Between Heaven and Ground Zero: One Woman's Struggle for Survival and Faith in the Ashes of 9/11

by Leslie Haskin

Book Overview

A 9/11 survivor tells of her escape from the Twin Towers and her transformation from a career-focused life to a God-focused life. Includes 8 pages b/w photographs.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0764202863
• ISBN13: 9780764202865
• Release Date: August 2006
• Publisher: Bethany House Publishers
• Length: 179 Pages
• Weight: 0.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.6" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

God will get our attention!

God will get our attention one way or another but it is up to us to listen and Leslie listened. Did God cause 911? No, but He will use circumstances!

It's rare that I read a book that is so graphic in its depiction of horror...

It's rare that I read a book that is so graphic in its depiction of horror that I feel like I need to set it down and walk away for a while. Between Heaven and GROUND ZERO is such a book. In it, Leslie Haskin, an insurance company executive, pulls no punches in recounting her harrowing escape from the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. "More than anything, I wish I could speak of joy that came through all of the suffering on that particular morning, but I cannot. There was none, " she writes. "However, in the greatest moments of desperation and overwhelming sorrow, God's loving and outstretched arms were waiting for my acceptance. I now know that His holy presence and peace called to me at every point of overwhelming despondency and paralyzing trepidation. I know that the Lord walked with me through that concourse. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death... He held me as my head turned about quickly and my eye scoped every inch of what remained. I will fear no evil. It was another place entirely. It was surreal, like a 3-D movie; too gigantic and slow to participate in, yet too fast for retreat. I felt vulnerable and very mortal. For thou art with me. Everything I saw broke my heart a little more. Thy rod and thy staff they comfort me... Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I will dwell in the hour of the Lord for ever. Amen." In a note to the reader and at the beginning of the book, Haskin acknowledges that her story is just one fragment of the mosaic of personal stories that make up the truth about what happened on 9/11. Her retelling is flawed insomuch as she suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder and the factual details of that day continue to be shrouded in a veil of pain. And yet, Haskin provides a brave and powerful testament to the horror perpetrated on 9/11 through her willing to tell us what she remembers, so that we, too, never forget. The details of Leslie's descent from her top-floor office via a staircase after the planes hit the World Trade Center is like a vision of a descent into hell. Her vivid descriptions of the warped building and suffering people around her are harrowing and disturbing. Even after all the media and cultural attention paid to this event, I gained a new sense of what evil was perpetrated on 9/11. But more than being a story of collapsed towers, Between Heaven and Ground Zero is the story of a woman undone in a moment of extreme suffering. Leslie freely admits to the pride and hubris she had cultivated and harbored as a result of her successful career. By the morning of 9/11, she had long since strayed from the Christian faith of her childhood, instead worshipping the gods of money and power. And of course, these gods proved fickle during the slow march to safety that started in her office and forced her to continue walking in fear and pain many months after the attacks. In the years that followed 9/11, Leslie lost her job, her c

Moving

I am a member of the Book Babes Book Club in Georgia, and we have had the opportunity to read many different books from many different authors. Leslie Haskin's account of what happened on that day moved me. She clearly showed how that horrific day started, normally, as any other. What touched me the most was the horrible aftermath that she endured. She really portrayed the suffering that many people went through and are still going through as a result of 9/11. I have a new respect for the survivors, and I know that God brought Ms. Haskins through this ordeal to share her story and motivate others to focus on what is truly important in life. Even after all that she went through, and all that she lost, Ms. Haskins has found peace and a way to give back to those less fortunate. This is an excellent book.

One of God's 9/11 survivors

Reviewed by William E. Cooper for Reader Views (10/06) Leslie Haskin provides us with an excellent, and from the heart, telling of her personal experiences in the World Trade Center during the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. Her honesty and candor in describing her feelings and her surroundings put the reader directly in the same places with her. This is a great read and one that will never lose anything in the telling or re-telling. It is essential that Americans not forget that day; that we recall who we are and what our country and its people mean. Leslie's beliefs in God and His guiding hand in getting her out, then maintaining her since that day are the theme of this wonderful book. Having read many books about 9/11, this one stands out as the one book bringing God to the forefront. I, for one, am happy Leslie survived. She brings a story we all need to read. Add "Between Heaven and Ground Zero" to your library. It is a must read.

Not able to put this down !

I must confess that my husband is Leslie's literary agent so I could have some bias here! However, I've read and shared this book with several friends and family members and every one of us started reading and had the same experience -- we couldn't stop until the last page was read. For me, this meant staying awake until 4:00 a.m. to finish. I read a lot of books, and this is highly unusual. (I love my sleep!) Though the book's fascination (and resulting compassion) comes through Leslie's excellent description of what it was like to have been in the towers that horrific day -- it touched me on several levels. Anyone who has had to recover from trauma, or struggled to forgive and put the puzzle pieces of their life back together again will find empathy, hope and healing here. Thrivers are given one very precious gift: their renewed focus on what really matters. I came away feeling a little closer to heaven for having walked, vicariously, through Leslie's hell.