Atonement Camp for Unrepentant Homophobes By Evan J. Corbin, Performed by Christopher Solon
Genre: Contemporary Romance, GLBTQ, MM
Tropes: Closeted, homophobic protagonist comes out of the closet
Released: Audio-January 5, 2021 / ebook-Sept. 17, 2020
Publisher: Atonement Book, LLC
Length: 6 hrs, 46 mins / 356 pages
The oldest translation of a Gospel is returned to the world by a secret society long dedicated to its preservation. In it, Jesus explicitly condemns bigotry and homophobia. In a new world in which LGBTQ passengers receive preferential boarding for flights and the United States has elected its first lesbian President, Pastor Rick Harris is stalwart, closeted preacher who doggedly holds onto his increasingly unpopular convictions.
When an incendiary sermon goes too far and offends an influential family, Rick makes a painful choice to keep his job: He attends an atonement camp run by drag queens for society’s most unrepentant and terminally incurable homophobes.
Atonement Camp is immersion therapy for Pastor Harris, and it might be working. An open bar with pedicures, a devastatingly attractive roommate and an endless supply of glitter help him manage to make new friends. Soon, Rick and his cohorts learn the camp may hold its own secrets. Amid the smiling faces and scantily clad pool boys who staff the camp, a clandestine group plots to discredit the New Revelation and everything it stands for.
If Rick has the conviction to confront his own hypocrisy, he might be able to uncover the conspirators with help from his adopted flock—and find new truths within himself.
CONTENT WARNING: This novel addresses issues related to the infliction of emotional abuse by a homophobic parent who suspects his son to be a homosexual. Separately, while not the author’s intent, some readers may interpret the story’s attempt to confront issues of religious hypocrisy as an assault on religion itself. No such conclusion is intended. Lastly, the novel follows a protagonist who, at times, uses hateful slurs to refer to members of the LGBTQ community. Such language is intended to give authenticity to a self-hating, closed member of that same community. Readers may appreciate the protagonist’s growth as he embraces his sexuality and reconciles himself with his faith.
Reviewed by ButtonsMom2003
Thought provoking and engaging.
I wanted to listen to and review this book because it sounded interesting – and it was – but I just don’t really know how to describe how it made me feel. I can say that it did make me think about things that I perhaps had not ever really thought about before. At times I thought it was witty, at times I thought it was sad. Overall, it was a very engaging and thought-provoking story.
The audio performance of Christopher Solon also kept me totally engrossed in the story. I’ve listened to a few other audiobooks that he’s done and they’ve been very good but this one just blew me away. His performance of Atonement Camp was outstanding. There were many, many, different characters in this story and he did unique voices for each of them and switched characters very smoothly. I really can’t say enough good things about his performance.
Story: ♥♥♥♥
Performance: ♥♥♥♥♥
O Factor: Sweet
Evan is a member of the LGBTQ community who fancies himself as a playboy socialite, living in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Between work and lucid moments of sobriety, he writes a little. His debut novel is a light-hearted work that still manages to confront religious hypocrisy and contemporary LGBTQ struggles to balance their loss of culture with new-found civil rights.
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