Chasing Christmas from Harbourlight Books is an issue book (which I would call women's fiction except that the protagonist is male). The issue: suicidal depression. The cure: try to kill yourself and then let God take over your life.
This story opens with a bang as Teddy Whitaker guns his classic sports car into Dead Man's Curve. But God has other plans for Teddy. Instead of dying, he begins a fantastical journey, e.g. A Christmas Carol or The Shack, to learn the lessons God has planned for him.
Short bits of this book read more like a report on depression than a story, but I liked Teddy's wife and wanted to see him succeed for her sake. The daughter grew on me. Teddy was still pretty much a whiner even after his amazing experiences, but I don't know how much of that was his personality or his depression.
I liked the clever word play at the end. I was okay with the spiritual lessons. I'm not sure I was convinced Teddy had experienced them and truly made them his own, but I would think such an experience would stick with a person and he would revisit it often enough to continue learning the lessons until they settled deep, so I bought the happy ending.
I liked the ambiguity of the title, Chasing Christmas. I give this a thumbs up for creativity and teaching.
