I have to admit right up front, I would’ve never heard of this book if it wasn’t for my mother (and you thought she was only good for a hot meal. wrong!) and my interest in the afterlife. And now I know why, The Shack, is a self-published novel by author Paul Young, which hit the best-seller list, with 6 million copies printed since 2007. Don’t let that self-published scare you, it’s inspirational and reads like a fast paced thriller. What could be better?

The Shack is the fictional tale of a man named Mack who has to deal with a horrible family tragedy. Within a year Mack heads out to his mailbox to find an invitation from the one and only, yes you guessed it, the big man up stairs, God, to the shack where the tragedy occurred. But this is where it gets interesting, God isn’t exactly a man, or so it seems. Young really explores an interesting take on God, Jesus, and the afterlife (again the primary reason I cranked through this book). He breaks every religious mold you can think of, bringing together elements from the book When Bad Things Happen to Good People by Harold S. Kushner and the 1998 film, What Dreams May Come.

Mack gets the deep questions answered many of us ask everyday as well as meeting long lost relatives. But just when you think you know where the story is headed you get slammed for a turn that begs the question of what really just happened or did it happen at all.

For those of you non-bible folks (and believe me, I can’t even remember my last confession), check it out just for what we might be in store for in our next life. God supposedly cooks bacon. Bacon is good! [The Shack]