This first person account of one man’s attempt to escape God and family begins well. David Dodge has the reader. We can sense his angst over what he is about to do. We can try to understand his reasoning for as he says, there is a little bit of David Dodge in all of us. But then, just when things get really interesting, the preaching begins. At first I thought it was just for that one time at the end of the first chapter and found it somewhat annoying. Then I realized that the farther Dodge gets into his story, the more he needs to ‘preach.’ Dodge has experienced the devil’s destruction as well as God’s saving work first hand. It is because of these experiences that he is compelled to tell the reader of God’s work , love and grace. He cannot do otherwise for that would be to deny God. This book is not a polished, well-written literary work. Dodge tells his story in the everyday language of the people -- no heavy theology or apologetics but straightforward so that all can understand. And this is what makes this a compelling book to read. It is also what makes the book somewhat confusing at various points. The story does not seem to be told in a purely chronological story-line so the reader has to piece some things together. Nevertheless, it is a story well worth the read.