I Hated Heaven — Kenny Kemp

Tom and April Waring have a great life, a successful business, and a healthy, happy little boy. Best of all, they are deeply in love. But the good times come to a screeching halt when Tom is diagnosed with inoperable cancer. Though Tom's faith gives him peace as he faces death's dark doorway, April, an agnostic, is distraught. So at Tom's deathbed, she surprises them both when she takes his hand, tears in her eyes, and whispers, "When you get to the other side-if there is another side-and there is a God, promise me you'll come back and tell me " Tom squeezes her hand weakly and nods. "I promise." Thus begins Tom Waring's adventure in Heaven, a place totally unlike the harps-and-halos scenario he had always imagined-more like graduate school than Sunday School. When his request to return to Earth is routinely denied, Tom must make a fateful decision: Does he have the courage to risk everything-even his very soul-to keep his promise to April?