I bought this book with great expectations after dubbing in a spot for it at the Christian radio station where I work. The subject matter sounded fascinating and I couldn't wait to read it. But very quickly, much of this tale began to wear thin. For starters, the writing style is somewhat juvenile. I understand that the author is originally from Pakistan, but he's supposedly fluent in about a half-dozen languages, not to mention he has an editor working with him. Nonetheless, the style struck me as being very much a first-time effort from a writer who is less-than-gifted.

Let me pause here to qualify something, though. I'm a devout Christian, non-denominational. I have NO doubt of the depth, sincerity, authenticity and power of Alam's Christianity. I think his conversion is a fabulous miracle and I wish him only Godspeed in his continued ministry and the thousands of souls he's reaching. My problem with this book has NOTHING to do with Alam's faith.

As I read the book, there began to emerge a trend of a few too many tales to really be believable. From the mattress and sheets that 'disappeared' when thrown into a well by a 'wizard', to the endless fortunate events that all took place at EXACTLY the right time to enable Alam to journey away from persecution and into freedom... after a while it becomes more than the reader - even a believer such as I - can reasonably expect to swallow. The crux for me though, was a combination of Alam's disappointment in other members of his new-found faith, especially Pentecostals and Charismatics, and THEN Alam discovering faith-healing. I believe that God can perform any miracle He so desires, but when the discussion of speaking in tongues or faith healing comes up, it turns me off. This is my own personal view and certainly you can choose to disagree with it. But at the point in the book, approximately 3/4 of the way through, when Alam dove headfirst into tongues and mystical healings, I'd had enough. Instead of an authentic and genuine journey of a former Muslim into the deep-rooted belief of Christianity, I got a fairytale of so many far-fetched stories that I became bored and disillusioned. I simply can not recommend this book.