90 Minutes in Heaven—the New York Times best-seller and inspiring true story of Don Piper’s death, time in heaven and return to a life that included years of intensely painful recuperation—launches a new Movie Edition on September 1. The book launch accompanies the movie adaptation of Piper’s story also opening in theaters September 11, starring Star Wars’ Hayden Christensen and Superman Returns’ Kate Bosworth.
With more than 7 million copies sold, the New York Times best-selling book has a new preface by the author and cover art tied to the film.
“The response to 90 Minutes in Heaven, as awareness grew, has been humbling and inspiring,” Piper said. “My wife, Eva, and I want this Movie Edition to reach more people, sustain them in hardship and inspire them to grasp God’s hand in this world and the next.”
Kate Bosworth stars as Don Piper’s wife, Eva; Photo Courtesy of Giving Films.
Piper’s book—straightforward, honest, compelling—begins with a simple declaration: “I died on January 18, 1989.”
As he drove home from a church conference, a semi-tractor truck crossed the lane and crushed Piper’s red Ford Escort against the iron railing of a two-lane bridge. First responders pronounced him dead and covered his body. Piper was in heaven experiencing bliss—until a fellow pastor from the conference saw the accident scene and prayed over Piper’s body.
In an instant, he was restored to life, one that brought him into years of grueling tests—both physical and spiritual. He endured 13 months of difficult hospitalization and 34 major surgeries (some new to the U.S.), as well as the use of the extremely painful Ilizarov bone-growth device to allow missing bone in his leg to grow back. All of that was followed by years of rehabilitation and battles against depression.
With his family’s support and the prayers of many, Don Piper eventually came to believe that God had a purpose for his pain, and he hesitantly began to share his story to skeptics and believers alike. 90 Minutes in Heaven, Movie Edition traces the amazing account of how a man’s death, visit to heaven and painful return ultimately touched millions of lives the world over.
“A friend handed me this book at about midnight, and come two or three in the morning, I was still reading, my heart pumping, bumps on my arms, the hairs on the back of my neck on end,” Donald Miller, New York Times best-selling author, wrote. “It’s a wonderful and inspiring story.”
“Piper struck me as a reliable witness,” Christianity Today Editor-in-Chief Mark Galli wrote in a 2012 cover story. “Piper simply had the look and sound of sanity, of someone who was telling the truth, whose word was his bond.”
90 Minutes in Heaven, Movie Edition is available online for preorder at Amazon.com and BN.com and other major retailers and will release on September 1, 2015.The book retails for $14.99.
Leave a Reply