Books

When Charley Austin Moves to the Wrong Beat, Live Gets Ugly

Christian Fiction Psychological Thriller, 2024

Book 4 in The Lighthouse Series

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 sunbaked 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.

Part of The Lighthouse series

#1 The Hidden Saboteur
#2 The Chase
#3 The Snare
#4 Road to Nineveh

Join Charley’s turbulent journey of faith in a world turned upside down by evil.

A Gripping Story of Temptation and Redemption by Multi-Award-Winning Author, Charles Besondy

Christian Fiction Psychological Thriller, 2022

Book 3 in The Lighthouse Series

(Two-Time Award Winner for Christian Fiction in 2022)

Charley Austin searched for truth in all the wrong places. Along the way he learned all that glitters isn’t gold. Glitter is death. Then, one March day he heard something inside the lighthouse that changed everything.

In the small coastal town of Reef Bay, Washington, Charley Austin has no way of knowing that his privileged life will be hell for the next nine months because his view of the world and faith will be turned upside down.

All because he is a pet project of Phobley, whose goal is to destroy the boy’s faith. And for that purpose, Phobley has a sinister and seductive plan.

Can three strangers and a visit to a lighthouse guide Charley to find truth and purpose that saves him and gives hope to a shattered world?

The Snare is classic Besondy—a vivid, suspenseful story with an inspirational ending. It’s 2038 in Reef Bay, but the story reads like today’s evening news, as Charley, made bitter by tragedy, becomes enchanted by a woman and is swept up in the glitter of a political movement that threatens his very freedom.

The story takes place between June 2038 and December 2039 (with one flashback to 1947). The action occurs in Western Washington and Oregon (with a few detours to the foothills outside Roswell, New Mexico).

The Snare is Book Three in The Lighthouse series. It was written to be enjoyed without reading the two preceding novels, The Hidden Saboteur and The Chase.

An Ordinary Girl Becomes an Extraordinary Woman Just One Step From Ruin.

Christian Fiction Psychological Thriller, 2021

Book 2 in The Lighthouse Series

Four-time literary award for Christian fiction, 2021-2022.

What Sheryl remembered most about her life up to now was the cycle of chaos – brief moments of happiness soon snuffed out by misery – again and again and again.

Now married, she thought those days were finally behind her. She had strong faith, a wonderful husband, and a baby in her womb. So, why were dark thoughts flooding her mind? Why was she walking to the cliff in the dead of night? Why was a tall, lanky stranger intensely studying her from the darkness?

This epic thriller in The Lighthouse series follows the twisting journey of Sheryl Landing as she struggles to rebound from an oppressed childhood in search of herself and love.

Along the way she meets Yawl, a beautiful bird with golden eyes who opens her heart to God.

But even as she begins to let the hand of God guide her, an evil power delights in planning her ruin. During her journey Sheryl stumbles, regains her way, falls again, and ultimately, is brought to the brink of destruction.

“The Chase” answers the question: To what length will God go to protect us from evil? And to what extent will the Deceiver go to lure us away from the Light?

Set in modern-day Washington State, “The Chase” draws the reader close to its characters, paints vivid scenes, uplifts with faith, and thrills with suspense. Due to some mature subject matter, this book may not be suitable for children.

This novel by Charles Besondy is the second major novel in The Lighthouse Series. It can be read before or after the two-time literary award winner, “The Hidden Saboteur.”

Clay Austin’s Career was Taking Off. Then the Nightmares Took Over.

Christian Fiction Psychological Thriller, 2018

Book One, The Lighthouse Series

Three-time literary award winner for Christian fiction.

No place is safe for Clay. He is besieged. Voices from the past haunt his Seattle house boat. Demonic machines attack him on the street and in his dreams. Clay becomes a confused, weakened man fighting a losing battle for the very essence of who he is.

He turns his back on a promising career and cruelly pushes away the one woman who loves him. His life crumbles as he falls under control of hidden evil. Clay gives up on himself, but God doesn’t.

“The Hidden Saboteur” is a tense, sweeping story of Clay’s battle between the Deceiver’s lies and God’s light.

Clay is a founding partner of the most respected marketing agency in Seattle. He is smart, single, and wealthy. So why, at the pinnacle of his career, are terrifying hallucinations and nightmares suddenly opening deep wounds from the past and eating away at his confidence?

Without Clay realizing it, God’s plan goes into overdrive to draw him away from the Deceiver.

On one drizzling night in a parking lot his loyal assistant, Sheryl Landing, hears a voice telling her to “Protect him; bring him to me.”

The spiritual battle is on. Clay bounces back and forth like a ping pong ball in a high stakes game of good versus evil. The winner takes all. The winner takes Clay.

Events draw him to a small town on the Washington coast where he becomes the prize in a showdown between God’s light and the Deceiver’s lies. Can Clay bring himself to do the one thing that will free him from the chains of the past? Was Sheryl’s determined love going to be strong enough?

From the rain-drenched streets of Seattle, across the dry plains of Texas and back to the wind-swept bluffs of the rugged Washington coast, Clay experiences the hidden destructive power of the Deceiver, and the over-powering light of God’s love flowing through those around him. Which force will prevail?

Now available in audio, ebook, and paperback formats.

When A Mother’s Best Intentions Go Wrong, Will She Be Forgiven?

Christian Fiction Novella, 2019

Elizabeth is a divorced mother whose little boy needs a father. In her quest to find a a good man for both of them her decisions shape and scar both of their lives forever.

Elizabeth was raised in a dysfunctional family with an absent father. Now in her late twenties, living in a small Oregon town, she finds herself in the same sad situation as her mother. She vows to do better. She makes a plan.

“All for Clay” is the story of a mother’s soul-searching, dedication and sacrifice for the son she loves more than life itself. But her second marriage goes badly wrong from the start. Can she forgive herself? Will Clay ever forgive her?

Chronologically, “All for Clay” is a prequel to The Lighthouse Series. Through the eyes of Elizabeth Austin, readers see the struggles of a mother’s life, and they gain insight into the childhood of  her son, Clay Austin, whose deep wounds threaten to destroy him as man in “The Hidden Saboteur.”

The fictional drama is best experienced after reading “The Hidden Saboteur.”

What if Someone You Had Never Met Was Creating a Painting That Foretells Your Life?

Christian Fiction Short Story, 2019

The Stories Gallery in Seattle contained such a diverse collection of paintings visitors didn’t believe they were all created by the same artist – Wayne Gee.

Why was the occasional visitor to the gallery or to Gee’s booth at a street fair so drawn to a painting they couldn’t resist buying it?

What power did these painting’s have?

In this short story, readers learn the background of the mysterious painting given to Clay Austin in “The Hidden Saboteur.” But even readers not familiar with the novel will enjoy this thought-provoking allegory that asks, “Who controls our life? Why do we meet who we meet?”

Readers can consider “Painting for a Stranger,” a thought-provoking sidebar to the major novels and novella that comprise The Lighthouse Series.

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