I was told by several people to check out “The Shack” by William Paul Young. And I was warned that it was weird and that it was about God. I would agree with both those statements.First off, let me remind everyone that it is FICTION (it says so on the author’s own Web site). I think there are a lot of great things about the book, but anyone who confuses this for a non-fiction book may come away with some significant misconceptions.

Now that we’ve got that out of the way, let’s talk details. The book is about a man (Mack) whose young daughter was kidnapped and murdered. He sinks into a depression (understandable) until one day he receives a note that seems to come from God saying (essentially) “Let’s hang out”.

Mack is angry, but he goes nonetheless, and ends up meeting God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit (the author assigns them very human characteristics, which may or may not meet with your approval).  Does he find the answers he’s looking for? Kind of, you’ll have to read it to find out.

Is the book Biblical? No, but it really doesn’t pretend to be either. If you’ve struggled through a time when you felt like God was distant, or if you’re angry with God over some situation or pain in your life, this story is worth reading as a story. It may touch your heart; it could even jar something loose.