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Orpheus Nine
Paperback

Orpheus Nine

$32.99
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It began in every town and city at the same time, in every dark and twisted corner of our world. One third of the earth's citizens were asleep at the time. Their awakening was marked by horror and confusion. Just about everyone else had their routine interrupted as they witnessed the event with eyes wide open. They prayed it was a dream.

In the small, sleepy town of Gattan, population 7448, it happened at eleven o'clock on a Saturday morning. At the local soccer field, only one boy, aged ten years and one week, remained standing as the brothers, sisters and parents of his teammates realised the horror they were witnessing. Their screams split the sky.

One hundred and thirty million died that first day.

Every day since, on the morning of a child's ninth birthday, it happens again. No one knows why. The ongoing horror becomes known as Orpheus Nine and bereft parents cruelly labelled Orpheans. Global leaders have no answers as riots and chaos take hold. Supply chains are broken, violence and conspiracy theories spread as scientists wrestle with the ongoing death toll and militant Orpheans try to take matters into their own hands.

In Gattan, the chasm between life before and after grows wider between three old friends, now parents. They will wrestle with waves of grief at one child's loss, guilt at one child's survival and anger as another child edges closer to their birthday. In different ways these three friends will fight the unfathomable and attempt to defy this new reality. No matter the cost. But the truth is, the clock keeps ticking, the world order is crumbling and the gods are watching ...

From the bestselling author of Mammoth comes a propulsive and spine-chilling thriller that prompts the question: is this the end of days or the start of something new?

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MORE INFO
Format
Paperback
Publisher
Hachette Australia
Country
Australia
Date
26 March 2025
Pages
288
ISBN
9780733652271

It began in every town and city at the same time, in every dark and twisted corner of our world. One third of the earth's citizens were asleep at the time. Their awakening was marked by horror and confusion. Just about everyone else had their routine interrupted as they witnessed the event with eyes wide open. They prayed it was a dream.

In the small, sleepy town of Gattan, population 7448, it happened at eleven o'clock on a Saturday morning. At the local soccer field, only one boy, aged ten years and one week, remained standing as the brothers, sisters and parents of his teammates realised the horror they were witnessing. Their screams split the sky.

One hundred and thirty million died that first day.

Every day since, on the morning of a child's ninth birthday, it happens again. No one knows why. The ongoing horror becomes known as Orpheus Nine and bereft parents cruelly labelled Orpheans. Global leaders have no answers as riots and chaos take hold. Supply chains are broken, violence and conspiracy theories spread as scientists wrestle with the ongoing death toll and militant Orpheans try to take matters into their own hands.

In Gattan, the chasm between life before and after grows wider between three old friends, now parents. They will wrestle with waves of grief at one child's loss, guilt at one child's survival and anger as another child edges closer to their birthday. In different ways these three friends will fight the unfathomable and attempt to defy this new reality. No matter the cost. But the truth is, the clock keeps ticking, the world order is crumbling and the gods are watching ...

From the bestselling author of Mammoth comes a propulsive and spine-chilling thriller that prompts the question: is this the end of days or the start of something new?

Read More
Format
Paperback
Publisher
Hachette Australia
Country
Australia
Date
26 March 2025
Pages
288
ISBN
9780733652271
 
Book Review

Orpheus Nine
by Chris Flynn

by Aurelia Orr, Mar 2025

No one could explain what they saw, and no one could do anything about it. All the children aged nine across the world froze in time as they died a horrific death. As they stood still, they simultaneously chanted in Latin a quote from Shakespeare’s King Lear which, afterwards, every person left alive would have ingrained in their memories: ‘As flies to wanton boys are we to the gods. They kill us for their sport.’ On the first day, 130 million died.

The world has drastically changed as governments are overthrown, economies are ruined, wars have begun, conspiracy theories and cults run amok as people try to figure out what or who caused this catastrophe. Set in the rural Australian town of Gattan, the book focuses on three characters and how they react to the supernatural event known as ‘Orpheus Nine’: Jess, a grieving mother who watched her son die and finds solace in the Kingdom of Hades, a terrorist group of Orpheans (parents who’ve lost a child); Hayley, who is trying to work out how to save her daughter, whose ninth birthday is quickly approaching; and Dirk, whose wealthy and influential family always finds a way to benefit from tragedy.

The small setting emphasises the immediate distrust and lack of social cohesion when tragedy occurs, offering the town as a microcosm for the rest of the world, not only in this novel but also if this were to happen in our world. How would we react? As suspense builds and rises to a crescendo at the end, Orpheus Nine compellingly explores the psychology of each character as the end-of-days is upon them and what methods they turn to as they attempt to find comfort, justice, or even answers in the event of a sudden loss. But no matter how rich or poor, prepared or not, death comes to all. And what happened on the day of Orpheus Nine was just the beginning.