Wonderland

Alice in Wonderland meets Queer as Folk. Superficial stereotypes and gay bar melodrama draped in decadence and glowing with beauty.

Rob Browatzke takes you down the rabbit hole as you meet Alex, the kind of character you want to smack across the face for some of the choices he makes. Still, maybe you see a little bit of yourself in him. He's nearing thirty, and feeling the need to settle down. He decides to propose to boyfriend of six months, Steven, but the panic that decision causes him leads him to go to Wonderland, the hippest, hottest, happingest club in town. There, he visits the Caterpillar, resident drug dealer, and the cocaine he buys causes Steven to dump him. This is where the story starts, Alex drunk and high and lamenting his loss, and what's his solution? A threeway with Wonderland's Wonder Twins, Jesse and Colton.

Even a drunken threesome might be forgiveable, but then Steven goes missing, and as Alex begins to be harassed by the kidnapper, pieces of his past come back to push him even further away from Steven. While the Hatter plays sick beats and the Queen of Hearts dazzles all, Alex must decide: what is he willing to do for the one he loves.

Some of the charcters could stand to have a bit more...character, but the writing is witty and fast-paced and pulls the reader into this nightclub world where everything gets curiouser and curiouser. A couple plot twists leave you reeling as the book lurches towards the dramatic conclusion.

A good first-time effort for Edmonton native, Browatzke, and the sequel (out in May) promises even a darker tumble into Wonderland.

This has been a bobert review.