More than a dozen Christian suspense authors discuss the challenges of writing about crime, danger, and violence from a biblical perspective.
Over the years, FamilyFiction has talked to a lot of Christian authors who all manner of suspense—ranging from mysteries and thrillers to end-times fiction and more. What are the unique challenges of writing about crime, danger, and violence from a biblical worldview? Here’s what twelve authors had to say.
This article is from the 2019 Christian Suspense Special. Get the issue FREE here!
Irene Hannon
Obviously, if you write suspense, it will have all those elements [crime, danger, and violence] to some degree. But I minimize description as much as possible and always cast crime and aggression in a negative light.
We’ve become so desensitized to violence and vulgarity in media that it’s almost expected in mainstream novels now. But I firmly believe you can tell a compelling story without getting gruesome or graphic.
Read the original interview: https://www.familyfiction.com/romantic-suspense-interview-irene-hannon-lens-faith/
Dark Ambitions
Code of Honor #3
Irene Hannon
Revell
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Rachel McMillan
I think the challenge is in trying to seep into the mindset of people who are depraved enough to commit heinous crimes. There is a death in City of Liberty as well as a violent attack that really hit close to me because I was so fond of the victims as I created them.
What I found in writing is that the good guys—for lack of a better word—are driven by a different motive. My criminals are propelled by a lack of a stabilizing force in their life.
The moment a criminal puts their faith in a human instead of God, they are easily swayed by earthly things by storing their treasures on earth. They have no true guiding light and so easily falter in a desperate attempt to search for something concrete and to give their loyalty to someone who has the strongest voice and the most allure.
I think that the best books leave as much as they can to a rich reader imagination. So rather than spend my time focusing on the corpse or a murder scene, I spend time writing the perspective of my sleuths encountering that scene and usually it is enough to see it through their eyes to strike a reaction rather than a visceral description.
Read the original interview: https://www.familyfiction.com/suspense-author-interview-rachel-mcmillan-true-north/
Murder in the City of Liberty
A Van Buren and DeLuca Mystery #2
Rachel McMillan
Thomas Nelson
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Michelle Lindo-Rice and Michelle Stimpson
Michelle Stimpson
Michelle Lindo-Rice
LINDO-RICE: I don’t think there is a challenge. The Bible is filled with so many histories involving crime, passion, danger and violence and shows what happens when the ‘character’ fails to repent and even better, when they do repent. I think that just like the Bible, a story like this one has to have a redemptive quality.
STIMPSON: I’ll add that we use ”fade to black” a few times in this book because, while we both appreciate the fact that the Bible is full of dangerous encounters, we don’t want to trigger readers who may have traumatic histories. Some people read Christian fiction in order to minimize the risk of exposure to triggers and temptations they are trying to overcome. We don’t want to be a stumbling block for believers. Again, it’s a tricky balance.
Read the original interview: https://www.familyfiction.com/romance-author-interview-michelle-stimpson-michelle-lindo-rice-redemptive-quality
Small Town Faith
Lovetown Series #2
Michelle Stimpson and Michelle Lindo-Rice
Independent
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Janice Cantore
Never be too graphic. Though I do deal with hard things—murder, drug overdose, etc.—I never want to gross anyone out or make them uncomfortable.
Read the original interview: https://www.familyfiction.com/janice-cantore-getting-facts/
Cold Aim
Line of Duty #3
Janice Cantore
Tyndale House
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Jeffrey Wilson
Writing on those topics can be a challenge no matter what—especially when you’re creating experiences that you’ve dealt with yourself. There are times in many of my books where writing a particular scene or interaction takes me back to places hard to go or stir up memories of those I’ve lost.
But that’s a good thing. While sometimes painful, that’s what brings the realism.
In War Torn, which is by intent deeply personal and therefore painful, that was magnified a thousand times because the emotions and struggles were the heart of the story. And many of those emotions were mine.
It made it harder than ever to write—and harder still to read and edit. It was emotionally exhausting. But if the book can help a single combat veteran or spouse find their way to a closer walk through the fictional experiences of Jake and Rachel, well, that is so worth it.
Read the original interview: https://www.familyfiction.com/suspense-qa-jeffrey-wilson-war-torn/
War Torn
Jeffrey Wilson
Independent
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Lisa Harris
For me it’s trying to find a balance. When I read books or watch movies, I don’t like a lot of violence, so in my own books I tend to stay away from graphic crime descriptions.
At the same time, one reason I write in this genre is because there is evil and violence in our world, and I want to show the contrast of finding justice and hope even in the worst of circumstances. To show how God can redeem any situation no matter what the outcome.
Read the original interview: https://www.familyfiction.com/lisa-harris-seeing-world-differently/
Deadly Intentions
Lisa Harris
Revell
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Angela Ruth Strong
Recently I’ve been studying joy in the Bible. There is a clear connection between joy and victory. The Bible also says, “The joy of the Lord is my strength,” which would then mean that our strength comes from the joy of Christ’s victory. This is where we get the strength to keep on fighting our own battles.
When my characters reach the black moment and all hope is lost, they can only find strength through victory in Jesus to overcome.
Read the original interview: https://www.familyfiction.com/romantic-suspense-qa-angela-strong-presumed-dead/
A Cuppa Trouble
CafFunated Mysteries #2
Angela Ruth Strong
Mountain Brook Ink
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Dani Pettrey
Wonderful question. I actually find it easier to write about crime and danger because I’m a Christian author. Writing about the two allows about the strong contrast that that exists between good and evil, darkness and light.
Faith and the beauty of Christs reveals just sinful man can be and our deep our need for a Savior exists. In addition, it’s through danger and a pressure-cooker that a person’s true faith and character is revealed and can truly shine as a testament to Jesus and the work of His Holy Spirit.
Read the original interview: https://www.familyfiction.com/dani-pettrey-love-bullets/
The Killing Tide
Coastal Guardians #1
Dani Pettrey
Bethany House
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Randy Singer
The Bible is full of stories of crime and contains lots of “legal thriller” themes as well. We live in a fallen world and God’s great grace and redemption are displayed most powerfully in these tragic circumstances. “Where sin abounds, grace abounds more.” Romans 5:20.
Jesus is our advocate and one of our callings is to seek justice and advocate for those who cannot speak for themselves. That is part of what my protagonist is doing in this story.
In a broader sense, great sacrifice demonstrates great love. My commitment as a Christian who writes about crime and some of the darker sides of the human nature is not to glamorize this sinfulness but to instead use it to demonstrate God’s power to redeem even hopeless situations.
Read the original interview: https://www.familyfiction.com/randy-singer-law/
Rule of Law
Randy Singer
Tyndale House
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Brandilyn Collins
The four-point brand promise of my Seatbelt Suspense novels is: fast, faced, character-driven, with myriad twists and an interwoven thread of faith. Notice that the faith thread is last. I never sit down to write a Christian suspense around some theme. I want to write a fast-paced, gripping story.
As I write that story, the message of God and His love and mercy begins to emerge, based on whatever the main character is going through. In that way, the theme is not forced upon the story but is “interwoven” into it—a natural progression of what the character learns through her struggles.
Read the original interview: https://www.familyfiction.com/suspense-author-qa-brandilyn-collins-plummet/
Plummet
Brandilyn Collins
Challow Press
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Lynette Eason
The research can be so dark sometimes. I wrote about serial killers for a while and I had to get out of that mindset after the end of the third book because it’s just a lot of darkness. You don’t want to stay there too long.
The good thing about writing Christian fiction is that you get to show the light, too. And you don’t have to be subtle about it. LOL.
Read the original interview: https://www.familyfiction.com/lynette-eason-dark/
Collateral Damage
Danger Never Sleeps #1
Lynette Eason
Revell
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Craig Parshall
The wonderful thing about writing suspense fiction from a Christian worldview is that no matter how dire the situation becomes from a worldly perspective, there is an equally real spiritual solution. Jesus used practical, relatable parables to teach eternal lessons. In my novels I give a realistic, three-dimensional view of evil, but I also tried to give a true, encouraging portrait of the resurrection power of Christ that is available to every believer.
Read the original interview: https://www.familyfiction.com/suspense-qa-craig-parshall/
The Empowered
Trevor Black #2
Craig Parshall
Tyndale House
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Terri Blackstock
The fact is that I’m a Christian reader as well. So, I really think about when I’m reading a book, what makes me feel defiled in some way? If I’m reading a really gruesome book, and there’s a lot of blood, and there’s a lot of violence, you know it makes me feel defiled. I don’t want to do that to my readers, so there are lines I won’t cross.
But I do have murder, and I do have blood. But I try not to make the reader wallow in it.
Probably my most gritty book was Predator. I deliberately did it in that book, because I wanted to scare the socks off people who were dumping all their information on social networks. I wanted them to understand that social networks are a predator’s playground. And that if you were a predator, where would you go to find out where somebody was at any given time, you know, and what their habits were, what their routines were.
I just wanted to scare mostly young people, but even adults. I think that book was probably the grittiest, and that was for a purpose.
But mostly, I try not to show too much blood, not to get too gory, and to describe things in a way that it gets across what happened, but they don’t have to wallow in it.
Read the original interview: https://www.familyfiction.com/terri-blackstock-running-toward-light/
Smoke Screen
Terri Blackstock
Thomas Nelson
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Find more interviews with Christian suspense authors—including Ted Dekker, Ronie Kendig, Susan May Warren, Travis Thrasher, and Tosca Lee—here: https://www.familyfiction.com/genre/suspense/