I thought you might like to see a new book my family read this week called Welcome to Ord City by Adrian Deans. I was sent a PDF copy of the book from Voracious Readers in exchange for the review. Inside this post are my affiliate links if you click on the links and make a purchase I will make a small percentage off the items you purchase.
When Conan Tooley, a Sydney based AFP Officer was sent to Ord City to solve a murder – which seemed like any other – he came across much more than he bargained for. Drugs, terrorists, gangs, religious sects, angry people and so much more. Made us ask what is next and why. The book also touches on immigration, sexuality which I don’t like reading about.
Welcome to Ord City combines politics, dark humour, murder, sexual assaults, and lots of explicit language. Which had ne stopp reading the book half-way through but David picked the novel up and read the entire story so he could let me know if the lanuage got better or worse. David let me know I wouldn’t be able to get past the language and being a Australian book it got confusing at times. David let me know he thought the story would be more for men and children no. matter there age shouldn’t read the book even though Charlie asked to.
About the book:
All refugees welcome in Australia!
In 2023, Australia reversed its closed border policy and said to the world:
‘Welcome! You are free to come to Australia, but you must spend the first seven years in the Temporary Citizenship Zone around the Ord River.’
Seven years later, Ord City is a teeming Asian metropolis with 2.5 million people preparing for the First Wave – the first tranche of refugees gaining full citizenship – on Australia Day 2030. But mainstream Australia is passionately divided over Ord City, not least because of the risk of letting in terrorists, and dark political forces are bubbling to the surface.
Agent Conan Tooley is sent up to Ord City to look into a routine gangland murder, but finds himself frustrated and confused by the questions that arise at every step. As the days to the First Wave count down, Conan encounters any number of people throwing up obstacles, including The Army of God (a Christian charity active in Ord City); a carload of young people travelling to Ord City for the Illumination Festival the night before the First Wave; and Asif, a deep cell terrorist with a deadly mission. There is also the Shadow Group – mysterious figures who seem to be pulling strings at high levels to achieve some hidden purpose.
As the various subplots wind towards the explosive conclusion, the motives and values of all are profoundly challenged.
Welcome to Ord City is a satirical crime thriller set against the backdrop of Australia’s refugee policy and the malleable populism that characterises the Lucky Country in the C21
Thank you,
Glenda, Charlie and David Cates
