I'm naturally a sceptical person. And so it was with scepticism I approached 90 Minutes in Heaven, an American pastor's account of his time in heaven.

90 Minutes in Heaven is Don Piper's story of his death in a car accident and the hour and a half which immediately followed. During this time he claims to have gone to heaven, before coming back to life.

The book is perhaps poorly titled as much of its content deals with the days, weeks, months and years of his recovery, rather than his apparent time in heaven. Some of the pain Piper experienced is sure to move you, as he describes the constant agony he endured while recovering from such an horrific accident.

Seeing the way Piper's immediate family and his church family cared for him during this time is the greatest strength of this book. It is a challenge to those of us who read it to ensure we are lovingly caring for the (long-term) sick amongst us.

My greatest difficulty however, with this book was not whether or not the author actually went to heaven (in fact it's probably best not to get caught up in that argument).

Rather my difficultly with Piper's account was his focus. Too much time is spent on this one man who claims to have come back from heaven and his recovery. For Piper it is all about telling "my story".

But what about the story of Jesus " his life, his death and his resurrection? Unfortunately this story is largely missing from Piper's account, when it is this story of Jesus, which ultimately changes lives.

Andrew Laird