I don't usually think of the phrase "page-turner" in conjunction with a novel one might label "spiritual," however I was in for a very exciting read when I opened this book. Once I had started the book, I literally read all night, until 4 a.m., to finish it. I was unable to put the story down without knowing "what happened next." The novel starts with our hero, Paul Sentes, calling out to God for help in releasing himself from the stranglehold that anger has had on his life. Paul finds, after some vigorous physical and mental resisting, that it is best not to ask for God's help and then to resist the answer given! Dreams and visions of himself upon a cross, in his own front yard, become increasingly demanding until Paul "(g)rudgingly accepted that God wanted me up on the cross." After Paul constructed the wooden cross himself, and anchored it in his front yard, he began his powerful journey to spiritual redemption.He came to recognize that "For the first time, I saw the cross as an instrument to my goal. My stay on the cross would provide me with the opportunity to practice an irrational technique to eliminate my anger." At this beginning point in the novel, neither Paul nor the reader expects the momentum unleashed by Paul's action and decision. Not only is Paul's life powerfully impacted, but among the many people who come out of curiosity to observe Paul on the cross, six persons find their own lives--and their very souls--immeasurably impacted by Paul's own journey as their lives begin to intersect with each other's and with Paul's in unexpected ways.The reader is very quickly drawn into the experience of these six people, and comes to care about what has happened, and is happening, to each of them as they feel compelled to return to Paul--even while feeling resistance and reluctance in some cases! As the days pass, the six persons begin to interact with each other in compelling, and even mystical, ways. Emil writes powerfully and does not "baby" his characters as he starkly portrays the very painful, and even crushing, life events which have impacted them in the past. Some have lost all hope of ever moving past events such as childhood abuse, sexual assault, the loss of loved ones through tragic events, and the feelings of bitterness and rage which have resulted, and which have been so deeply buried in some cases.As I became totally immersed in the novel, I felt like I was a passenger on the "Silver Streak," that locomotive gaining momentum as it rushed at increasing speed to crash into the station! The compelling conclusion leaves the reader in suspense until the very last pages! All I could think, as I finished the last page, was "Thank God there is a sequel to this book!" (Release from the Cross).If you get this book, you are in for a compelling and memorable literary journey!