THE AFTERLIFE CLUB
Jude Ryan
e-book
Kindle: 429 KB Print Length: 196 pages
Publisher: Chelsea Square (May 6, 2011)
Sold by: Amazon Digital Services
Kindle Freebie in Jan. 2012
e-book
Kindle: 429 KB Print Length: 196 pages
Publisher: Chelsea Square (May 6, 2011)
Sold by: Amazon Digital Services
Kindle Freebie in Jan. 2012
When twenty-five-year-old Madeleine Duffy wakes up after a terrifying cycling accident to hear she's the newest member of the Afterlife Club, Cyclists' Chapter, she's thinks it's a place more horrifying than hell itself. After all, the only reason she even hauled her bulk onto that torture machine every morning was the chance to see London's hottest cyclist (aka Corduroy Man) go by each day -- and maybe lose a few pounds in the process. Things get even worse when Madeleine discovers she's expected to get back on the bike to help protect the living from traffic doom. How can a woman whose life revolved around shopping and croissants be expected to change in death? But when Madeleine's own reluctance to let go results in disastrous consequences, she must decide: is she strong enough to fulfill the new role she's been given, or should she cling to the empty life she no longer lives? And now that she's dead, how in heaven's name is she ever going to attract Corduroy Man?
The Afterlife Club Page at Amazon.com
With a deep concept uncharacteristic to the genre and voice, this story is a slow moving STEAMBATH (1973 TV adaptation of Bruce Jay Friedman's off-Broadway play) meets IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE meets a piece of light chick lit. While it was occasionally moving, I felt no good reason to care for Madeleine, she is selfish and stuck in a rather uncomfortable comfort zone. I felt sorry for the one's left behind and the Corduroy Jacket man she longs to meet. But, in death she learns the meaning of life. The ending was almost a non sequitur―abrupt and unexplained. The first two-thirds of the book is slow; I imagined myself dying before anything significant happens. About then, the foreshadowed and expected meeting of the story arcs happens.
There are a lot, A LOT of typos, characters' names changing, misspellings etc. It is listed as having a publisher who I am unable to locate, but it is inexcusable that this many errors made it to the reader's page, especially now that is priced and not free.
The British chick-lit voice and characters are pleasant enough, the characters are even well-developed, but the pace and the errata took away, and the concept, life/death/existential crisis was deeper than the story. If it were a bit less fluffy, the concept might meet the story but as it stands it feels off-balance.
And, I can't believe I remembered a TV movie from 1973, including the actress who was in it.
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There are a lot, A LOT of typos, characters' names changing, misspellings etc. It is listed as having a publisher who I am unable to locate, but it is inexcusable that this many errors made it to the reader's page, especially now that is priced and not free.
The British chick-lit voice and characters are pleasant enough, the characters are even well-developed, but the pace and the errata took away, and the concept, life/death/existential crisis was deeper than the story. If it were a bit less fluffy, the concept might meet the story but as it stands it feels off-balance.
And, I can't believe I remembered a TV movie from 1973, including the actress who was in it.
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