A review by random_spider
The Stranger in the Lifeboat by Mitch Albom

adventurous inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

WOW...how come this author wrote probably the best novel I'll read this year...to this middle-of-the-road (and likely forgettable) mystery book?

------Stat Score------

Plot/Content: 5/10
Characters/POVs: 4/10
Prose/Style: 7/10
Themes/Messages: 7/10
Enjoyability/Impact: 6/10

OVERALL RATING: 6/10 (Ok)

"I know the tears you shed, Benjamin. When people leave this Earth, their loved ones always weep." She smiled. "But I promise you, those who leave do not."

Synopsis and/or Premise:
A luxury yacht has mysteriously sunk, leaving Benji and nine other individuals the only survivors stranded on a lifeboat. A random stranger floated nearby and is pulled into the lifeboat, seemingly unscathed from the disaster. When they asked who he is, the stranger claims he is the Lord.

This story is found within a notebook from the beached, empty lifeboat, being investigated by LaFleur.

The Good and The Bad:
This book was fast-paced 💨. I mean REALLY fast-paced, with all the POV switching and time jumps. This might not be everyone's cup of tea but I couldn't deny how it paired well with the mystery of the narrative. Their equation provided a gripping result: The book won't allow you to put it down whether you liked it or not. Like it pulls you wanting to know what will happen the next page. And because of it, this might be my fastest book to date (I'm not sure though, I don't keep records 😅.) An amazing feat of less than 5 actual reading hours coming from a relatively casual reader.

This book had solid themes. They weren't as meaningful and impactful as I would like, but their presence still had some merits. The book talks about hubris of the wealthy, guilt, forgiveness, delusion, and faith. The last one, specifically, was the driving topic. The book makes you question whether the characters will stand upon raw, painful truth or give up all the practicalities of survival to foolishly place your life one someone who might be insane. I gotta say, the best parts of the book were the arguments of survivors (about placing faith 🙏, of course) in the middle, and the last few pages at sea, where it transitioned near intellectual/philosophical. It was like one of Matt Haig's books due to its preachiness.

Here were my issues:

1. Contrived/constructed 🔲 - The plot doesn't feel natural and realistic. There were events that was obviously forced just to move the story forward. Yes, this issue exists of both sides of the story (the investigator and the survivors.) Plus, the investigator was made stupid by the plot sometimes. I wished the book was written a lot differently to avoid being mechanical and a bit predictable.

2. Bland 😖 - What a lifeless book. I mean seriously, I couldn't connect to both the plot and characters. I already talked about the plot, but the characters weren't any better. They were all superficial, and none were compelling or even stood out a bit (yup, even the protagonists.) There's no flavor with their personalities or the way they interact. Yes, they exist but I just flowed through them like nothing significant. Actually, nothing significant sums up this book accurately.

3. Weightless 🪶 - I already went through my problems with the plot and characters. But at least they were 'something' right. Answer: No. They were the definition of bare minimum. Since the plot was contrived, the conclusions and reveals were just...meh (well, at least the twist was good in hindsight.) Yeah, like it's reasonable I guess but it wasn't satisfying. The deaths of characters felt hollow since I barely knew them outside of their background (⚠️ this is sort of a spoiler, but you wouldn't expect them to all survive, right?) Overall, this book didn't have a considerable substance.

Final Thoughts:
The stranger in the lifeboat by Mitch Albom is such a shocker for me. The level of this book's writing compared to The Magic Strings of Frankie Presto is astronomical. What a complete DOWNGRADE. I do think it was a little too fast for its own good. Uhh...I guess this is a serviceable mystery/survival novel, but I wouldn't reread probably.

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Links to my ratings and reviews:
Goodreads reviews
The StoryGraph