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Four years ago, Mackenzie Philip's youngest daughter was abducted during a camping trip. Her bloodied dress is found in a remote cabin in the woods, and all evidence points to her being the victim of a serial killer. Mack's family continues to suffer, and his anger at God is unrelenting. Then, one day, there's a note in his mailbox from "Papa," asking him to come to the shack. Papa is his wife's name for God. Against his better judgment, Mack returns to the shack that destroyed his life, and confronts God Himself.

First things first. The concept of this book is great. It addresses the nature of God, and why God allows evil to exist, and how forgiveness can be achieved. It's very thought-provoking stuff.

However, the writing is downright atrocious. If I'm reading a forward and I have the need to reach for my red pen and start editing, that's a very, very bad sign. The voice is inconsistent. The forward and afterward don't fit the voice of the rest of the book. There are info dumps, including several pages that read like a tour guide to Oregon. For me, though, the most frustrating thing was the dialogue, especially the dialogue of God in all His facets. I see what the author was trying to do. He wanted to make God friendly and approachable, but he does so in a melodramatic matter where God! Constantly uses! Exclamation points! He also laughs constantly and even speaks in chuckles/laughs in dialogue tag (an amateur writer's mistake). Therefore, the dialogue felt forced and fake, which is a shame since the subject matter was compelling. It feels like when this book was picked up by a major publisher, they didn't have anyone edit, and that's to their discredit.

I can see why this sold millions of copies. I can also see why I found my copy at Goodwill.