We Could be Heroes

With this funny and fast-paced contemporary, Ellis (Love & Other Scams) makes the familiar story of a closeted movie star feel fresh. Action hero Patrick Lake is mired in constant reshoots for his second Captain Kismet film in Birmingham, England, when his costar’s insistence he visit a gay club leads to a viral photo of him doing poppers. Luckily, a friendly neighborhood drag queen, Grace Anatomy, pulled him from the club before the situation could escalate, but now Patrick is on damage control. Meanwhile, in trying to track down a possibly apocryphal issue of the Captain Kismet comic’s original run, he meets Will Wright, a used bookstore employee who does not initially disclose that he and Grace are one and the same. Will assumes Patrick’s requests to hang out just stem from loneliness until Patrick admits to being gay but not coming out to keep his career on track. After Will signs an NDA, the men embark on a tender secret relationship, using “straight-man drag,” Patrick’s stunt double, and Will’s boisterous found family to outwit the paparazzi. Flashbacks to 1949 and the creation of Captain Kismet by a husband-and-wife team in a lavender marriage unearth the hero’s hidden queer origins and show continuity in homophobic threats to careers. Ellis brings both wit and empathy to bear throughout and crafts characters readers will root for. This is a delight. Agent: Maria Whelan, InkWell Management. (June)