shorter Fiction, the Nebula Award for Best Novella of 2019 and the 2020 Hugo Award for Best Novella.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ty Franck</span> American novelist, screenwriter, and television producer

Ty Franck is an American novelist, screenwriter, and television producer. He is best known for co-authoring The Expanse with Daniel Abraham under the pseudonym James S.A. Corey, as well as Game of Thrones: A Telltale Games Series (2014) and The Expanse: Expanded (2016). The Expanse novels have been adapted into the television series The Expanse (2015–2022), with both Franck and Abraham serving as writers and producers on the show.

References