'Chloe' promises to be a real page-turner

• TITLE: Chloe - new novel based on award-winning screenplay Chloe Cleopatra Taylor
• AUTHOR: Cleveland O. McLeish
• REVIEWER: Keisha Hill

Chloe - A Novel is the story of a young woman named Chloe Cleopatra Taylor, who accepts Jesus Christ as her Saviour after facing many obstacles. Hers is a story of pain, worldly challenges and the unsolved mystery about her father.

She may seem like the 'girl next door', fighting her work life, an alcoholic mother and her rogue boyfriends, and the introspective fight to determine where God fits into her life. But her speculations about her 'dead' father make the story more intriguing and mysterious.

Cleopatra, Chloe's mother, was only 18 years old when she was raped and became pregnant. She struggled with the choice between an abortion as she was not sure if the child belonged to her rapist or her boyfriend. Also, being in her first year at college, she felt a baby would ruin everything. Chloe Cleopatra Taylor was born November 10, 1990.

Patrick Taylor, Chloe's father, is claimed by her mother to have died in a car accident, the day she was born. However, whenever she wants to learn more about him, it disturbs her mother. This results in constant quarrels and fights in the home and gives Chloe and the readers an illusion that Cleopatra may be trying to fight her own battle of a lifetime of mistakes.

Chloe struggles to blend in with society during the days and at nights she writes poetry, short stories and, eventually, a screenplay. She finds God and an inner peace and she finally begins to put her life into perspective.

Then strange things begin to happen. During this time, her supposedly 'dead' father shows up and she finds herself propelled on a journey to find the truth.

It is with this background that Chloe's life becomes even more intriguing as a weird series of events starts taking place around her. She soon ends up in places and she doesn't remember how she gets there. The boundary between reality and dream fades away when she starts seeing her 'dead' father.

She tries to get more information about her father and her own life, and starts realising that she and her mother have some disturbing things in common.

Intriguing drama

This is an intriguing drama that readers will have a difficult time putting down until they have reached the last page. It is already an award-winning screenplay, and promises to be a great mass entertainer. The Kindle Edition and hard copy of Chloe are already available on Amazon.

Cleveland O. McLeish is a published author and a multi-award-winning playwright and screenwriter. He has penned more than 100 plays and several screenplays. He is also a youth director and lay minister in the Church of God of Prophecy in Jamaica.

The novel is being being distributed locally by Novelty Trading Company Limited and is available in selected bookshops, supermarkets, pharmacies, stores, hotels and other outlets.