Three Boys Gone by Mark Smith is a suspenseful, mystery psychological thriller.
I really enjoyed the book and found it hard to put down as it is a very thought provoking read.
Grace Disher is an outdoor ed and environmental teacher at a prestigious Catholic boy’s school in Melbourne. The senior outdoor ed teacher has cancelled at the last minute, leaving Grace in charge of a Year 10 camping trip. There are two other teachers, Tom Winter and Gerard Kruger.
The boys are on the second day of the Great Western Walk, the area is remote wild and windswept.
After driving the bus to their overnight campsite, Grace is to meet with the group at a designated point at Juliet Bay. The weather has turned rough.
As Grace approaches the rendezvous point she sees three figures sprinting across the beach towards the water racing each other into the sea.
Where is the rest of the group and where are the other teachers?
Grace runs screaming for them to stop. By the time she catches up the perilous surf conditions are overwhelming the boys. If she goes in she will die trying to save them.
Three boys, Lake, Harry and Roberto are gone.
The question everyone is asking is, should Grace have gone in to attempt to save them and given her own life?
It seems many people think she should have. Grace’s world implodes, her personal life is exposed through her social media as the blame game begins. We share her every emotion as she deals with the police, the classmates, her colleagues, the school and the parents. The media hounds her — the impact of social media and the misinformation crucifies her.
Then the twist, Grace’s life is in danger, and someone wants her to pay.
The writing style is easy to read and you feel you are actually there as we follow Grace on her journey awaiting the Coroner’s findings. The book makes you think about your own decisions and actions should you ever be in the same situation.
Mark Smith has drawn on his 30 years of experience in outdoor education. To quote him “I know outdoor educators will relate to the what-ifs, the near misses, and the fine line we walk between allowing our students to engage freely with wild places and keeping them safe-often from themselves.”
A riveting read, definitely five stars.
A selection of our Beauty and Lace Club members are reading Three Boys Gone by Mark Smith. You can read their comments below or add your own review.
I love to read, any book on any topic. I now love ebooks as they are easier to store, I was running out of bookshelves! My other interests are family, gardening and our beautiful King Charles spaniel dog who is my reading companion.
Author Mark Smith certainly delivers if you’re looking for a heart stopping psychological thriller. Meet Grace Disher, teacher at an exclusive boy’s school who (along with 2 male teachers) takes her class on a camping excursion. Despite being instructed that the boys must stick together with their classmates 3 of the boys slip away unnoticed for a swim in the ocean. By the time Grace has caught up with the group she discovers the 3 boys have gone into the ocean and been caught up in dangerous conditions that ultimately costs them their lives. Grace (and many others) questions should she have gone into the ocean after them to try save them and risk her life also. Grace’s actions come under fierce scrutiny of the media and everything in her personal life comes to attention of everybody – staff, grieving parents, staff and the media. As a result, Grace is no longer safe and those she trusts become fewer and we discover Grace isn’t the only one with a secret.
I devoured this book in 3 nights – torn between trying to stretch it out and wanting to see how Graces story ended. An unexpected twist and an ending I didn’t see coming the award-winning author delivers a beyond memorable read that is impossible to put down. All I have done since finishing this book is tell everyone how fantastic this book was and encourage them to read it.
Thanks to Beauty and Lace book club and Pan MacMillan publishing for my copy of Three Boys Gone and of course to award winning author Mark Smith for such a memorable and thrilling read.
Thank you Beauty and Lace for the opportunity to read Three Boys Gone by Mark Smith.
I loved this face paced thriller.
It kept me turning those pages to find out what was going on!
Three boys go into the dangerous water and one teacher faced with an impossible decision.
Grace’s life is turned upside down after taking her students on an excursion, how will she cope and how will it affect her?
There’s a twist that you won’t see coming
Highly recommend ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Three Boys Gone by Mark Smith was an awesome read. At first I wondered how on earth a book about three boys drowning on a school trip and then the female teacher who organised the trip dealing with her emotional issues of not trying to save the boys, How on earth was that going to be a story? Oh how wrong I was because this book grabbed me and dragged me in and all these weeks later its still holding on.
There are little twists that come up along the way but the final twist was so unexpected and had me so caught off guard that I was speaking my shock out loud.
This is 100% a must add to your TBR pile.
Thanks to Beauty and Lace book club and Pan MacMillan publishing for the opportunity to read Three Boys Gone.
The book tells the story of a group of teens that are on a school trip for an outdoor adventure camp. Through a series of circumstances, three boys go missing. What follows is an exploration of what can and does occur when tragic events occur, how the community deals with it and the emotions that are felt by different parties involved.
The story is gripping and invites the reader to come along on the journey and gives an accurate portrayal of the school’s perspective as they manage the families, staff, media and other challenges. It also shows the varying emotions of the different staff involved and the support and blame from others who are touched by this trauma.
Mark Smith is an excellent story teller and I look forward to reading other stories written by him.
Definitely a book recommended to others.
Three Boys Gone by Mark Smith was an interested read with a somewhat different theme which was thought provoking and harrowing. So many elements to this novel, an interesting story line with realistic characters which left me pondering my own reactions if faced with the same traumatic situation and impossible decision. If I knew I wouldn’t survive the effort, would I still try and save the young people ? Societal expectations and the need to attribute blame were thrown in and left to the reader to think through. Unexpected twists which created tension and suspense was an added and unexpected element.
I found this book easy to read, engaging and hard to put down. A great read ! Thank you, Beauty and Lace and Pan Macmillan Australia, for the opportunity to read and review Three Boys Gone.
Thank you, Beauty and Lace and Pan Macmillan Australia, for the opportunity to read and review “Three Boys Gone” by Mark Smith.
The dilemma, taking the ferocious wind, and ocean conditions into account, Grace questioned am I a strong enough confident swimmer capable of saving three teen boys lives without risking my own life, making myself the fourth drowning victim. Imagine having to make that split second decision and then having to live with the consequences. That is the impossible situation Grace Disher finds herself in, when a meticulously planned overnight school camping trip goes horribly wrong.
In hindsight Grace wondered if she should have postponed her trip, considering the severe weather warnings issued, advising the unfavourable weather conditions, gale force winds, damaging surf, cliff instability and potential flooding that were expected over the coming days. Grace chose to continue, and the trip went ahead with an outcome no one saw coming.
As I delved deeper into the story, two distinct sides clearly come to the forefront, those undoubtedly on Graces team and empathetic to her situation and those who do everything in their power to tear Grace down, putting the school’s reputation before Grace’s wellbeing.
I also found myself in two camps, camp Grace without a doubt in one chapter, in the next chapter siding with the parents and authorities looking for answers and someone to blame.
Three Boys Gone is a wild ride, putting the reader in Grace’s shoes throughout, and questioning yourself how you would have reacted if placed in the same situation, a great read, which I thoroughly enjoyed.
Three Boys Gone is the story of a school camping trip that goes horribly wrong, resulting in the drowning deaths of three of the teenage students.
Grace is the teacher in charge of the trip and the resulting scrutiny and investigation seems to centre around her actions (and inactions) on that fateful day.
This book really hit home for me. When I was a teenager, my brother’s classmate drowned on a school camp.
This book also explores the theme of resistance in the Catholic school system to accept same sex relationships (I also personally know a gay female teacher who was fired from her Catholic high school teaching job due to them discovering she was gay).
This book is very well written and has a slow burning story that culminated in quite an unexpected crescendo.
I really enjoyed this book, it was thought provoking and an interested read.
Mark Smith’s Three Boys Gone is a compelling and emotional novel that explores themes of friendship, loss, and the complexities of growing up. Set against a vivid backdrop, the story follows three boys whose lives take unexpected turns, each dealing with their own personal struggles. Smith’s writing is evocative, drawing readers into the boys’ world and making their experiences feel immediate and raw. The narrative is both heart-wrenching and thought-provoking, capturing the fleeting nature of youth and the deep scars left by trauma. With rich character development and a poignant storyline, Three Boys Gone is a powerful read that lingers long after the final page.