After spending 25 years traveling the country for his job in the computer software industry, Jim O’Shea now spends his time crafting novels of suspense that tackle the complex relationship between science and faith. We talked to Jim about his novel The Reluctant Disciple (Emerald House Group). In this interview, he reveals what inspired his unique angle on an end-times thriller, explains the advantages of exploring topics through fiction, and compares this book with his other works.
Your main character in The Reluctant Disciple is a professional skeptic confronted by genuine End-Times paranormal phenomena. What inspired you to take this approach to an End Times thriller?
My son is an agnostic and he commented to me one day how naive Christians were. The statement made me think of how naive non-believers could be and how easily duped by The Deceiver.
I made some obvious connections with imagery from Revelation and came up with the “Ancient Alien” theory myself, well before the series or concept was popular—I wrote this book originally in 2008.
When the pieces came together, a feasible and frightening End Times scenario that could be pulled from today’s headlines came to be.
Your novel explores the connections between End Times prophecy and our society’s fascination with the paranormal. What are the advantages of exploring these themes through storytelling as opposed to a nonfiction work?
I’ve read dozens of non-fiction works on End Times prophecy and watched a lot of paranormal content on TV, so they can be powerful tools to explore these themes. Fiction, however, allows the author to create complete settings (time, location, political atmosphere, events, etc.) that can lead a reader to consider possibilities they may not otherwise.
Tell us about the personal journey that Ryan Kates goes on over the course of this novel. What made you want to wrap a story around him?
Ryan Kates is a fascinating character. He is the host of a very popular TV talk show focused on all things that go bump in the night, yet at the same time a skeptic on all things paranormal himself.
At the same time, he is a spiritual agnostic, having seen his Christian mother suffer at the hands of a so-called preacher, then die at a young age. When paranormal phenomena begin to rock the planet and a former love enters his life, both of his belief systems are challenged, and Ryan becomes a true “believer.”
How does this book compare/contrast with your other fiction? You have one previous novel and others in the works now, correct?
Yes. The Reluctant Disciple is similar to my first book, The Linen God, in that they both tackle the Science/Faith dynamic. Science and faith are often at odds in our culture, but the books try to point out that they shouldn’t be, that the physical world is created by God and any revelation from science would confirm that.
My third book—due out later this summer, with the working title Blood Sisters—is more a James Patterson-style murder mystery, with an Agatha Christie twist at the end!
What do you hope that readers come away with after reading The Reluctant Disciple?
The primary intent was to prepare readers for, what I believe is, a rapidly approaching End Times. Satan is most often described as “The Deceiver” in the Bible, and this book describes an End Times deception that will blow the reader’s mind!
Visit Jim O’Shea’s author page:
https://www.familyfiction.com/authors/jim-oshea
The Reluctant Disciple
Jim O’Shea
Emerald House Group