Known primarily as an author of historical fiction, Jack Cavanaugh’s supernatural thriller series Kingdom Wars is being repackaged—with the addition of the brand-new third novel, Halo of Brimstone (Enclave), added to complete the story. In our interview Jack discusses updates on the original two books, what inspires his supernatural thrillers, and how his faith impacts his writing.
Jack, your Kingdom Wars series is being republished in new editions. In a nutshell, how would you describe this series?
The Bible unapologetically portrays a world in which the physical and supernatural intermingle in everyday life. For example, Jacob was traveling one day to the land of Seir to meet his brother Esau when he happened upon a camp of angels. Jacob pitched his tents nearby and stayed the night. He called the place Mahanaim, meaning “two camps.” According to the text, the next day he sent messengers ahead to announce his arrival to his brother.
The casualness of the encounter is remarkable. There was no divine revelation, no supernatural intervention in human affairs. It was as though happening upon a camp of angels was something you would expect while traveling.
We’ve lost that awareness of the supernatural in our world. Kingdom Wars is my attempt to bring it once again to the forefront. To remind readers that we are not humans having the occasional spiritual experience, but spiritual beings having a human experience. It’s our spirit selves and the spiritual world that are eternal.
And while the first two books in the series are being republished, it has given me the opportunity to update the technology (there were no smartphones ten years ago when it was first released) and to do some rewriting to make the stories stronger. It has also given me the chance to write a new Book 3 for the series.
Many of your novels are set among historical events. What inspired you to write supernatural thrillers?
While some might see it as a departure from historical fiction, for me it’s a natural extension of my calling. I earned my degree in history while preparing to attend seminary in preparation for a pastoral ministry.
As a pastor, while I was exploring expanding my ministry through writing, Frank Perretti’s This Present Darkness was published. I’d read C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, Charles Williams, and others, and was inspired to write some angel short stories of my own, thinking that now the door was open to that genre I might like to go that direction. God had other plans. The door opened for historical fiction and I was more than happy to walk through it and count myself blessed.
Then, after 25 historical fiction novels, while talking to a publisher at a writers’ conference, the opportunity arose to try my hand at supernatural fiction. It’s been fun. For the first time in my professional life I didn’t have to research a time period or location for the story. I could actually write about a place where I’d been.
I took advantage of it. Kingdom Wars is set in San Diego and the nearby suburb of El Cajon where my family has lived since 1957. The first chapter of the first book is set at my high school alma mater. The college in the story is a mile distant where I taught history as a visiting professor.
When you originally wrote these, what were the challenges of dramatizing the unseen world of spiritual warfare? Where did you find that balance between what we know and imagining what it might be like?
Naturally, the first place to start was biblical descriptions of angels and their involvement in human affairs. I also researched historical Hebrew texts on angels and demons. An extensive hierarchy of angels has been developed over the centuries.
It was from this research I discovered Solomon’s Ring which was purportedly given to him by the Archangel Michael. The ring gave Solomon control over demons. The ring figures prominently in the new third book in the series.
From there, not wanting simply to imagine things with no basis to history or reality, I turned to quantum physics, a topic that has fascinated me. And it has yielded wonderful results. Basically, the foundation for my imaginings is the created order that has been so elegantly designed by the Creator God. The angels, both faithful and rebel, were around during creation and they would know how things work in our physical world, things we are just now discovering, like the enormity of empty space in atoms.
In the New Testament, the resurrected Jesus appears through a wall, Peter is led by an angel out prison through locked doors. Now, two thousand years later, we’re beginning to understand the mechanics behind the things Jesus and angels have known since the beginning of time—a rich resource for supernatural fiction.
What do you hope readers get out of the Kingdom Wars books?
Entertainment, certainly, with a good story, surprising twists, and characters you enjoy spending time with. I hope that when readers finish the novel they will have a case of minor depression, like when a friend moves away; you’ve enjoyed spending time with them and will miss them now they’re no longer part of your life.
On a spiritual level, I hope that the experience will create in readers a sense of expectant wonder at the unseen world around us. There is a biblical passage that tells of the time the King of Aram was chasing down Elisha. In the morning, when the prophet’s servant saw that they were surrounded by hostile forces he became frightened. Elisha prayed that the Lord would open the servant’s eyes. Then the servant looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire dispatched from heaven to protect them. Would that we could have our eyes opened like that.
How does your faith impact how you approach writing fiction?
It is everything. My call to ministry has remained the same all my adult life, to teach and preach God’s Word. One of the lessons I learned as a pastor was the power of story to communicate spiritual truth. The strength of a novel is its ability to place readers in life situations where choices are made and lessons are learned from the consequences of those choices.
Whether the novel I’m writing has a historical setting, or it’s contemporary suspense, the goal remains the same—to portray a world in which God’s ways are always best.
Visit Jack Cavanaugh’s author page:
Halo of Brimstone
Kingdom Wars #3
Jack Cavanaugh
Enclave
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1683702050/?tag=familyficti09-20