Summary

The novel Running Wild by J.G. Ballard begins with the Home Office of the Metropolitan Police assigning Doctor Richard Greville, a consulting psychiatrist, to investigate the Pangbourne massacre . They call on Greville as a last resort because the police already investigated the case but found no suspects. 

Greville begins his investigation by watching the police video recorded within a few hours of the crime. On the morning of June 25, 1988, all the adults on the Pangbourne estate, ten married couples and twelve members of the domestic staff were murdered. The 13 children growing up on the estate went missing. 

Greville then looks into the history of the estate. He finds that it is a luxury residential complex, with the latest technology and a lot of state-of the-art facilities. The estate is well protected by security guards and video cameras, and it is difficult for outsiders to gain entry.

Greville does background checks on the murdered families and the murdered staff. He cannot find anything that connects them, nor any reason why anyone would w...