THE SHACK by William P. Young

The Shack is a story of a man Mackenzie (Mack) Allen Philip whose youngest daughter Missy got abducted during a family vacation. Though her body was never found but the police found out evidences to prove that she had been brutally murdered by a serial killer in an abandoned shack.

 The story begins four years after this incident when Mack who has been living in the shadow of his Great Sadness gets an invitation from God to meet in the shack for a get together. Although Mack is apprehensive in the beginning but still he visits the Shack and there he spends a long weekend with God.

The Shack has become an all time favorite book which is full of dialog and has very little action. Young never wrote this book for the plot or story. His main focus was always on content and the teachings that it contains. The book does not seem to be boring even after long passages of dialog. Through this book William shows himself to be a skillful writer and struck a chord with Christians. Young covers a wide range of theological topics all of which are related to theme of Mack’s immense suffering and his inability to trust god who made him and his daughter suffer so brutally. The main theme of the book is the absolute nature of good. Young makes his readers understand that good exists only in relation to the evil. He explains that people can have true faith in god only when they believe him to be good.

The book besides having many flaws managed to become a bestseller as it has the potential to change the life of the readers as Mack’s life gets completely transformed at the end. It is not only a book; it’s a phenomenon, an invitation to take you on to the journey to the very heart of god.