Adrift n a raft after a deadly ship explosion, nine people struggle to survive at sea. Three days pass. Short on water, food and hope. they spot a man floating in the waves. They pull him in. "Thank the Lord we found you," a passenger says. "I am the Lord," the man whispers. The boat was damaged by 3 big whales that rammed into the hull, because they were disturbed by the loud music. Human made noise does disturb ocean creatures and mammals, because they communicate by sound and use radar, and it interferes with this and upsets and confuses them.

This is not a spoiler, but it is interesting that God is supposed to be in the boat and people are trying to deal with why God won’t save them from the boat. It brings up very interesting questions of faith and why were here.Money - paper from a tree, or, now, a typed number in an online bank account - determines your worth in this world. Money is power. Power ultimately corrupts and oppresses those who "have not." The Oppressed eventually overthrow the Oppressors, there are bloody revolutions, etc., etc., etc..... We humans repeat this vicious cycle endlessly, because we can't seem to focus on anything else other than conflict and personal gain. I read because books are a form of transportation, of teaching, and of connection! Books take us to places we’ve never been, they teach us about our world, and they help us to understand human experience.” Sea: This is the perspective of the yacht survivors from the raft. Revealed through the notebook scribbles of one of the survivors named Benji. What did you expect the Lord to look like? Don’t we always say, ‘If only we could see God, we would know he was real’? What if He has finally given us a chance to see Him? Is it still not enough?”

Very Jesus-y for me (no offense) - didn't hit home the way the other books did. Also, huge gaps in logic but perhaps this wasn't a book for logic.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. I believe that God does show up (how? through other people perhaps? through creation?) I’m fairly certain I heard God speak to me when my son had a tragic accident. It was a short phrase that I knew wasn’t from my own thoughts and I heard it (maybe not literally but I felt it) so strongly that I trusted/knew it was from God. On another occassion when I was driving along a deserted country road on the way to my father’s funeral, I felt the presence of God (or angels) so strongly that I’ll never forget the sensation. Geri Reede- 39yo Olympic swimmer, short blonde hair, assertive, sea worthy, confident. Guest on yacht. Hannah’s new novel is an homage to the extraordinary courage and endurance of Frenchwomen during World War II. Adrift in a raft after a deadly ship explosion, ten people struggle for survival at sea. Three days pass. Short on water, food and hope, they spot a man floating in the waves. They pull him in.

I found the story gripping where you kept wanting to continue. It does reference a "god" type of character, and I'm not a believer as I'm of scientific method, but I'm aware of the possibility just per science no proof. In spite of that, it was still interesting, and I understand the main point of the book = "god" is always with you, and deceased loved ones spirits continue on in "heaven. " In my opinion, this makes this partly a fantasy book.

Well…..this review is difficult to write! If you’ve read the book, you know! So….here’s my nonreview review!

It's a while since I read any of Mitch Albom's books and I thought I'd give this one a try. A very expensive "executive" craft has sunk. Nine people are still afloat 3 days later on a lifeboat having seen no one else. They see a man in the water and manage to get him onto the lifeboat. He says that he can save them if they all believe in him as he is the Lord. That gives you pause for thought doesn't it! In part this story is told by one of the people on the lifeboat who is writing a journal. There are two threads in this story. One is from a policeman on land who has been taken to see what might be the lifeboat concerned and the other is the media via their interest in the story. 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. 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. The story is broken into three sections with different timelines and points of view. Sea is told while the survivors are on the lifeboat, land is told a year and a half after the Galaxy sank, and News is told before the yacht set sail. Benji was alone on the lifeboat. He hallucinated the others. They were his assigned passengers to take care of- Nevin, Geri, Yannis, Mrs. Laghari. He met Nina, Jean Philippe, and Bernadette working on the yacht.Benji is the only person on the raft who learns that kind of belief for himself throughout the course of their survival mission. He also heals from past tragedy and learns to forgive. He writes like a literary Spielberg: with great impact and emotion, and without being afraid of pathos. Brigitte (Germany) Faith is a cornerstone of my life. Finding connection within fiction that explores humanity at its most vulnerable within a belief or the struggle to relate to belief help me explore my own limitations. How would I respond under similar circumstances?