By Heather Froeschl

Loss is the key to finding. Without losing control, how do know you need to find it again? Without losing love, how do you know it is worth seeking out? In Scott Knutson’s book, “Thursdays with Death,” readers will take a spiritual journey unlike any other, and they may find an understanding about life that they hadn’t realized they were missing.

Looking for answers, as we all are, Lanny Stone invited a spiritual guide into his life. He was surprised to find that his teacher was Death. In a game of poker, he places a bet and come up in debt. Debts must be paid and Lanny signs a contract. Now, Lanny Stone has a standing appointment with The Grim Reaper, on Thursdays, at 9am. During these appointments it is learned that Death adores Krispy Kreme donuts, as well as other interesting things about past lives, present plans, and future opportunities. Other realities are now in view and Lanny is learning to be open to them. As far as spiritual lessons go, he is getting the Cliffs Notes version in a hurry. Surprisingly though, this doesn’t all seem like new material to him. He begins to understand life, and death, as well as his teacher, Death himself. It does come as a bit of a surprise, at least to the reader, when Lanny learns that there isn’t just one being known as Death. He wonders what The Grim Reaper is getting out of these visits, and this contract, besides all the donuts he can inhale. What could Death possibly want from Lanny Stone?

This entertaining, fast paced, deceivingly simple read is actually a lot deeper than you might first think. The humor involved (and dealing with death with humor is much better than dealing with it with sorrow) lightens the impact of spiritual lessons. The hope and promise of better things, the non-permanence of death, the lighter look at a sometimes terrifying icon, is a testament to the author’s spirituality. The writing style is modern and fun; the plot one that is fresh and deliciously twisted. I simply adored reading “Thursdays with Death”€ and hope to see more from this author soon.

Heather Froeschl is an author, editor and staff book reviewer at Bookideas.com

By Todd Mercer

Sometimes you cannot believe what you see, you have to believe what you feel. And if you are ever going to have people trust you, you must feel that you can trust them, too—even when you’re in the dark. Even when you’re falling.
—Mitch Albom, Tuesdays With Morrie

This dialogue-dominated comic send-up of Albom’s zillion-seller retains a surprisingly sincere core message about the primacy of love and helping others. It follows the evolution of Lanny Stone, who is forced out of a unexceptional existence by losing a high stakes hand of Texas Hold-Em to a guy with a record of successfully collecting 100% of debts owed him. He agrees to weekly lunches with the doughnut-inhaling specter who incrementally nudges him toward enlightenment, changing from a potential adversary to a friend.

It turns out that an individual’s assumptions about the angel of death’s appearance determine what they see, whether that be a traditional Grim Reaper with a void for a face, which the protagonist initially perceives; or a debonair carbon copy of Johnny Depp. Death has all the important points boiled down to comprehensible aphorisms, such as this sensible redirection: “‘The intellect can only take you so far. You also need experience and feeling to get what you want.’” And this technological simile: “‘As you become more consciously aware, you become something like a two-way radio, both receiving and sending varying levels of energy.’”

The dual tasks of eliciting laughter and sharing meaningful ideas are largely fulfilled. Knutson’s assertions regarding the mechanics of dying and the nature of afterlife are in line with mainstream interpretations of largely Christian theory overlaid with aspects of Buddhism and Sufism. The book contends that everyone has the opportunity to choose the circumstances of their own death. God and Death function here as a task oriented manager/employee team. In accordance with Newton’s Laws of Conservation, a form of compassion is universally transportable.

Lanny’s life seems nearly pointless, though not quite wasted. A character engaged in unquestionably purposeful earthly undertakings might argue more forcefully than Lanny does against the inevitable, perhaps buying time. That’s a lesson to us all: Death is coming—look busy. For those who think that Mitch Albom could be rolling over in his grave from the fairly close derivation, rest assured that he is very much alive and not known to be punitively litigious. Morrie however may be attending a card game somewhere, driving up the bets on someone who is about to learn what comes next.

Todd Mercer is a reviewer for The Clarion Review

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