The Ottoman Motel

by Christopher Currie

The Text Publishing Company. Australian, Mystery. Paperback RRP $32.95

The Ottoman Motel and the town Reception, bring to mind words from the song Hotel California… you can check out anytime you like but you can never leave…

Simon and his parents arrive in the small northern NSW town of Reception on a late afternoon after travelling all day from their new home in Queensland. They are here to see Simon’s maternal grandmother, Iris, who they haven’t spoken to in several years… not since Simon’s accident. All Simon knows is that Iris is not well.

Once Simon and his parents have checked into the Ottoman Motel, his parents decide to go for a drive, leaving Simon to have a rest. When Simon wakes up, it is late and his parents have gone.

And so begins a mystery of a teenage boy being left in a town where everyone is a stranger, everyone has a secret and no-one can be trusted.

Christopher Currie has created a storyline that, although strangely bizarre, is all too possible. Parents going missing, children isolated, people hiding from the world in tiny towns. Add to this, illegal activities, inadequate police and children dealing with loss and you have a disturbing but captivating story.

This is one book that once you pick it up… you will struggle to put down again.

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