Mitch Albom has made a literary career out of discussing and examining the concept of "faith." We read his books, we discuss them in book clubs, some make movies out of them, and some deride them because they would rather follow science or logic and leave emotion or hope - or whatever it is that drives humans to cling to a deity - out of the equation for the grand scheme of things.

It’s not Albom’s most emotionally moving book, despite its lofty material, but it is a well-paced mystery that considers important theological questions. Albom cites a handful of people in his life for inspiring parts of the answers to these questions, including his late Detroit pastor. 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 Lots of Discussion Possibilities: First, I think this is a book for discussion and not review. I think each person will take something different from this book and might find multiple themes to connect with personally. The Stranger in the Lifeboat would promote a grand discussion at book club!We meet these imperiled castaways drifting at sea. They were all guests or workers on a massive yacht owned by billionaire Jason Lambert. He had gathered technology pioneers, corporate leaders, glitzy celebrities and even former presidents for a week-long adventure to “spur each other to change the world” — a cruise version of Davos. Confession: I try to avoid philosophical or spiritual content because it mostly goes over my head. This one, I read only because of the author.) Despite that, the survivors remain by and large cynical — even when miracles come from the Lord in the form of fresh water and the extended life of one of the party. In fact, maybe the only person who does believe is the young child Alice, who shares all of her rations with the Lord and watches him with quiet devotion. “There is no faith like the faith of a child,” as Benji writes.

Land: This timeline is about a year after the explosion. Inspector LeFleur on the island of Montserrat gets information that an empty raft from the sunken yacht has been found. While investigating this, he finds Benji’s notebook. The mysterious character that supposedly found the lifeboat, Rom Rosh, was actually Benji. He had survived and washed up on Montserrat. I thought that character might have been god. Rum Rosh is Hebrew from Psalms, and means "God lifted my head." Hi, Carol. I just finished this book and found your review through Carla’s blog (she commented on my review on The Well Read Fish). I’d never read Mitch Albom before and am still pretty much in awe of his storytelling ability. I definitely think this is a novel to generate discussion. The tale remains long after you finish reading it. A book begging to be read on the beach, with the sun warming the sand and salt in the air: pure escapism.Albom’s fiction novels also often contain spiritual and religious messages. His first, “The Five People You Meet in Heaven,” and others, like “The First Phone Call From Heaven,” feature faith and the afterlife prominently.

In a Nutshell: Intriguing concept, detached implementation. Add to this a reader with zero philosophical understanding and the result is utter confusion. In The Stranger in the Lifeboat, Benji Keaney is a complex character who harbours a guilty secret: was he complicit in the explosion that sank the luxury cruise ship on which he served as a lowly crew member? Benji comes across as a decent human being. His journal exhibits his great love for his wife, Annabelle. His admiration and respect for fellow life raft member, Geri, showed that his heart was in the right place: he wanted to help the other passengers survive, even though he could not bring himself to "believe" or have faith that The Lord (the last character in this novel that was pulled from the ocean) was always with him, even in his darkest hours.Adrift for three days after a shipboard explosion and running low on food and water, nine people on a raft pull a floundering man on board, with one proclaiming, "Thank the Lord we found you." "I am the Lord," responds the rescued man, launching the mega-best-selling Albom's newest excursion into spiritual questions. The story is pieced together a year later from a notebook found on an empty raft that's drifted ashore on the island of Montserrat. With a one-million-copy first printing. Library Journal

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.” A sports journalist and author of nine books, Albom is most known for his bestselling 1997 memoir “Tuesdays with Morrie.” It’s this memoir in particular that solidified Albom’s ability to write about the complexities of life and the lessons to be learned from it. Beloved “General Hospital” Star Tyler Christopher Passes Away at 50, Remembered for His Remarkable Legacy Mitch poses the question:“I have struggled with faith much of my life. I was a dutiful altar boy, like many Irish kids, but the church and I parted company years ago…..Too much disappointment. Not enough comfort. Still, I never considered what I would do if I called for the Lord and He actually appeared before me.”Content considerations: grief, death, rememberance and refelections of a child death, suicide, dire conditions Nine people have been adrift for three days in a lifeboat without food or water. The luxury yacht they had been on had exploded, and now they have lost all sense of hope. When they spot another man floating in the water, they pull him in. He says he is the Lord. But is he? What would we do if, after crying out for help, God appeared before us? What might the Lord look like, and how would he act? I liked this unique way of patterning the story. Some readers might not enjoy the constant shifts in time and perspectives but I am an avid reader of historical fiction, so I am used to this kind of narrative style and even fond of it. But that’s about all I enjoyed in this book: the story structure.