I wish I had never picked this up and wasted my time reading it. The majority of this book is not about Storm's NDE account. He pushes his New Age beliefs for about 80% of the book. I agree with other reviewers (not all on this site) that stated this book is a bait and switch. He wants you to pick it up for the NDE story, so he can spend the majority of it detailing false doctrine.

There were some flags that went up from the beginning as the details around his death did not add up. I just figured he would come back to them later and give further explanation, but that never happened. Part of me doubts the plausibility of his "death" altogether. He may have had an agenda from the beginning and figured this would be a good vehicle to accomplish it. ( )

A frightening experience becomes a blessing and a second chance at living as a true Christian should, while trying to find the ability to return to his earth life after where he had gone...I couldn't put this book down from the moment I began. Hands down, one of the most persuasive NDE books I've read.

It's wonderfully written and a keeper.


5***** ( )

I found this to be an excellent book about life after death and the lessons the author returned with. Particularly, of course, it was interesting because he went to Hell, whereas most of those having a near-death-experience report on having gone to Heaven. (And Howard did go there, subsequently.)

Howard suddenly developed acute pains in his stomach when holidaying in Paris. He had perforated his duodenum and needed an immediate operation, but time passed in hospital and the doctors didn´t do anything.

Then Howard found himself standing outside his body. Everything felt very real. He thought it must be a wax replica of his body that he was looking at (the only feasible explanation, he thought).

Then some people kept pressing him to follow them off into a fog. They said his troubles would end if he followed them, so he did. Eventually they began to push and shove him about. There were hundreds of people attacking him and they began to tear off pieces of his flesh. They were “a mob of beings totally driven by unbridled cruelty”. He became torn apart and lay in darkness.

A voice then told him to pray to God. Howard had never prayed and didn´t believe in God. But he began to pray and noticed that doing so made the cruel beings back away. He had previously had much anger inside him, and when he got angry he raged and destroyed things. He didn´t believe in life after death. He believed that death was the end of one´s existence, just darkness. Now he was in that darkness, “beyond life, and it was Hell”.

He yelled “Jesus, save me”. He saw a pinpoint of light moving towards him, a light more intense and more beautiful than anything he had ever seen. It was a living being, a luminous being. He was lifted up into the light and his body was miraculously healed; the despair and pain were replaced by love. This being was “Christ Jesus the Saviour”. Howard experienced love in such intensity that it compared to nothing he had ever known before.

He met the saints and angels, and he asked them lots of questions and received answers, He wanted to continue to Heaven, but was told he had to return to the world.

The book includes a chapter about what Howard was told about the past and future, one about his life review, one about the angels and one with answers to specific questions.

He saw that in the future all people will be able to communicate telepathically and have relationships with intelligent beings in other worlds. In two hundred years people will live in simplicity and harmony with no want. There will be no conflict.

Apparently, Jesus´ influence and activities are not confined to this world, since he said that he had been to “every world in every time and space”. Though I have much respect for the Christ as a high being, there are other high beings too, but according to Howard´s experience, as I understood it, at least, Christ is above all others, in fact at times it seemed to me he regards Christ and God as one and the same (which I do not).

At first I was going to award the book only four stars, because, among other things, I found it a bit too “churchy”, but when looking through it again for purposes of writing this review, I realized it absolutely deserved five stars. In my view, it contains much valuable information.

I highly recommend everyone to read this enlightening work. You will learn much, particularly if you are a “non-believer”.

This book is an interesting twist on the near death experience. I personally would not consider it a near death experience since there is no actual record of the author dying. From what I could understand is this person had an out of body experience that made him believe that he saw heaven. Although I truly believe that what he writes he feels is real, I question the part of it being a near death experience. The author had his experiences while preparing for a major surgery in France. Although he was gravely ill, no one ever stated he passed on. I am also a huge supporter of the paranormal so I find the out of body experience to be just as fascinating. However, I feel some authors tend to push their limits when defining a near death experience. His story is a wonderful description of heaven and leaves the reader with a warm feeling. Not my favorite book, but interesting none the less. ( )

Interesting account by a former atheist who had a near-death experience and how it changed his life. His message is valuable in that while he follows the Christian path, the questions to Jesus and angels and their answers (Chapter 9) take a secular approach. There is emphasis on transcending religion for personal growth. The answer on page 73 stresses religion as a vehicle and means to the destination of developing a personal relationship with God; misuse of religion creates divisiveness, justifies violence, promotes pride and self-righteousness. This message makes this a 'secular' book. While the NDE aspect of the book is informative, it is the secular message that makes it very valuable. One of the best books on near death experience. ( )