In MY DESCENT INTO DEATH Howard Storm recounts his "death" experience via a horrid stomach perforation in 1985. This man (an artist at the time) died and wandered towards calling voices outside his hospital room which turned out to be evil beings. In moments he was ridiculed and eventually became feed at the hands of ravenous demons. Then suddenly he saw a light and turned to allow God's love into his heart. God saved him, his body was restored, and everything changed in that after-life moment. It gave him a second lease on life - literally. When he eventually regained consciousness he would never be the same man again. This is a very inspiring & thought provoking book and makes a good gift for the right person. My main quibble was entirely one of perception and interpretation. Chalk it up to residual cynicism but I couldn't help but wonder if this was all a wonderful piece of Christian PR -- several of the discourses in the back of the book (What Happens When We Die, Angels, etc.) just seemed too complete to be believed. His story is amazing ---but was it all real or a grand hallucination...either way it works.

The book club at my church (Episcopalian) designated Descent as its November 2005 selection. In sum, we liked the first part, but about two-thirds of the way through, the narrative crumbled.
Everyone enjoyed the riveting story of his life-threatening situation in Paris, and the ordeal of his recovery. And we liked most of the parts when he's talking with the angels. But when the author stops telling his story and starts preaching, then people put the book down.
Also, someone complained that he ties up all of the loose ends of his life before the ordeal, except for one, and that caused her to not to give the book any sort of recommendation. The first half and the second half are barely cohesive, and, as a result, we all felt that his editor failed in his or her responsibilities to the book.