The Lighthouse, Book 4
Contemporary Christian Fiction/Thriller
Date Published: December 26, 2023
Publisher: Besondy Publishing LLC
When Charley Austin Marches to the Wrong Beat, Life Gets Ugly
Twenty-year-old Charley Austin travels a torn and troubled world as the star drummer and lyricist for the famous Christian rock band, DelivRus. He has musical gifts and a clear mission from God.
And that mission makes him a big problem for Lucky Zebul.
Zebul implements a sinister and depraved plan to crush the vulnerable rock star and put an end to the band’s Godly influence in the world.
Against a backdrop of societal upheaval, Road to Nineveh continues the story of Charley Austin (introduced in Book 3, The Snare) as he, like a modern-day Jonah, faces the harsh consequences of turning away from God’s purpose for his life and succumbs to pride and lust.
Follow the gripping, emotionally charged story as Charley performs in the bright lights with DelivRus across America and Europe, igniting hope and faith, while off-stage his soul is systematically smothered by the darkness.
Will the tough love of his parents, band mates, and Mia be enough to bring him back from a devastating scandal? Will he regain purpose for his life on a sun-baked Texas ranch, or for redemption, must he make one more trip to the Lighthouse on the misty Washington coast?
Besondy’s Christian thrillers have been compared to the character development and emotion found in a Charles Martin novel. Others suggest Besondy writes as if he is the secret lovechild of C.S. Lewis and Stephen King. You can decide.
Road to Nineveh will appeal to fans of edgy Christian Thrillers or New Adult Thrillers.
Road to Nineveh by Charles Besondy received a gold medal in the Christian Mystery/Thriller category of the 2024 Illumination Book Awards.
Reword to suit.
Part of The Lighthouse series
#1 The Hidden Saboteur
#2 The Chase
#3 The Snare
#4 Road to Nineveh
Interview with Charles Besondy
Have you read anything that made you think differently about fiction?
Decades ago, I read several historical fiction books by James Michener. Those books opened my eyes to what fiction can accomplish to make history fascinating to read. More recently, Ted Dekker influenced me with his mind-bending stories that blend religious/adventure/fantasy.
How do you select the names of your characters?
I use several methods. The most interesting is how I selected the names for the dark angels and Satan.
For the dark angels, I researched the names of the worst Greek gods and repurposed the name. For example, the character, Phobley was derived from Phobos, the Greek good of fear.
Satan’s earthly name, Lucky Zebul, was derived from “Lucifer” and “Beelzebub”
Do you hide any secrets in your books that only a few people will find?
Not on purpose. There are occasional uses of phrases in the narrative that will be recognizable to readers familiar with the lyrics to famous songs. The prologue in Road to Nineveh drops a few phrases from Sympathy for Devil by the Rolling Stones, but the reader has to be alert to notice them.
What was your hardest scene to write?
Several scenes with Charley Austin and Drum_Kitten were challenging because I wanted to capture the alure and addiction of porn without violating the guidelines of Christian fiction. I also didn’t want the scenes to be titillating in any way.
Do you want each book to stand on its own, or are you trying to build a body of work with connections between each book?
Each book has been written to stand alone, but there are strong connections of people and place that bridge the stories. I strive to include just enough breadcrumbs of the backstory to give necessary context, without bogging down the pace of the story, which is usually fast.
What were your goals and intentions in this book, and how well do you feel you achieved them?
I had two goals with the book.
Road to Nineveh explores the theme: what are the consequences for turning our backs on God’s purpose for our lives. The book (very) loosely follows the story of Jonah who was called by God to preach to the evil city of Nineveh. He travels in the opposite direction, and we know what happened to Jonah as a result. I hope readers are moved to identify their purpose and stay the course.
The second goal was to warn readers, particularly young males, of the consequences of pornography that has been so normalized in today’s culture.
Based on the early reviews, readers are getting the message.
What inspired you to write Road to Nineveh?
First, all of my books are inspired by the Holy Spirit. He plants multiple seeds until the idea for a book begins to bloom inside my head.
In 2022 an image entered my head of a nearly naked man crawling through a gate to the side of a county road. Later, I was studying the book of Jonah and a title took root, Road to Nineveh. Then the idea hit me of shining light on the evil of porn. I knew I had to write a book and I began to storyboard the plot.
Also, I was inspired by how Charles Martin so dramatically and sensitively tacked the subject of human trafficking in his Keeper series. It emboldened me to tackle porn as an issue, but without making the books all about the porn industry. I went a different direction electing to show porn as a tool of Satan.
Can you tell us a little bit about the next books in Road to Nineveh or what you have planned for the future?
I don’t have another book underway currently. However, I deliberately wrote the ending of Road to Nineveh that hinted the story wasn’t over.
Can you tell us a little bit about the characters in Road to Nineveh?
Charley Austin is the protagonist. He is a bright, typical 20-21 year old guy with a God-given gift for drumming and writing lyrics. He travels the world on tour with DelivRus, the most famous Christian rock band of all time. He is a young man of faith who falls to the temptations and deceit of evil and is left to put the pieces of his life back together with the help of the Lord and one more visit to the lighthouse.
Mia Johansen is about one year older than Charley. She is a confident, virtuous, young woman of faith. She’s cautiously attracted to Charley and never afraid to deliver tough love when necessary.
Lucky Zebul is the name of Satan’s earthly being. He appears to everyone as charming, attractive, smart, and powerful. He has maneuvered into the position as Secretary General of the United Nations and is putting his plan into place for a single world government under him, and a single digital world currency, The UNmark. He needs to stop the band DelivRus and its drummer from using their music to turn people away from a dependence on government and to God, his adversary.
Phobley, is a scheming, outcast dark angel who aches to return to prominence within Zebul’s organization. He has reasons of his own for turning Charley Austin away from God. Phobley is ruthless, innovative, and politically driven. His only weakness, as with all the other dark angels, is pride.
What did you enjoy most about writing this book?
I had a ball with the variety of locations and characters. The story spans cities in the U.S., Spain, Italy, and Greece. It was fun to familiarize myself with the city maps, hotels, and performance venues.
I enjoyed giving my characters depth and ulterior motives for their behavior, especially the antogonists.
About the Author
Charles Besondy is a multi-award-winning author of Christian thrillers and New Adult Christian thrillers. All his books explore the sometimes raw spiritual battle for our hearts.
His first novel, The Hidden Saboteur, was published in 2018. He has self-published four major novels, a novella and a short story within The Lighthouse series.
Contact Links
Purchase Link
0 comments:
Post a Comment