Fairground worker Eddie has just died at the ripe age of 83; now, in heaven, he meets five people who influenced his life in a big way. When he meets them, they explain to him why things happened the way they did. I love the premise of this book; it's a great idea to explore (regardless of what you spiritually believe - personally, I'm questioning/agnostic). 
 My issue with this book came in the way that this idea was presented: everything felt contrived. Eddie played a hand in so many lives and deaths that I had a hard time suspending my disbelief. (view spoiler)[Eddie runs in front of car; the driver dies (Eddie doesn't know it). Eddie stays late at the horse races gambling and exchanges sass with his wife; his wife gets in a car accident on her way to bring him home and apologize. Eddie thinks he sees a kid in a burning barn in the Philippines; not only is he right despite all odds, but she also dies because of him. (hide spoiler)] Though this instances prove the overarching morale of the book - everyone is related - I find it hard to believe that he played a hand in so many lives and deaths. It felt contrived, like the author wanted to prove his point at all costs, no matter how unrealistic it might look. 
 The chapter on Ruby, though interesting, didn't seem very compelling. It felt like part of his Dad's story, not Eddie's; Dad should have been the third person Eddie met in heaven. The chapter with Marguerite, other than the horse race accident, was the most touching and perhaps the only one I liked: by breaking down in front of her, being emotional and talking about the darkness he harbored during their life together, readers see a ton of character development in Eddie: he faces his PTSD and finally begins to overcome it. This is one of the only chapters that focuses a little more of showing instead of telling and I found it stronger for that.