No Church in the Wild

Five years after violence erupted between young migrants and local police in Melbourne's inner west, a police-led trip to hike the Kokoda Trail seeks to rebuild trust. But fresh allegations of racial profiling have the community on a knife-edge.

For wannabe rapper Ali, pride is hard to come by in the commission towers, were friend's fill the gaps left by a family secret.

Classmate Tyler's anger - at his broken home, and a world that denies his dreams - is close to ignition.

With her life in disarray, young and idealistic teacher Anna defies a school system that's failing her students.

And Paul, a cop new to the beat, quickly realises it'll take more than community policing to relations with local youth.

From the vial-studded stairs of the inner-city high-rises to the mud-sucking jungle of Kokoda, No Church in the Wild is a fierce interrogation of contemporary Australian society and the prejudices that still underpin it.

About the Author

Murray Middleton is a Melbourne-based writer who spent eight years working in the city's education system. His first collection of stories, When There's Nowhere Else to Run, won The Australian/Vogel Literary Award and was shortlisted for the New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards. He is also a winner of The Age Short Story Award. In 2016, Murray was named Sydney Morning Herald's Best Young Australian Novelist. He currently restrings tennis racquets for a living.