In November of 2004, while driving home from church, Kevin Malarkey signaled to make a turn onto the country road that would take him and his six-year-old son, Alex, home. Failing to see the oncoming vehicle obstructed by a dip in the street, the two cars collided, ejecting Kevin from his seat and leaving his son in a coma.

With this dismal beginning, I expected the rest of the Malarkeys’ story, entitled The Boy Who Came Back from Heaven, written by Kevin and Alex, to be one of great tragedy and unattainable goals. Thankfully, I was wrong, and by the end of the book I found a spiritual tale of epic proportions.

The Boy Who Came Back from Heaven follows the Malarkey family from the day of the crash to a few years after. The book describes in detail the major obstacles the family dealt with while Alex recovered from the accident, including the trials of expensive hospital bills, a marriage that almost fails and a son who is a quadriplegic.

However, the Malarkeys take solace in their faith that God will get them through their trials and tribulations. This belief is mainly fueled by Alex, who, after two months in a coma and weeks of speech therapy, claims to have visited heaven and spoken with God himself. Alex says that God has plans to work miracles through his recovery and begins to describe heaven in detail to his parents and siblings.

The family initially take a skeptical standpoint on the matter. Although Alex had made miraculous recoveries up until, and after, his profession of faith, it is not uncommon for children to make up imaginary lands and creatures to deal with boredom and loneliness while they are in the process of recovery.

When Alex is able to account for a large amount of time that passed while he was comatose, the family’s belief in his claim increases greatly. He vividly remembers the helicopter ride to the hospital, being over his body in the operating room hours after the crash, and even the color of the suit one of his doctors was wearing the day of the crash.

In addition, the Malarkeys’ faith is held high due to the promise that their son will one day be fully healed. They had heard this from several friends who attended their church, and, shockingly enough, one of the doctors who had ridden in the helicopter to the hospital after the crash. All claim to have heard God tell them this; even though, by the end of the book (about a year ago), Alex had not yet made a complete recovery, they hold this as a truth.

I found the work to be very sincere and heartwarming. Kevin begins with a short introduction explaining that he does not expect everyone to believe his story, but wishes that it were given a chance before being written off as fraud. I especially liked this because it lets the readers decide for themselves whether they want to believe this account of miracles or simply ignore the book and the Malarkeys’ tale.

When I first got the book, I noticed that the authors were Kevin and Alex, and figured that Kevin had written the book with aid from Alex whenever it was needed. However, I was pleasantly surprised to find that at the end of each chapter, there were a few pages written by Alex. This gave the book a certain sense of credibility, as it was Alex who had the main experience, not his father.

Firsthand accounts and quotes from doctors, family members and friends of the Malarkeys add to the story’s credibility. I was initially impressed by the many contributions, but soon found the sections to be quite distracting from the actual story.

Although the book is not written particularly well, it is fine for the aims of this tale. Kevin states early on that the purpose of writing the book was for people to hear the story of his son, which the powerful book achieves despite its writing style.

The Boy Who Came Back from Heaven is available at Amazon.com and at most local bookstores for about $25 hardcover and $15 paperback.

For more information on Alex, visit prayforalex.com or Kevin’s blog.

For more book reviews, read the Dec. 2 article, ‘Great Expectations’ offers depth, entertainment.

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