This is an excellent book. Driscoll's style is very straight forward, and he doesn't pull any punches. If you want soft, flexible, or seeker-friendly Christianity than this book is not for you. If, however, you want straightforward honest biblical truth, then read this book.

Death by Love is great because it deals with real people in real life down-and-dirty situations. Not every story will apply directly to every reader, but you will undoubtedly find something to glean from each one, and I'm certain that one or more of the situations addressed will apply directly to you and/or someone close to you to whom you want to be a witness.

One of the strengths of this book is how it is structured. Each chapter starts with a short description of a different person that gives pertinent information to the reader about that person's background and situation. That is followed by a lengthy letter from Driscoll as pastor to the person. Each chapter concludes with a question and answer section in which Driscoll's co-author Gary Breshears directly answers some of the tough questions that may have arisen during Driscoll's letter.

The meat of each chapter is Driscoll's letter, where he addresses things directly in the person's life—whether good, bad, ugly, heartbreaking, sad, difficult etc. Driscoll hits everything dead on and definitely doesn't skirt any issues—especially the tough issues. Here's a non-exhaustive list of some of the issues dealt with in this book:

• Rape
• Incest
• Financial trouble
• Abuse (sexual, verbal, emotional)
• Fake Christianity
• Pride
• Self-righteousness
• Demonic activity
• Infidelity/Adultery
• Hate/Anger
• Terminal illness
• Lust
... and on and on ...

The power that lies in each letter is the way in which Driscoll applies the incredible work of Christ on the Cross to every one of the issues dealt with, and demonstrates clearly how Christ's sacrifice specifically covers each one. This is an intensely practical application of Christ's redemptive work for modern people in modern situations like nothing I've read before. If you think Christianity doesn't apply in today's world, read this book.

The introduction to this book is a 14 page graphic and academic explanation of Christ's work on the cross (Titled We Killed God) that absolutely blew me away. Even as a person who has been a Christian for 20+ years, Driscoll's Gospel explanation ignited my heart with humbling wonder and awe at what God did for us. I'm glad Driscoll started there, because it is that unbelievable atoning work that is the common thread woven through the rest of the incredibly diverse stories found in this book.

Lastly, one could argue that despite the tremendous variance between the letters' recipients stories, this book becomes repetitive at times. This is probably a true assessment, but I feel this is actually the strength of this book, and that it was absolutely necessary, given the book's format, for these reasons:

1] Each chapter/letter is a complete package in an of itself. They do not inform one another or build on concepts already presented earlier. They could be read separately or in any order and still be complete.
2] The whole point is that the gospel story of Christ's work on the cross applies to everyone, no matter what their situation. Therefore the gospel is presented in every single letter. It is, however, presented carefully to apply to the specific situation/issue at hand.

I'd also note that reading about the amazing salvation story should never grow tiresome. It is the crux of our Christian faith and the single greatest event in the history of the world. Examining the different facets of Christ's atoning work again and again served to strengthen my faith and encourage my personal boldness in sharing the Gospel.

P.S.— As a graphic designer, I was excited to find that the content exceeded the well-done visual design of the book. There's nothing worse than an amazing graphic layout to arouse one's expectation only to be followed by the let down of bad content and loose theology (re: Rob Bell's books).