Dipsbookreviews

      The Shack

   By: William .P. Young

  The novel the Shack is a Christian book. It is about a man named Mackenzie Allen Philips, and the struggles he has. It starts out with a brief narration by his friend, Willie. Willie details Mack’s hard life, and how his father was an alcoholic. When Mack was 13, he went to a youth camp at church, and reluctantly told the leader about his father’s abuse.

 When Mack got home from the camp, his sisters and mom were gone. His father found out about his confession, and for 2 days, tied him to a tree, and beat him and hurled Bible verses at him. After his release, his father was drunk unconscious, and Mack put poison in all the booze, and ran from home.

 Now, as an adult, Mack is married with 5 children. 2 of his children are adults, and have left the house. He decides to take the 3 children on a camping trip. They have a great time. On the day before they leave, the two older ones decide to go canoeing.

 The canoe tips, and Mack, (who was a lifeguard in the past) saves them. During that, the youngest child, Missy goes missing. They search for her, and get the cops, but she is never found. They find her coloring book, and with it, a ladybug pin.

 The police said that 4 little girls before Missy disappeared similarly, and were thought to be murdered, with a ladybug pin left. They find an abandoned shack, where her bloodied clothes are left, but no trace of her body is found. Mack settles into what he calls ‘the great sadness’. 4 years after her killing, he receives a note from ‘Papa’ inviting him into the shack for a weekend.

 At first, he is reluctant, as that is the shack where the police found her bloody dress, but he goes anyway. He spends a weekend with the Trinity, (God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit). God the father is in the form of a black woman, and Jesus has a lumberjack appearance. The Holy Spirit is an Asian woman.

  Mack has a lot of questions, and most are answered by God and Jesus. Mack and Jesus walk on the lake to get across to talk. On the day after that, mack reconciles with his father. On the last day of the weekend, mack and God go to where Missy’s body is. Mack wraps it in a really nice shroud that smells like flowers. Mack goes back to the cabin to get his things, and drives off. He is thinking about all the amazing things that happened, and gets into a car crash.

 After Mack recovers in the hospital, he goes to the place he and God went to, and helps the police recover Missy’s body. Thanks to that, the ‘little Ladykiller’ is found, and the rest of the victim’s bodies are recovered.

  I would give this book 7/10. It is pretty good.

 A report by Nikki AdetJla