Customer Reviews
Abysmal - By: Mr. Stephen Smith, 01 Dec 2008 
I bought this book by accident but gave it a fair chance.
A facile god bothering pile of rubbish.
An amazing and inspiring read! - By: C. Pugh, 27 Nov 2008 
This book was a beautiful read. It reads like a true story but touches on the essence of God & our realtionship with Him.
The author has picked a topic that is not usually talked about amongst Christian circles & one that I believe everyone finds dark & disturbing, that of a child being raped & murdered, & the consequences leading from this. However the book is able to take something dark & sinister & find a way we can walk through it & still see God.
It touched my heart & I would recommend it to all, especially those who are struggling with their ideas of who God is & where God isin all the sufferring that is going on around us.
Way off the mark.... - By: M. Simpson, 21 Nov 2008 I began reading this book with an open mind, expecting something quite extraordinary, partly based on the reviews here, & partly based on the excitement it seemed to be generating from those that had read it.
The basic premise (and this isin no way a spoiler) is that something very bad happens, & the novel attempts to work through the why's & what-if's of it all. No suprises there..
That it uses some unusual stereotypes for its central characters is unusual, &in parts delightful to read, but once again, no suprises there. I was expecting a little of that anyway.
When I got to the end of the book, & its underlying implication / message of "this might be a true strory" I was outraged.
Outraged, because I found the deeply hurtful central issue of "why did this (bad thing) happen" totally unanswered to any satisfaction. I found the implication that it wasin some way "meant" to happen misjudged, & that all is OKin some other place, bizarre. And I found the whole treatment of such deeply dreadful loss & injustice skirted over, dismissed, & explained away.
This is totally unforgivable from the author (and a totally unforgivable crimein my book too.)
Sorry, fans, it just doesn't live up to the hype I'm afraid.
"This weekend is about relationship and love" - By: Four Violets, 18 Nov 2008 The blurb says it's "heart-warming & inspirational", & that it's about a man, Mack, striving to understand why God allows pain & sufferingin the world. Well, it wasn't my choice to read the book, it was given to me, & I was determined I would find it smug & irritating.
Right from the start there were surprises: after a few pages I realised it was funny, down to earth, & was going to deliver some jolts. First page, the menin Mack's family are all addressed by their middle name - asin my family. That got my attention. Then the setting seemed eerily familiar & jolt 2, I realised it is setin Nez Perce Indian country, Oregon. I have just read & reviewed "Selling Your Father's Bones" about this place... it was like journeying over some very familiar ground. Jolt 3, whether I liked it or not, the deceptively simplistic language of the book contains some mind-blowingly huge theological conceptsin the most accessible way. There is a lot that orthodoxy will frown at. (Good) - & a lot of answers that will make a lot of sense to a lot of people.
Many readers will immediately love this; (dare I say, it is more likely to appeal to less cynical Americans than British) others like myself will have to struggle past the initial "over-sickly-sentimental" doubts & hesitations. But...
..."Mack would like you to know that if you happen upon this story & hate it, he says "Sorry...but it wasn't primarily written for you"" (page 13).
My own final jolt was on page 147 as this has been the subject of much debate among some of my friends recently.
Finally, if addressing God as Papa sounds weird: Jesus uses the word "daddy"in Mark 14:36.
Tears would not stop.... - By: Ms. C. Graham, 14 Nov 2008 I am not a religious person at all but this book was gripping, moving, inspiring & gobsmacking all at the same time - a great story if you believein God or not.
