Well, I did order the book and read it over the the weekend, so this is a bit of a book review.
The book is roughly divided in two parts: a testimony, and then a gospel presentation. Mr. Cook has what might be called a miraculous conversion at the church of a group that he runs into at a cafe. Good for him. I think back at my own conversion, always hoping for the spirit to overwhelm my senses and confirm God’s power in an extraordinary way. Well, that has never happened, and I don’t think it happens that way for most people. My understanding of salvation is just the plain, ordinary kind.
We Christians want our heroes. I can think back to the 70s when some celebrity or sports figure became a Christian, and we would celebrate that someone famous joined our team. Mr. Cook’s testimony is sort of like that. After experiencing all the world has to offer, he has an epiphany at a party in Paris. For some of use, Paris is just Seattle or Minneapolis. We come to Christ with fewer tools in our toolbag, less time at the gym, fewer friends, and a pastor who ignores you. I will add, though, that Cook’s discipleship by his pastor is barely mentioned in the book, but appears in the interview referenced in Pastor Bayly’s OP.
The second part of the book is an outreach to his former community, a standard gospel presentation with questions on sexuality thrown in for good measure. In this, Mr. Cook would well be benefited by reading the organizing principals of a confession rather that reinventing one of his own. He includes no shortage of non sequitur scripture verses. He had a few nuggets which I appreciated, such as his treatment of Esau selling his birthright, which Mr. Cook connects to giving up heaven in exchange for temporal pleasures, but at one point Mr. Cook connects the story of Daniel 3 to how Jesus can go into the fire on your behalf, which I believe to be sloppy theology, or maybe a rush to publish.
Mr. Cook confesses that he still struggles with certain thoughts. He holds onto the framework of sexual orientation, and he never mentions moving in the direction of marriage. For him, this holding pattern is adequate for repentance, putting him barely beyond Side B. Maybe I’ll pen a new group to describe him, and me, and many of the rest of us: Side C. For all of us in Side C, may God have mercy on our souls and lead us into sanctification and true repentance.