Finished audio 5-5-10, rating 3/5, spiritual fiction, pub. 2007

Narrated by Roger Mueller

Mack is haunted by the death of his youngest daughter.  Becoming a shell of his formal self he keeps God at a distance even as his wife embraces God, or Papa as she likes to call him.  One day a few years after the kidnapping Mack receives a note from Papa that asks Mack to come to the Shack.  Mack hides his intent from his wife and children and heads to the Oregon wilderness one weekend.  Mack is greeted by a large black woman (God), and nondescript Jewish man (Jesus) and an Asian spirit (Holy Ghost).  As the weekend unfolds Mack learns about what love and God really mean and he is able to come to terms with his heartbreaking past, even beyond that of the death of his daughter.

There are many hot button issues covered here with religion, forgiveness, pain, and grace being a few of the prominent ones.  Mack spends alone time with each of the trinity and learns from each of them, some lessons more meaningful than others. 

My Mom raved about this one as did many people who read it and I wanted to love it too.  Only I didn’t love it, but I did like it.  There were lots of things to think about in this one, but it didn’t change my view of the world or my role in it.  There were lots of things in here that I already believed and there were others that were interesting and thought-provoking.  I guess I just don’t like fiction books that cram too many spiritual ideas in.  The story becomes irrelevant and almost trite.  I’d rather read a fiction story that addresses one issue or a nonfiction book that doesn’t bother with trying to manipulate my feelings.

I listened to this in the car which I do not think was ideal.  Maybe if I had been able to set the book down and think on it at various times I would have enjoyed it more.

I borrowed this unabridged audio book from the library.

Finished 4-28-10, rating 4/5, mystery, pub. 2000

Book 2 in the Merci Rayborn series

I always think a series should be read in order, but for the first time on my blog I’m going to say that you don’t have to read the first one to truly appreciate the second in this series.  Here’s my review of the first one.  I didn’t really care for Merci in Blue Hour, but I did like her in this one.

Merci is a homicide detective living with her young son and widowed father.  She has a new partner, after her last one (and the father of her child) was killed, a love interest, and a new case that threatens at least one of those relationships.  A prostitute is murdered and it looks like there is at least one cop involved.  Then Merci is handed a cold case 30 years old and it is also a murdered prostitute involving cops.  Could they somehow be related?  And why is someone trying to help her by providing evidence? 

Merci really did grow on me this time around.  She still has some issues, but the death of Hess a few years ago and the birth of her son has softened her a bit.  This is not one of those mysteries that wraps up everything with a beautiful bow.  Yes, all of the storylines reached a conclusion, but there were some difficult decisions to be made and Merci is just the gal to make them.  Life is messy and this mystery captured that.  Loved it.  My only complaint was the large cast of characters.  I sometimes had a difficult time remembering who was who.

I’m looking forward to the next one is the series.  This book came from my own library.