Given the tragic death of his four-year-old daughter, LeFleur grows angry when reading about the stranger in the boat, says that prayer is “a crutch that let you dump your misfortunes” until you reached “a ‘better’ heaven” and found “no comfort in invisible forces.” What is the potential value of prayer? How is prayer similar to or different from talking with a loved one? How should one balance a commitment to action in life on earth with faith in an afterlife?

My first exposure to this author was Five People You Meet in Heaven. This story deeply touched and moved my heart for a variety of reasons. Whether you are a spiritual person or not, I still would highly recommend this thought-provoking, hope-filled, and moving story. This book would also make the perfect gift! What would you do if at a time of desperation, you called upon God and he appeared? After a luxury yacht named the Galaxy sank into the ocean, 9 survivors end up on a lifeboat. The survivors include the boat's creator/owner Jason, 4 members of the Galaxy’s staff, and 5 of the wealthy guests. The survivors pull a young man out of the water who claims that he is the Lord and can save them all. The only catch is each of the nine survivors has to believe him. After waking from a powerful dream about being saved to find himself still in the lifeboat, Benji feels “the enormity of death begin to hit.” What might this mean? What physical and psychological effects might it have? In what ways might such profound awareness be of value to people?The Stranger in the Lifeboat is not only a deeply moving novel about the power of love and hope in the face of danger, but also a mystery that will keep you guessing to the very end.

The last paragraph: “In the end, there is the sea and the land and the news that happens between them. To spread that news, we tell each other stories. Sometimes the stories are about survival and sometimes those stories, like the prescence of the Lord, are hard to believe. Unless believing is what makes them true.” What if God was one of us? If not as old as time, it’s a question at least as old as Joan Osborne. In Mitch Albom’s latest thought-provoking novel, THE STRANGER IN THE LIFEBOAT, God is one of us. He is a fellow passenger aboard a small lifeboat. When Yannis mentions science, the stranger says that, “science explained away the sun…the stars…all the creatures…and my greatest creation…you.” What is he saying about the role of science in the life of humans? What should the relationship be between science and faith? When does each serve humans best? In short, Mitch Albom is a wonderful human being. Read his earlier works to support him. Donate to his charities. But you can safely stay away from this book. I can’t advocate this one to anyone except maybe to readers with a highly philosophical bent of mind. The Stranger in the Lifeboat” is no different. As each of the survivors of the lifeboat grapples with the seeming inevitability of their death, the regrets of their life and whether to trust the strange man in their raft who calls himself the Lord, they also grapple with greater themes of faith and forgiveness.

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Alice showed Benji a slice of heaven above and he saw his mother and wife were there and safe. It gave him comfort and stopped him being distraught While this story has all the elements of a “whodunnit,” the real question surfaces when they pull a 10th survivor into the lifeboat --- one claiming to be God himself. But is this bizarre, unkempt man who he claims to be? Is he, in fact, God? The question carries weight, as the man tells his fellow passengers that he will only save them once everyone aboard believes that he is who he says he is. Would you write in a journal about a moment when you closed the journal? Probably not. And this precisely elucidates the daunting challenge of using this “notebook” approach. If you’re going to write first-person sections of a novel and say they’re a character’s journal, the sections must feel genuine and true to that context. In Stranger, they don’t. Geri Reede- 39yo Olympic swimmer, short blonde hair, assertive, sea worthy, confident. Guest on yacht.