The Shack: Where Tragedy Confronts Eternity by William P. Young

If you like The Shack try this...by Anonymous

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December 06, 2009: "Forgiving Ararat", the first novel from Gita Nazareth, is a unique and inspiring afterlife adventure! The book's heroine is Brek Cuttler, a 31-year-old lawyer, wife and mother who happens to be recently deceased. Leaving behind her new baby daughter and her TV reporter husband, Brek suddenly finds herself sitting in a deserted train station, not yet aware of her own passing. She meets Luas, who reveals she has come to a place called Shemaya, the place between life and death, Heaven and Hell. Luas looks like a combination of people she knows; he appears to each soul as they expect or desire to see him. In fact, much of what Brek sees is only because it's what she wants to see. When she wants, she sees herself dressed in her favorite black silk suit but alternately she's naked and bloody, three bullet holes in her chest. She can't remember how she died and won't until she's ready.

We travel with Brek as she explores Shemaya, a place where all four seasons exist at once, where her long-dead great-grandmother waits with open arms, where God judges arriving souls and decides their eternal fate. Luas tells Brek she is to join his team of elite lawyers, charged with representing souls in the Final Judgment. As she clings desperately to her earthly life, in agony longing for her family, she struggles with her new job in the afterlife. To learn her new trade, she observes the trials of other souls, viewing glimpses of their lives through their own eyes. As she watches their lives unfold, connections form, leading her to solve the mystery of her own death. Meantime, she recalls pivotal moments in her own life; she puts childhood friends "on trial" for crayfish murder, she struggles to accept her parents' divorce, and she confesses her deepest and darkest secret. And we see it is justice she's been after since childhood, that's why she became a lawyer. And it is justice she seeks in death.

Religious themes are prevalent throughout the novel, mostly Judeo-Christian with some hints of Buddhism. Raised Catholic, Brek is drawn to Judaism, the religion of her husband. With Brek we visit the Garden of Eden and sway on the deck with Noah. And it is the afterlife after all, so she eats whatever she wants without gaining an ounce, she shops without money, she climbs mountains without breaking a sweat, and she travels to whatever destination she imagines. Well-drawn characters from her life and those she meets after death are woven in adding to the suspense.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book! The author drew me in so deeply, I felt Brek's emotions as if they were my own. The author creates an image of the afterlife that is altogether beautiful, frightening, gory, inspiring, mysterious, joyful and sad. I think anyone regardless of their beliefs, can gain something from this book. It's a murder mystery, supernatural thriller and a theological debate all rolled into one. Clever and imaginative, "Forgiving Ararat" is a fulfilling read!

I Also Recommend: Forgiving Ararat, Forgiving Ararat.

The Shackby Anonymous

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December 04, 2009: This book is great fiction, and like all good fiction, it made me think about real life. The tragedy of a girl my little sister's age being kidnapped and murdered was really hard to read. The spiritual adventure that followed for this little girl's father was entertaining, thought-provoking, and a little uncomfortable. Mack (Missy's father and the main character) finds a note in the mailbox from "Papa" inviting him to the shack where his daughter was brutally murdered. At first he thinks it is a sick joke, then the murderer's attempt to get him away from his remaining children so he can hurt them, and last he reluctantly considers it might actually be from God, since Papa is the name his wife Nan has for him. When Nan decides to take the kids and go visit her sister for the weekend, Mack takes the opportunity to travel to the shack and find out who is behind the mysterious note. He has no idea what he is in for.

At the shack (now turned into a lovely rustic cabin) he encounters Papa in the form of a hefty African American woman with a love for cooking, hugging, and talking. He also meets Jesus and Sarayu who represents the Holy Spirit. He spends a very intense weekend with this group I know as the Trinity. They have invited him there to force him to come to terms with "The Great Sadness", the lasting effects of the loss of his daughter almost three years before as well as his incorrect thinking about man's relationship with God.

I have talked to many people who love the book, but also many who have stressed to me that it is not based on the Bible. I liked the book because it challenged me to think about my own faith and how we all can put God in a box and not allow him to be the Creator he is. Though I believe that Jesus calls God "Father" for a reason, God could do anything he wants to meet a person where they are, and I think that's what he did with Mack. Because Mack had a poor relationship with his own earthly dad and because he was feeling shaky as a dad himself because of not being able to protect his daughter Missy, Papa decided to meet him as a woman instead. Would God actually do this? I don't know, but who am I to limit him?

The book made me think about the relationship that God wants to have with humans and how so many man-made ideas get in the way. The hardest part for Mack - and me, was the idea that we are not called to judge one another. That is God's work, and I know that. But I have never thought about humans that judge God when things go wrong in our imperfect world. The world that we screwed up!

One of my favorite parts is when he sits down to eat a meal they have prepared for him and he stops to say a table prayer. Then he realizes he is sitting with the very one he is praying to and looks up to see them smiling at him. He simply says, "Thanks, guys. Can I have some rice, please".

This book shows the journey of a sad man who can't get out of the depression he is feeling as the result of the actions of another. His journey includes learning to forgive the very man he blames for his misery and for the God who "allowed" it to happen. I think this fictional story helps us all to feel more human and more willing to let God love us as he does.