
Mark Smith’s first novel for adults is both a psychological thriller and an exploration of a shocking moral dilemma.
Mark Smith, a Victoria-based educator, is best known as the author of the critically acclaimed YA Winter Trilogy and If Not For Us, a very enjoyable YA climate novel. Like a number of his fellow YA authors, he has now written an adult novel.
The premise of Three Boys Gone is very simple, but it sets up a powerful moral dilemma.
Grace Disher is a young teacher who, with two colleagues, is about to lead a group of senior students on a walk along the Victorian coast. The action starts immediately. As she is preparing to meet the group, she spots three of the boys running into the ocean. The weather conditions are bad, and she cannot be heard as she runs towards them. By the time she gets to the water the boys are already in trouble, and in these conditions her students will drown. If she goes in after them, she knows it will be to no avail and she will drown. She follows the ‘first rule of rescue: don’t create another casualty’. And so she stands helplessly before the rough surf as the rest of the party arrives at the scene.
In the immediate aftermath, the boys had been in varying states of shock, lost behind glazed eyes. Noah shook violently and wrung his hands, while Daniel had to be restrained from trying to run into the water. He hurled himself time and again at Gerard’s huge frame, battering his chest with closed fists and sobbing. Some of the others formed a huddle high up on the beach, as though the sea might somehow rise up and claim them, too. Eventually, they turned their backs on it and crawled in under the cover of the tea trees.
Five boys had stood in a line on top of the dune, straining to see beyond the breakers. One would suddenly lift an arm and point, only to drop it again after a few seconds.
These scenes and their aftermath are compelling as the group struggles in relative isolation to get in touch with emergency services, to get to a safe spot for shelter in the midst of a storm, and to make sense of what has happened.
As she tries to retain her leadership of the group, Grace is stricken by the thought that she should have attempted to rescue the boys. Whether she should have given her life to rescue them, and the consequences of her decision not to do so, are the basis of the rest of the novel.
How the school authorities react to the situation and try to salvage their reputation, support the students and faculty, and fend off the demands of the grieving parents, ring true. An official inquiry is launched into the drownings and the media searches for scapegoats. Social media is alive with speculation about Grace and her actions.
Grace scrolled through the comments. Most offered condolences to the family and questioned how the accident could have happened without directly apportioning blame. But at the bottom was the option to view comments that may contain offensive material. Grace hesitated, clicked on it and immediately wished she hadn’t. There was more of what she’d read the night before, but the viciousness had been dialled up to eleven.
As the story unfolds, it becomes clearer that something is amiss and Grace may be in danger. This is a psychological thriller and all along the author has been leaving little Easter eggs signalling that all is not as it seems.
Mark Smith gives a very realistic portrayal of a school undermined by events beyond its control as it seeks to protect its community. The portraits of colleagues, supportive or conflicted, and the actions of the school leadership, seem real.
The media frenzy, the unhinged conjecture on social media, the actions of her colleagues and the slow process of the official inquiry – and the release of her personal details – cause Grace to unravel and lose her trust in herself and her friends. It becomes clearer that there is a bad actor at work and that Grace is in trouble. The denouement is very twisty, exciting and satisfying
This is a fine novel, gripping from the very first pages. It is strong on the moral dilemmas and guilt Grace faces, and its depiction of the impact of tragedy on the school community feels authentic, as does the exploration of both legacy and social media. I was engrossed all the way through.
Mark Smith Three Boys Gone Macmillan 2025 PB 336pp $34.99
Michael Jongen is a librarian and you can find him as @larrydlibrarian on Instagram and Threads.
You can buy Three Boys Gone from Abbey’s at a 10% discount by quoting the promotion code NEWTOWNREVIEW.
You can also check if it is available from Newtown Library.
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Tags: Australian fiction, Mark | Smith, moral dilemma, psychological thriller, teachers and students, YA authors
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