Are aliens here to save the world? Or are they demons intent on destroying the human race? Hydroponics expert John Becker has the job of a lifetime designing an underground farm feeding elites fortunate enough to live underground while an apocalypse is unleashed topside. At least he thought so when he accepted the gig. Turns out the job has a prison vibe thanks to an alien race running the bunker. If not for his lovely assistant Calista, John might have lost his mind months ago.
Then another coworker is implanted with a brain chip turning him into a human automaton, incapable of independent action. Now John and Calista, along with a small band of freedom fighters, must race against time to flee the bunker before they too are implanted with chips that could rob them of their souls.
Abducted is the first book in the Great Deception Series that explores the question: How will humanity explain away the Rapture predicted in the Book of Revelation?
Abducted provides gripping, realistic characters and a powerful Gospel message. God is the hero in each one of my books. My characters are flawed and come to realize their desperate need for Christ.
I loved the Left Behind series, but I was frustrated that the book lacked depth of character and story. I wanted to write a Rapture story with a gripping plot and characters that is more relevant to today while exploring the possibility that the Great Deception might involve blaming the Rapture on alien abductions.
My favorite part is when one of my main characters, Calista, comes to realize that no sin is too great that it can't be forgiven by our loving God.
Calista spun about, her hands flying to her mouth, her eyes filling with tears. There stood LaTisha, free from bruises and so pretty, and DaWayne beside her. And next to them a young woman who looked so familiar Calista had to study her. It came to her in a flash. A photo of Granny on her wedding day. It was Granny, young, with dazzling white teeth and clear skin and a smile of delight. Calista cried out and embraced each one in turn, so grateful to God for giving her back her family.
Then she heard a voice that electrified her soul. “Come up here!” The faces of those about her lit up as everyone hurried toward the entrance, eager to see their King. Such a large number, Calista worried there wouldn’t be room for everyone, but the structure was bigger on the inside than the outside. Plenty of space for all.
She stepped on a soft floor of pure gold. Ahead of her, a sea of rainbow glass surrounded a large, crystal throne. And Jesus sat there. It thrilled Calista’s heart to look upon Him, yet it caused her pain as well, for His body held the scars of every one of her sins.
Then they all sat, and each person was rewarded in turn for his or her service to the King. One by one, Calista heard stories of billions of lives. Deeds judged and either shaped into jewels for their crowns or burned as hay and stubble. And she found each tale more gripping than any movie she’d ever seen. For these weren’t actors standing in front of a phony, gilded set. They were real people, the true telling of their lives.
Even better, with each narrative, Calista was drawn to that person, enjoying a connection more powerful than any she’d felt with loved ones on earth. With each story she found herself tied in an intimate way to every one of her brothers and sisters, an understanding and familiarity only possible with her new, glorified mind. Hollywood had been a cheap imitation of what God could do.
Time had no meaning in this place, and what likely took years seemed to pass in minutes. When the last person received his reward, there was a moment of silence. The deep satisfaction and joyful quiet only experienced with those you know and understand in and out.
Then as one, all of the saints shouted for joy. Calista jumped to her feet and danced and raised her arms in worship, shouting, “Jesus is King! Jesus is King! Alleluia!” And in an instant, her mind was drawn back to earth. She thought about Mama and Ramone and wept, only to feel God’s hand wipe away her tears and remove the pain. And she thought about John. Her beloved was about to go through a refining fire, such as the world had never seen.
There were so many who had missed the Rapture. People loved by her brothers and sisters standing here with her. And Calista now knew and cared for each one of those lost souls as much as those who had known them while on earth. Her heart ached for the billions left there. And now, all those enjoying the glory of Christ grew silent as they stared at one another. Calista looked into the faces of her nearby brothers and sisters, and she knew they felt the same.
She now perceived what she never understood on earth. Only those who yielded their lives to Christ were truly free. Those who rejected Him were slaves of the devil, a dog on God’s leash, Satan, who foolishly dreamt of one day becoming king himself while unable to accomplish anything without God’s permission. And now God would loosen that leash, and Satan and his demons would wreak havoc on earth, a horror allowed by God to bring the stubborn in heart back to Him, before it was too late.
And while God certainly didn’t need their help, He had graciously invited her and her brothers and sisters to participate in His magnificent plan. They could send their requests to Him in a united, more powerful way than anything they’d accomplished on earth.
As one, they knelt and prayed.