BusinessWeek online, May 23, 2005, “…religion is the hottest category in books.”
After reading the first two chapters of TELEVENGE. “This is a great start to a book, Pam. I love it. I think you’ve picked a story with a great deal of conflict, which is what makes a good novel. Your characters are believable and diverse. Your dialogue is realistic. I wish mine were as good … I think you’ve done a great job. The structure is sound … I like the way you’ve done this … I think it works well … it’s a great story … the beginnings of a good book here …”
TELEVENGE
There is a dark side of televangelism.
Well, not to the 80-year old shut-in on a Sunday morning. But the desperation of paying for television time can drive those with the best intentions to the gates of hell to make the kind of money needed to save face and prove they’re called of God. It is no secret the trappings of fame and fortune affect even the purest of saints.
Especially televangelists.
Vivid and tragic, TELEVENGE is the story of Andie Oliver, a young housewife who has lost everything, including her sanity, due to the manipulation and control of her pastor, a world renowned televangelist. It’s her fight for unconditional love and faith amidst the dark side of televangelism.
Married immediately after high school and raised to be subservient and submissive in the tradition of the Bible-belt South, Andie becomes a prisoner of that tradition living with her fundamentalist, evangelical husband, Joe. She is also a reluctant member of the Temple of Praise (a cult to some) in Winston-Salem, North Carolina run by the charismatic Reverend Calvin Artury, a self-proclaimed prophet who has created a mega church and believes he is God’s mouthpiece for the “final hour.” Reverend Artury destroys those who oppose his ministry. He is a Godfather in a Mafia of holy men.
Andie struggles for a simple existence and freedom from the cult’s grip only to have her life and the lives of those she loves threatened by the Reverend. She uncovers Reverend Artury’s dark secrets as he climbs to new heights in TV ratings, popularity, and financial status previously unknown by the world’s leading televangelists. But after the Reverend has stolen everything from Andie, insuring she has sunk to the bottom of her barrel, she strikes back.
TELEVENGE is a story of tragedy, faith, and redemption in the lives of five families and a nation of evangelicals.
I have spent most of my life exploring the characteristics and personalities of preachers, evangelists, pastors, priests, prophets, and ministers, as televangelism—a billion dollar industry—has touched nearly every life in America, if only by flipping channels on the remote.
