THE BLURB
Close friends Allan and Warwick are dead. They’re not crazy about the idea so to help them deal with this dilemma are Samantha, a blond bombshell from the 1950s, and Guy, an insecure angel.
They are soon drawn into the world of theatre – Afterlife style, with all the bitchiness, back-stabbing and ego usually associated with the mortal world.
Allan also has a secret. He has a romantic crush on his friend, Warwick, but shortly after confiding in his new angel pal, his love interest falls for the cock-sure playwright, Pedro. Not only does Allan have to win the heart of his companion, he also has to grapple with the faded memory of how he actually died.
WHAT I THOUGHT
Go into this one with no preconceived ideas, grab yourself a glass of red vino and sit back, relax and watch the theatre unfold before your eyes. Words that pop into my mind when I think about this story are love, lust, vanity, poor self-esteem, over-the-top, backstabbing, bitching, growth, rebirth, friendships, enemies – lights, camera, action! In this book there certainly are drama queens and love scenes.
All of that aside it is also a journey of soul-searching (pardon the pun); time to look deep inside and find the truth. This is true for Allan. In his afterlife journey he has many confronting situations to deal with, not the least of trying to get his mind around where he is and why he is there.
Allan also gets to act in some theatre productions. Allan is not just acting though, he’s coming alive through the characters he plays; he’s discovering things about himself and about others. Acting, it seems to me, is a cover for hidden emotions which need to be given life. We often hear people wear many masks and each mask has a different persona underneath – Allan needs to discard the masks but first he needs to realise he’s wearing them.
I liked it. As you can imagine, the theatre evokes many different kinds of people and personalities and I believe Kevin did a good job of demonstrating this, along with the more serious theme of finding the true you and loving what you find. The road may not be easy but it is definitely worth it.
Many thanks to Kevin Klehr for providing me with a copy of Drama Queens with Love Scenes, his first born – thanks, Kevin!
