An unputdownable supernatural thriller about a mysterious global event, set in an Australian rural town.

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?