Afterlife

Book excerpt: When the Archangel Gabriel recognises a problem in the Afterlife, he engages a management consultant. Geoffrey Kingston is amazed that his atheism and his adulteries matter less than his expertise in down-sizing. his commission will cap his meteoric rise from provincial Queensland to the corridors of power in Canberra if he can understand the structure, the personnel and the residents of the Afterlife, and the implications of disembodiment. Meanwhile Geoffrey's family and his mistress are consoled by a Visiting Medical Officer. As he comforts the bereaved, Dr Angel Milan discovers a great deal about Geoffrey's affairs and the consequences of embodiment. Gabriel is still puzzled by the apple incident in Eden. While the meaning of Life eludes him, he reveals the meaning of the Afterlife and explains to Geoffrey the paradox that he knows all about Life but simply cannot understand it. When Geoffrey submits his advice therefore, he is offered his ultimate commission. As he ponders Gabriel's agenda, however, he resolves to take the ultimate risk and double-cross the CEO of the Afterlife.