I'm a dad, a grandfather, an alcoholic family survivor, a writer, and a Christian, and I do technology for a living. I'm pretty good with cybersecurity. This gives me a unique background to present modern stories. My novels so far feature technology elements, but never any Hollywood hacker scenes. I respect my audience too much for that. But look deeper to find ordinary people overcoming extraordinary challenges. I draw inspiration from my own life—Jerry Barkley is pretty much me with the benefit of an editor. But Jesse Jonsen is pure fiction. Look for the human element behind the technology in my stories. Enjoy the fiction. Use the education.
I like this book because I strongly identify with Rayford Steele. He is a professional pilot with character flaws and no superpowers. I am no pilot but also a professional with character flaws. And no superpowers.
When the story opens, I want to grab Rayford by the shirt collar and scream, “Don’t do it.” Of course, disaster strikes first, and then—with God’s guidance—Rayford overcomes incredible adversity to lead his Tribulation Force team through the worst seven years in human history. I also like Bruce Barnes, a pastor who built a career as a hypocrite not believing what he preached. Like Rayford, Bruce’s character grows as the adversity grows, and he finds ways to meet every challenge despite his human weaknesses.
Book 1 in the 12-book series that has sold over 63 million copies!
Read the books that launched a cultural phenomenon!
“This is the most successful Christian fiction series ever.” —Publishers Weekly
“Combines Tom Clancy–like suspense with touches of romance, high-tech flash, and biblical references.” —New York Times
“Call it what you like, the Left Behind series . . . now has a label its creators could have never predicted: blockbuster success.” —Entertainment
Are you ready for the moment of truth?
Mass disappearances
Political crisis
Economic crisis
Worldwide epidemics
Environmental catastrophe
Military apocalypseAnd that’s just the beginning . . .…
Louis Zamperini was an Olympic runner before WWII. He had extraordinary talent, which almost disqualified him from my list. But after his plane crashed in the Pacific, and then as a Japanese prisoner, he endured unbelievable hardship. And shortly after returning home, he was done running—no more extraordinary talent.
He spent years fighting alcohol addiction and PTSD before we knew what PTSD was. He recovered, accepted Jesus, learned how to forgive, and reached out to his former torturers who had taken away his prime athletic years. But even better, author Laura Hillenbrand demonstrated what it means for authors to get out of the way and let the story do the work. No fancy language, just the story. So, this book inspired me twice.
In this captivating and lavishly illustrated young adult edition of her award-winning #1 New York Times bestseller, Laura Hillenbrand tells the story of a former Olympian's courage, cunning, and fortitude following his plane crash in enemy territory. This adaptation of Unbroken introduces a new generation to one of history's most thrilling survival epics.
On a May afternoon in 1943, an American military plane crashed into the Pacific Ocean and disappeared, leaving only a spray of debris and a slick of oil, gasoline, and blood. Then, on the ocean surface, a face appeared. It was that of a young lieutenant, the…
Shot down over North Vietnam in February 1966, U.S. Navy Captain Gerald Coffee endured seven years as a POW. His memoir put me inside his head. I felt his curiosity when the first few North Vietnamese stared at him in his cage. I felt his pain when the Viet Cong extracted details of his mission by stretching his broken right arm in an unnatural direction. I felt his anguish as months turned into years, and he learned how to survive in that hellish prison.
I hope I never feel Coffee’s pain for real because I am no John Wayne hero. And neither was Gerald Coffee. He was as vulnerable as me, but after coming home, he used his experience to inspire others.
After spending seven years as a POW in the communist prisons of North Vietnam, the only hope was to think Beyond Survival.
When life loses its meaning, when suddenly the world is turned upside down, when there's nothing left that resembles life as we've known it, where do we find the strength and sustenance to go on? For naval aviator Jerry Coffee and others who were held as prisoners of war in North Vietnam, there was only one choice: to go within.
Beyond Survival is a journey into the invincible human spirit that unites heart and mind in a compelling…
Dean Koontz, Jerry Jenkins, and others advise authors to plunge the main character into terrible trouble as fast as possible. This book delivers the best opening of any novel I’ve seen. It would have been even stronger without the profanity.
The story feels plausible, and I can feel Mark Watney fighting to live while reasoning his way through challenge after challenge. I was querying Virus Bomb shortly after this one came out, and I noticed many agents’ manuscript wish lists wanted stories where nature was the antagonist. I had to see why—and so, I bought the book.
Main character Mark Watney inspired his world by surviving and making it back home. Author Andy Weir inspired me by writing a great story.
Six days ago, astronaut Mark Watney became one of the first people to walk on Mars.
Now, he's sure he'll be the first person to die there.
After a dust storm nearly kills him and forces his crew to evacuate while thinking him dead, Mark finds himself stranded and completely alone with no way to even signal Earth that he's alive--and even if he could get word out, his supplies would be gone long before a rescue could arrive.
Chances are, though, he won't have time to starve to death. The damaged machinery, unforgiving environment, or plain-old human error are…
Any book featuring a sex trafficking victim is a horror story, and this book chronicles how a master manipulator dished out plenty of gut-wrenching, real-life horror against a vulnerable teenage victim who could have lived next door to me. I don’t like books that make me uncomfortable by hitting close to home. That’s why I liked this book: because the world needs to know about modern-day slavery in all its horror.
It made my top 5 list because Abby found a way to break free of her bondage, and a dedicated Canadian Member of Parliament led the Canadian government into passing helpful legislation. Both were ordinary people in extraordinary situations who found a way to reach beyond their limits and prevail through adversity.
This is the true story of the world of human trafficking in Canada. For years many people refused to believe that human trafficking was happening here in innocent, safe Canada to our very own Canadian girls. But they were wrong! It is estimated that between 12 and 27 million people are currently caught in human trafficking globally, and Canadian stats show that thousands are exploited for their labour or sexual services right across our own country. To begin combating the monstrosities represented by these numbers, it is essential that we recognize that trafficking is an industry and the sex trade…
Today’s sex trafficking industry generates billions of dollars, enslaves millions of people, and thrives by spewing lies across the internet. After several people independently approached me, I wanted to present a compelling story about how this works.
However, as a middle-aged bald guy, I have no business writing a novel from a victim’s point of view, so Jesse Jonsen stepped into the main character role. She has the perfect background to unravel a crooked bargain between a university and a high-end resort looking for free labor. The story plunges Jesse past her limits into war with an international sex trafficking ring. The experience will change her life and ultimately offer victims a chance to tear off their slavery chains.
I come by my interest in history and the years before, during, and after the Second World War honestly. For one thing, both my father and my father-in-law served as pilots in the war, my father a P-38 pilot in North Africa and my father-in-law a B-17 bomber pilot in England. Their histories connect me with a period I think we can still almost reach with our fingertips and one that has had a momentous impact on our lives today. I have taken that interest and passion to discover and write true life stories of the war—focusing on the untold and unheard stories often of the “Average Joe.”
October 24, 1944, is not a day of national remembrance. Yet, more Americans serving in World War II perished on that day than on any other single day of the war.
The narrative of No Average Day proceeds hour by hour and incident by incident while focusing its attention on ordinary individuals—clerks, radio operators, cooks, sailors, machinist mates, riflemen, and pilots and their air crews. All were men who chose to serve their country and soon found themselves in a terrifying and otherworldly place.
No Average Day reveals the vastness of the war as it reaches past the beaches in…
October 24, 1944, is not a day of national remembrance. Yet, more Americans serving in World War II perished on that day than on December 7, 1941, when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, or on June 6, 1944, when the Allies stormed the beaches of Normandy, or on any other single day of the war. In its telling of the events of October 24, No Average Day proceeds hour by hour and incident by incident. The book begins with Army Private First-Class Paul Miller's pre-dawn demise in the Sendai #6B Japanese prisoner of war camp. It concludes with the death…
