Summary
Mackenzie Allen Philips’ youngest daughter, Missy, has been abducted during a family vacation and evidence that she may have been brutally murdered is found in an abandoned shack deep in the Oregon wilderness. Four years later in the midst of his great sadness, Mack receives a suspicious note, apparently from God, inviting him back to that shack for a weekend.
Hmmm
The Shack starts with one of my worst nightmares, a child goes missing and the father is powerless to do anything about it.
I like the story of Mack going to meet God in the Shack. I get that deeply. A time to go away and grieve and find peace. I love his relationship with God and the outcome.
but…
This book is very much written for a particular group of people rather than as a story, and that really lets it down. There are some beautiful (and new and important for the particular group of people) points made about God, and how God relates to us, and within himself, but the writer seems to fear that the people reading it won’t “get” it. It’s a bit like Mission Impossible 1 - a great story and a great film, but a lot of people didn’t “get” it, so Mission Impossible 2 had it’s story line, but the dialogue seemed to have to emphasise what should have been obvious. Ie:
Action:
a baddy walks in to the room.
Dialogue:
Look everyone this guy just walks in to the room. remember what he did. He’s really bad!
The book is worth a read. It won’t take you long, but the writing isn’t great.
