Dying isn’t just hard on the ones left behind, the regret of unfinished lives weighs heavily on the terminally ill. That’s where Dire’s Club steps in, a specialty travel agency that takes a small group of dying people on one final adventure-so they can be free of guilt, be more than a diagnosis, and find a way to confront life…and death.
Life Coach Charlotte Claybrooke built a successful second career guiding people out of grief, but the impending tenth anniversary of her own heart-wrenching tragedy sets her on a journey to find life among the dying.
Staring death in the face was Jimmy Dire’s business. He met it with a warm hug, a kind word, and a smile. Dire’s Club gave the terminally ill one final, bucket-list adventure before passing on, but dying was expensive. The bills, like Jimmy’s lies, were piling up. It’s only a matter of time before he’s forced to face a different type of death.
A rock god, a telenovela star, a grandmother living her life-long dream, and a young tech genius round out this group of strangers facing death together. But when tragedy strikes, their bond is shattered. Lies and fraud surface, forcing the dying to come together to save someone’s life.
Everybody dies. The lucky ones have fun doing it.
Dire’s Club trailer from Kimberly Walton on Vimeo.
No one person has cornered the market on death because all living things die. Death can be a cruel thief, but knowledge of impending death can provide the opportunity to pull out all the stops and live life to the fullest, even if for just a little while.
In Dire’s Club by Kimberly Packard, Jimmy Dire and his assistant, Darla Steele, offer the terminally ill the chance to live out their dying wish. A farewell tour, so to speak. Granting the wishes of the dying does not come cheap, and Jimmy and Darla find that the enterprise has been operating too long in the red to keep faking their way out of it with venture capitalist, Enzo. The jig is up, but unfortunately, budget woes are not the only problem.
The current group of Diers in the Dire’s Club come together to partake and enjoy each person’s chosen final adventure, with a strong connection slowly forming and cementing them together, for good and for bad, in truth and in lies, in sickness and in health. Choosing a single main character here is impossible because Charlotte, Jimmy, and Darla jockey for the spotlight throughout. Dire’s Club is not necessarily about one person but about the human race and the undeniable veracity that everyone will die. With that said, Dire’s Club is actually quite lite on the morbid factor and heavy on embracing the beauty of life lived honestly and without regret.
“Live like your life depends on it.”
Let’s compare this motley group in Dire’s Club with those rascally teens in The Breakfast Club: Levi, the aging rocker with liver disease; Lourdes, the telenovela star with cancer; Dylan, the young genius with a brain tumor; Celeste, the widow with early stage Alzheimer’s; and Charlotte, the self-help impostor with a self-imposed death sentence. Similar to The Breakfast Club, these people are randomly thrust together and end up experiencing life-changing moments and revelations. Unlike in the 1985 movie, however, these adults in Dire’s Club do not get to just walk away from a single day of detention gifted with enlightenment and the chance to do better, be better, and live better. Or do they?
Kimberly Packard uses lovely language to tell a story about dying that should be morose and depressing but is actually filled with hope, love, trust, and healing. Yes, the overall premise is a sad one, but the author transforms such a mournful topic into one of adventure and camaraderie. Not all is sweetness and light, however, because marring the perfection of fulfilling final wishes is a bucketful of secrets. No foray into adulthood, no matter how brief, is without heartache, mystery, or even a few skeletons, with several characters harboring more than their fair share of secrets. Will the deceptions break the fragile thread linking these people together, or will the truth set them free and strengthen the bond that even death cannot sever?
Don’t let a story about terminally ill characters scare you off because Dire’s Club is quite entertaining on the surface and thoughtful and edifying just below. The body and mind will eventually decay and betray, but accepting our own mortality with bravado and then living our best life with authenticity and gentle compassion can be our legacy for the taking.
“Despite the color of one’s skin, the hearts were all the same.
They beat the same. They loved the same.
Broke the same.”
Enter the giveaway below on or before April 16, 2021, for a chance to win a copy of Dire’s Club by Kimberly Packard.
I received a free copy of this book from Lone Star Book Blog Tours in exchange for my honest review.
(US only. Ends midnight, CDT, 4/16/2021)
CLICK TO VISIT THE LONE STAR LITERARY LIFE TOUR PAGE
|
4/6/21 |
Book |
|
|
4/6/21 |
Review |
|
|
4/6/21 |
BONUS |
|
|
4/7/21 |
Review |
|
|
4/7/21 |
BONUS |
|
|
4/8/21 |
Review |
|
|
4/8/21 |
Notable |
|
|
4/9/21 |
Review |
|
|
4/10/21 |
Review |
|
|
4/11/21 |
Author |
|
|
4/12/21 |
Review |
|
|
4/13/21 |
Review |
|
|
4/13/21 |
Playlist |
|
|
4/14/21 |
Review |
|
|
4/14/21 |
Deleted |
|
|
4/15/21 |
Review |
|
|
4/15/21 |
Review |
Excellent review, as always. It sounds like there is perfect balance between lightness and depth and time well-spent between the covers of this book. Thanks for sharing.