Suburban Sleep

By Paul Gray

RUNNING WILD by J.G. Ballard

Farrar, Straus & Giroux

104 pages; $12.95

Something horrible, instantly dubbed by the British tabloids as the Pangbourne Massacre, has occurred in an elegant, exclusive development west of London: 32 adult residents of the tasteful new houses have been murdered, and 13 children have disappeared. Baffled investigators, ranging from the local police up to the Home Office and Scotland Yard, eventually call on Dr. Richard Greville, a psychiatrist who specializes in criminal behavior. Running Wild is his report.

It is also the latest novel by J.G. Ballard, a world-class writer of science fiction (The Day of Creation) and autobiography (Empire of the Sun). Old Ballard fans may regret the brevity of this latest installment, but they, along with new readers, are certain to solve the mystery before Dr. Greville does. As he explains, "My failure to recognize the obvious, in common with almost everyone else concerned, is a measure of the true mystery of the Pangbourne Massacre." In other words, as Ballard has suggested in other tales, the sleep of suburbia produces monsters. -- P.G.