Customer Reviews

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

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3 star:		(1)
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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 car and her home. Her bout with PTSD has been severe and required intense medication and therapy. Her life as she knew it lay in rubble not unlike Towers 1 and 2. But, very much unlike those towers, Leslie has been rebuilt and stands tall again --- not in her own strength, but in the steadfast love of God.

She writes, "And so I have learned that my life does not belong to me. I understand now how words exhale life, and I will never again hold my breath for so long a time as this. I have relearned to inhale and then to exhale, and as I breathe through Him, the Lord, that is, something wonderful happens --- distance. Space comes between my emotions and me, and it yields an unexpected but welcome gift --- faith. My world broadens until my vision lifts high above the 'soils of despair' and I am soaring. Hallelujah!!"

Hallelujah, indeed.

--- Reviewed by Lisa Ann Cockrel

Leslie Haskin begins this first-person 9/11 account by stating that she suffers from posttraumatic stress disorder. Given that she barely escaped from the 36th floor of the World Trade Center's Tower One, Haskin's anguish is understandable. In her diary-style memoir, this highly successful businesswoman details the events of that horrific day along with the dramatic changes made to her life - and worldview - following the attacks. Although Haskin's writing tends toward stream of consciousness, which can be difficult to follow, her story is both riveting and inspirational.

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.

This book provides a very vivid account of the events that took place inside of one of the World Trade Centers during the tragic day of 9/11. The author also shares how that day changed her life forever and lead her to a spiritual place and strong faith that she had never experienced. In the midst of all the loss that took place in her life due to this day, she reached to the One from whom her help comes from. The first part of this book had me so engrossed, as I could feel that pain as the author painted a bright, detailed picture which began from the very beginning of her day to to the very end. I had to put the book down on some of it to recollect myself, as it is very disturbing to read what was experienced inside the World Trade Center that day, but it truly lets you know that faith can lead you through any trial that life brings your way.

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!

The first half of this book is the exact word-for-word copy of Haskin's other book on the topic about escaping the World Trade Center. I purchased that book first and after being taken away by her narrative as well as the nightmares that haunted me for the next few nights, I couldn't wait to purchase this book as I thought it would expand upon the experience a little more. The first half of this book is word for word the short book she has out. The second half (which is much shorter than the first half) talks about how the whole experience brought her back to God, which I will never tire of reading about, but it would have been nice if it was a whole separate book completely. I felt a little cheated as I already purchased the first half, and to spend as much as I did on the second half for only a little bit more different material. If you are contemplating getting these two books, get this one. Otherwise, you will basically be buying the first short book twice! Still loved it, but the redundancy reduced it to four stars :(

If You Don't Read This You Will Never Understand What Happened on 9/11/01. I read this book 3 times in 3 weeks. It is so unbelievabel what Leslie experianced while the rest of us actually thought that there was a chance those towers could remain standing after the attack. God bless our troops especially the Snipers!

Loved this book! An amazing testament of this womans experience through 911. It makes you feel as if you were there. I recommend this book to anyone wanting to know what it was like to have actually been in the World Trade Center on 9/11.

This book is a first hand account of an employee who worked in the World Trade Center and was present when the plane flew into this building. The author gives a vivid, personal description of her experience that day and also the days that followed. I liked her writing style as she gave an honest, heart felt account of how it changed her life and her journey overcoming her grief and fear after 911.

I knew this would be a difficult book to read and it was but at the same time it was truly riveting. I read this book in one sitting. Reading this book 9 years after Sept. 11th, makes it as fresh as yesterday. No news story could take you so deep into one's personal struggle on that day. It is an inspiration to all and a must read for all American's. We could never fully understand what one went through who was a victim, but it is a vivid reminder of how blessed we are to live each and every day.