Twenty years after his groundbreaking global bestseller The Shack redefined conversations around pain, grief, and God’s relentless love, Wm. Paul Young returns to the story of Mackenzie Phillips in his long-awaited sequel, Return to the Shack.

In this episode of Book Talk, I'm delighted to sit down with Paul for a deeply vulnerable and raw conversation on what happens after an encounter with God. Set ten years after the tragic loss of his daughter Missy, Mack is faced with an unthinkable journey: entering death row to look into the eyes of the man who took her. Paul explores the slow, messy reality of healing, the real-world friendships on death row that shaped the narrative, the silent grief that tests a marriage, and what to do when God feels quiet. This bonus episode is for you if you are walking through a season of grief, wrestling with hard questions, or longing to understand the depths of redemption. If you are, I encourage you to pick up a copy of Return to the Shack.

Key Discussion

• Healing Beyond the Breakthrough: Why healing is not a neat, linear finish line and how deep trauma continues to ripple through faith, marriage, and family years later.
• Stepping onto Death Row: Crafting Mack’s encounter with a serial killer, Paul’s real-life ministry with friends on Nashville's Unit 2 death row, and humanizing people society labels irredeemable.
• Navigating Divine Silence: What to cling to when God feels quiet, moving from the paralyzing "Why?" to "What now?", and trusting God’s goodness without relying solely on emotional feelings.
• Fury, Grief, and Compassion: Why raw fury is a natural, righteous response to evil, and how honesty with God opens the door to genuine compassion.
• Forgiveness vs. Reconciliation: Clarifying why forgiveness is for the victim’s freedom rather than excusing the wrong, and why trust must be earned through repentance.
• The "Wastefulness of Grace": Discovering God’s overwhelming, everyday beauty in the middle of our deepest shacks.

About: Wm. Paul Young is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Shack, which has sold over 25 million copies worldwide and was adapted into a major motion picture. Born in Canada and raised by missionary parents among a Stone Age tribe in the highlands of Netherlands New Guinea, Paul's life was shaped by diverse cultures, profound personal loss, and deep spiritual restoration. His writing explores the boundless nature of grace, the healing of trauma, and the relentless love of God. Paul lives in the Pacific Northwest with his wife, Kim, surrounded by their children and grandchildren.

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In this episode of Book Talk with Cara, host Cara Putman sits down with Christie Award–winning author and former journalist Patricia Raybon! Patricia drops in to talk about her thrilling new World War II historical mystery, The Sedalia Code.

Patricia shares her shift from news reporting to feature writing—moving "from writing about facts to writing about feelings"—and how her parents’ wartime romance inspired her latest book. She dives into the shocking history of German and Italian POW camps in North Carolina, why female math teachers were the secret codebreakers of WWII, and how a physical trip to North Carolina transformed her manuscript. She and Cara also discuss navigating the complex, painful realities of Jim Crow in fiction and the power of communal singing to lift the spirit through grief.

Plus, stay tuned for our signature Lightning Round, where Patricia breaks down her favorite murder mysteries, her favorite three-word book description, and her upcoming leap onto TikTok!

• From News Desk to Novels: Patricia shares her career at The Denver Post and Rocky Mountain News, and how writing human interest features prepared her for fiction.
• Uncovering Colorado's Klan History: The real-life history behind her 1920s Annalee Spain mystery series.
• The "What-If" Behind The Sedalia Code: Merging her parents' WWII romance with female math codebreakers, Nazi U-boats, and US-based POW camps.
• Hidden WWII History on American Soil: Exploring Camp Butner in North Carolina, which housed 35,000 troops alongside thousands of German and Italian POWs.
• The Power of Site Visits: Why flying to North Carolina to walk the grounds made Patricia rewrite the opening chapters of her book.
• Writing Jim Crow with Purpose: Framing historical racism as a story complication while creating a heroine who refuses to be stopped by it.
• #1 Advice for Aspiring Authors: "Don't go it alone"—why attending annual conferences and finding your writing community is essential.
• Book Club Debate Question: Is The Sedalia Code a suspense-romance or a romance-suspense?

Host Cara Putman catches up with fan-favorite guest and writing friend Katherine Reay to discuss her upcoming novel, The Undercover Bookshop! Combining the charm of classic Golden Age detective fiction with real-life Cold War espionage, Katherine crafts a story that feels like "a delicious scone of an escape" with a little clotted cream on top.

Katherine breaks down her meticulous historical research process—including her rule that only books published before November 1949 could be referenced in the text—and explains how she balanced real MI5 history with a lighthearted coming-of-age story. She and Cara explore why post-WWII England in 1950 mirrors our own post-pandemic world, how she uses literary references as a "shared love language" with her readers, and why she keeps returning to bookshop settings in her fiction.

Plus, stay tuned for our signature Lightning Round, where Katherine drops television recommendations, her top Austen and C.S. Lewis favorites, and her ultimate favorite word!

• Welcome & Intro: Cara welcomes back writing friend Katherine Reay to talk about her new mystery-laced historical novel, The Undercover Bookshop.

• Homage to Golden Age Mysteries: Sliding nods to Agatha Christie, Dorothy L. Sayers, Father Brown, Marjorie Allingham, and Josephine Tey into the story.

• The 1949 Cutoff Rule: Katherine’s strict research boundary to ensure historical accuracy.

• Introducing Gemma Brown: The kooky, loveable 22-year-old protagonist searching for belonging after childhood displacement in WWII.

• A Spy as a Secondary Character: Why Katherine chose a lighter, coming-of-age perspective over a heavy spy point of view.

• Setting the Scene in Great Rollright: Researching the actual 1950 English village (population 247) down to the high street layout and constabulary placement.

• Uncovering the Real Historical Spy: How research in Ben Macintyre's work and Oxford museum debates revealed gaps in classified MI6 files, leaving room for fictional "what-ifs".

• Thinking "In Books": Why bookshops recur in Katherine's novels and how literary allusions build community with readers.

• Historical Hooks & Parallel Timelines: Finding the emotional connection between 1950 post-war rationing/uncertainty and modern post-pandemic life.

Guest Website: KatherineReay.com (Use the contact page to email her directly—she replies to all emails herself!)

Instagram: @katherinereay

Facebook: Katherine Reay Author

Want to watch this interview? You can see this episode as well as multiple others on YouTube! Enjoy!

If you enjoyed this conversation, I would be thrilled if you left a rating and review on your favorite podcast app and leave me a note below letting me know who you would love to see on the show!