Mal Jones has been angered by the way the Government has started to run the welfare system as a target-driven business, rather than as a caring and compassionate helping hand. This frustration is the motivation behind Can Openers, an intense dystopian thriller about where our Government may lead us. Every aspect of peoples’ lives are determined by a rigid framework set down by the authoritarian Dependency Department that organises people based on evidence based science. Believing the poor are feckless, and self-reliance should be encourages, Frederick Smyth, the head of the district unit, is at the height of his potential. Frederick’s ambitions of promotion are thwarted as a shocking, and brutal murder turns his life upside-down. This darkly comic novel, is full of surprising twists that keep the reader guessing. Set in a near future society where survival of the fittest is state policy, this novel is stark warning of where our society may be heading.
