Alice In Ultraland

LOCAL AUTHOR

The first thing that comes to mind is that this book is fun. A really fun story about a girl named Alice who works for a strip club, aka burlesque theatre, called the Moulin Rouge. The owner, Sally Hyde, along with her son, Tommy, is making some changes and planning on upping their game to transform the Moulin Rouge into Ultraland. I absolutely love the punny title of this book as well as the way Alice really does seem to slide down the rabbit hole…or rather to Tahoe. Upon being hired at Ultraland, Alice discovers that Deidre, her best friend who got her the job, has been dating Tommy and is madly in love. Through a series of events, Alice finds herself with a group of other ladies from the club and a few surprising supernatural guests who live at the club, taking a trip to Tahoe to find a secret something that one of the ghosts had hidden long ago.

I really loved the characters in this book. Alice seemed like a very normal, good-head-on-her-shoulders-type of gal, while the other dancers were very fancy and outspoken. Tommy Hyde is a very big playboy, although we find that he is not very fond of the creatures from another realm. One ghost was an Olympic hopeful who died tragically and goes to see his girlfriend in one part of the book.

Another part of the book that was fantastic was the description of the theater. With its velvet drapes, sconces, and chandeliers, the reader can only imagine what it would be like to step onto the stage of Ultraland. The author paid much attention to detail, from the decor to the costumes and acts the women would be performing, which I enjoyed reading about. The best part of the book was that it was written with class. The author’s main focus was not on the dancing itself but about the characters, their relationships, and their development throughout the story. Some of the ghosts were quite funny. Being from the San Francisco Bay Area, I appreciated the author’s description of the various neighborhoods. From the Tenderloin to Burlingame to Half Moon Bay, I was able to say that I knew where all of those places are in relation to each other, and it made the story easier to visualize.

Overall, this book was an easy-to-read story with colorful characters and a beautiful backdrop. The plot was simple to follow but believable sans ghosts. I truly enjoyed reading Alice in Ultraland.