Several years ago a friend gifted me with David Gregory's bestseller, Dinner with a Perfect Stranger. I enjoyed the book so much that I read the sequel, A Day with a Perfect Stranger. I rarely read fiction, but since I liked Gregory's first two books in the series (and because the book was only a few bucks), I downloaded this third book. Part of the reason the Perfect Stranger series has appealed to me is that they have been a break from the typical reading I do.
The basic premise of Night with a Perfect Stranger is a businessman, Nick, has a second face-to-face encounter with Jesus. Although Nick grew in his faith after meeting Jesus at an Italian restaurant six years ago, he had not been growing in the grace and knowledge of Jesus in recent years. Things changed for Nick after he got into another conflict with his dad and while driving home, Nick's U-Haul truck runs out of gas. Jesus shows up with a gas can and hops in the truck. It sounds pretty cheesy, but Gregory did enough to keep me intrigued.
As far as the theology in Night with a Perfect Stranger, there were some statements in the second half of the book that were a little confusing and could use some clarification. Some examples include sin doesn't matter as far as God's love, we are brought into the heart of the Godhead to be one with them, being a part of Jesus, and everyone is an expression of Christ. I am sure there will be some thinking I am overanalyzing what many consider to be a light read. Despite what kind of work one categorizes Night with a Perfect Stranger as a crucial subject matter has been written about so I believe we should properly reflect upon it.
I did initially enjoy reading Night with a Perfect Stranger, but after several chapters of this 12 chapter book (144 pages), I realized I had lost that lovin' feelin'. Along with some of Gregory's unique wording, I feel if I hadn't read the first two books in the series than I would have different thoughts about Night with a Perfect Stranger. A lot of Amazon reviewers gave Night with a Perfect Stranger favorable views, but it should be noted that it appears that many of them did not read the first two books. A Night with a Perfect Stranger's familiar formula was fine, but I do not see myself picking up another book like this anytime soon.
Below is a book trailer with some groovy music and footage.
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