90 Minutes in Heaven, by Don Piper with Cecil Murphey
First line: “I died on January 18, 1989.”
You know the phrase usually uttered after biting into a gooey brownie sundae with extra fudge sauce? “I’ve died and gone to heaven?” Well, Piper is serious. He died and lived to tell about it. His first line launches us into his life-after-death ordeal. Terrible car accident. EMT pronounces him dead. By-passing minister feels called by God to pray on the dead ordained minister as the man’s body is pinned in the car for 90 minutes and the ministers start singing together. It’s definitely a gripping premise. Unfortunately, as a biography, it’s really thin. The James Patterson-esque style of writing strips the story from any feeling and Piper’s view of heaven is no different than ones we’ve heard countless times before. The book is not really about heaven, but about his path to recovery and health and healing wounded souls. Which is fine. But the marketing bait is the juicy title; that’s what’s made the book pass a million in sales, not the content therein.
For: Those wishing to get a glimpse of what heaven is like for, like, two short chapters. – Malena Lott