For the Thrill Of It All

Sales are mounting for Christian suspense fiction

by Cindy Crosby -- Publishers Weekly, 6/17/2002

It's no mystery that one of the hottest genres today in fiction for the evangelical Christian market is suspense. The proliferating genre includes legal, medical, futuristic and military thrillers, murder mysteries and supernatural novels, many with a generous dollop of romance. The stories themselves are squeaky-clean, with no sex, graphic violence or profanity beyond the occasional "darn it" (see sidebar).

But even without many of the devices general market authors of thrillers customarily rely on, CBA readers find these tales exciting enough to keep coming back for more. Sales for a few well-known authors such as Zondervan's Terri Blackstock (Cape Refuge, Apr.), W Publishing Group's Ted Dekker (The Martyr's Song series) and Multnomah's Dee Henderson (the O'Malley series, Uncommon Heroes series) are hot enough to place them consistently on CBA's fiction bestseller list. Publishers see lots of potential: Zondervan v-p of sales Verne Kenney notes that in the ABA market more than 15% of fiction sales come from the mystery/suspense category, and in CBA, it's only 8%. "There is still room for growth," Kenney says.

At LifeWay Christian Stores, the second-largest Christian chain with 109 retail outlets, president Mark Scott says the suspense genre is the fastest growing. "Six of our top 12 current fiction bestsellers come from the suspense category, even though this genre makes up only a small part of all fiction."

Growth of the genre is "pretty spectacular," agrees Tim Way, book buyer for the 330 Family Christian Stores. "It's basically gone from zero 17 years ago to our second- or third-largest fiction category overall." He says sales are up significantly this year and predicts, "Customers will demand more of this product."

The Christy Awards, given to outstanding Christian novels and now in their third year, had twice as many suspense entries in 2002 as in 2001, notes Donna Kehoe, Christy Awards administrator, adding, "Books in other categories show a heightened awareness of the role that suspense plays in sustaining a reader's interest."

Barbour Publishing's Promise Press imprint recently hired industry veteran Mike Nappa to acquire and edit only this genre. "My sole function is to flood bookstore shelves with high-quality Christian suspense novels that readers can't wait to devour," says Nappa. Beginning in July, Promise Press will release one inspirational suspense title each month.

Although suspense is an established category in the general market, Christian thrillers (with the notable exception of the Left Behind books) don't seem to be cooking yet at general interest bookstores. At the family-owned Anderson's Book Shop in Naperville, Ill., mystery buyer Doris Blechman says the store carries books by Dee Henderson in the romance section--and that's about it. "If we start getting requests for Christian suspense, we will look into it and begin stocking titles," Blechman says.

Barbara Peters, president of the Poisoned Pen in Scottsdale, Ariz., says they don't have a demand for Christian suspense per se, but they have hosted signings for two books by Paraclete's David Manuel (A Matter of Diamonds, 2000; A Matter of Roses, 2001). "I don't think the Christian element had as much to do with the success of the books as the good writing," Peters says.

Mystery bookstore buyers like Kate Mattes, owner of Kate's Mystery Books in Cambridge, Mass., says she might be interested in stocking more Christian suspense novels if she received advance copies or finished copies from publishers. "It's very difficult to know what to order, otherwise," Mattes says.

Suspense is generally credited with getting its start in the Christian market in 1986, when Frank Peretti's supernatural thriller This Present Darkness (Crossway) became a category buster. At that time, Christian fiction still primarily meant romance. Randy Jahns, v-p of sales and marketing, says Crossway has sold more than 7.5 million Peretti products (including three novels, a novella, audio books and four children's suspense titles). W Publishing, which did some of Peretti's later thrillers (The Oath, 1996; The Visitation, 1999), has sold half a million copies of The Visitation to date. Until recently, "apart from Peretti backlist, sales in this category were nil," says Ami McConnell, senior editor and director of fiction at W. But in the past two years, the house has sold a combined 90,000 copies of Robert Whitlow's three legal thrillers and a combined 136,000 copies of Ted Dekker's four supernatural suspense novels. "Since Dekker's first book, we've almost doubled our first print run for his frontlist releases," McConnell says.

Warner Faith editor Leslie Peterson has found that despite the heavy female orientation of CBA fiction in the past, the Peretti books and the Left Behind series (34 million adult novels sold as of May) have opened the door for more story lines that appeal to male readers.

As in many other genres, name recognition drives sales of suspense novels. Rick Lewis, owner of a Logos Bookstore in Dallas that did over one million in sales last year, says suspense sales in his store are propelled by Blackstock, Whitlow (See "In Profile," p.S23) and Tyndale's Sigmund Brouwer (Out of the Shadows, 2001; Crown of Thorns, Oct.). Craig Stoll, book buyer for Mardel, says his 18 superstores have been successful with books by Dekker, Blackstock, Whitlow and Zondervan's Brandilyn Collins (Eyes of Elisha, 2001; Dread Champion, Oct.).

It's not just about big names, however. "Good storytelling is always critical," Zondervan's Kenney says. "In building new authors, it's the story that will compel the reader, encourage them to want to come back for more and to recommend the book to others." Zondervan's bestselling fiction authors, Blackstock and Bill Myers (The Face of God, July), write suspense, as do its rising stars, Collins, James Scott Bell (Deadlock, Oct.) and Alton Gansky (Dark Moon, July).

Mixing romance with suspense "seems safer and easier in CBA in contrast to straight suspense," says Rebekah Nesbitt, acquisitions director at Tyndale House. "It's an easier sell to retail buyers." Tyndale author Catherine Palmer has racked up sales for Dangerous Silence (2001) of 21,500 to date, and Lyn Cote's Winter's Secret has sold 13,500 since March. Dee Henderson's O'Malley and Uncommon Heroes series, in which romance figures heavily, also bear this out: Henderson's combined sales for seven novels were 507,578 at the end of April, and as of May, she had seven novels on the CBA bestseller lists, as well as two nominations each for ECPA Gold Medallions, Romance Writers of America RITA Awards and Christy Awards.

Current events that link to a novel's story line may also spark sales, says Kregel director of sales Mike Leming, pointing to William Cutrer and Sandra Glahn's Deadly Cure (2001) and especially Lethal Harvest (2000), now in its third printing. Books like this benefit from news headlines about stem-cell research, cloning and medical ethics, he says. The events of September 11 will be on readers' minds as Tyndale throws $50,000 worth of marketing muscle behind terrorism thriller Shaiton's Fire (Aug.) by Jake Thoene, son of Christian fiction favorites Brock and Bodie Thoene.

Sometimes a particular aspect of faith drives the story. An apocalyptic series of three self-published paperbacks, the Christ Clone Trilogy by James BeauSeigneur, was recently picked up by Warner. The series has sold a cumulative 44,500, and In His Image (1997), the first title, consistently hovers around 1,000 in the overall Amazon.com rankings, v-p and publisher Rolf Zettersten says. Warner will re-edit and re-launch the books in hardcover, with the first releasing this January.

But for editors, trying to discover successful new CBA suspense novelists is like Hercule Poirot looking for a few good clues. Dave Horton, editorial director of adult fiction at Bethany House, notes that the quality of suspense submissions is generally low, with "too obvious plot ideas, clichéd characterization and tacked-on religiosity." Peterson at Warner says they turn down a lot of Left Behind wannabes.

Despite some top authors' success stories, Christian suspense is not an easy place for unknowns to break in. Publishers "need to nurture new authors and be patient with their sales," says Zondervan marketing manager Sue Brower, adding that it takes time to build word of mouth.

Crossway editor and former CBA retailer Marvin Padgett believes that "we as Americans are consumed with health issues, and medical science is a mystery to us." If so, that goes a long way toward explaining why medical thrillers are working so well in the Christian market. Harry Lee Kraus's Could I Have This Dance? (Mar.) made CBA bestseller lists this spring; Crossway will publish Kraus's Serenity in October.

Medical thrillers such as those of Cutrer and Glahn (See "In Profile," p. S24) can gain exposure through radio--traditionally a tough venue for fiction authors. "Because Cutrer and Glahn are experts in the field of medical ethics, for a good period of time our phones were consistently ringing for interviews," says Janyre Tromp, Kregel marketing director. "The concentrated timing of the interviews helped us brand the authors' names." Cutrer and Glahn jump to WaterBrook this summer with their newest thriller, False Positive (July).

As medical thrillers often center on ethics, legal thrillers tend to play on the need for order. Bell, who has written multiple legal novels, says his background as a trial lawyer made this a natural direction, even in 1997 when it was largely an unexplored genre in the Christian market. Whitlow, another attorney turned novelist, has steady backlist sales, according to W's McConnell. WaterBrook will break into legal thrillers this fall with Directed Verdict (Oct.) by former trial lawyer Randy Singer.

Military suspense is another rising genre, evidenced by Henderson's Uncommon Heroes series (two titles with combined sales of 118,000) and forthcoming titles from other publishing houses. Broadman & Holman has a 350,000-plus first printing and $375,000 promo budget for Mission Compromised, book one in a series of three military thrillers by Oliver North (with Joe Musser). North's previous nonfiction books have sold almost two million copies. Shane Johnson's Ice (WaterBrook, July) uses NASA's space program as a framework for exploring spiritual themes.

Because murder mysteries have themes of moral absolutes and justice, they would seem to be a great fit for Christian readers. Yet customer response to this genre is mixed. Sally Wright, whose three books in the Ben Reese mystery series with Multnomah have sold about 18,000 copies combined, was a finalist for the Edgar Allan Poe award in 2001 for Pursuit and Persuasion, but not a finalist for the Christy Awards. "Maybe these finely crafted stories are not as overtly Christian as the CBA market wants," senior fiction editor Rod Morris speculates.

Although murder mysteries are perceived by many to be a tougher sell in the Christian market than straight suspense, publishers are still making commitments. In May, Revell released A Sinister Silence by Jane Peart from the Edgecliff Manor series. Whirlpool (Feb.), the first entry in Lorena McCourtney's Julesburg Mysteries, quickly sold through a first printing, according to David Lewis, director of sales and marketing. Revell will follow it up in October with Riptide.

Creative marketing seems to help. Magazines like Mystery Scene and Mystery News are two of the print vehicles targeted by Paraclete Press to promote David Manuel's Faith Abbey mystery series, which has been received well in both the general and Christian markets, according to marketing manager Jennifer Lynch. She promotes heavily to indie mystery bookstores and is planning a BookSense Advance Access Promotion for A Matter of Time (Oct.). Paraclete has also expanded its audience by selling mass market rights for the three books to Warner's Mysterious Press.

Although it's hot, the suspense category, which is still in its infancy in CBA, faces challenges. As Stoll at Mardel notes, "This genre needs spotlighting, and we need to educate our customers more about what is available." Steve Oates, Bethany House's v-p of sales, also observes that sales currently come because readers are drawn in from other fiction categories, not because they go to a store to shop for a suspense novel.

Whether inspirational suspense can continue to build momentum is anyone's guess, but for some, it's already gratifying. "It's so exciting to be an editor these days!" says Peterson. "We're seeing quality work."

Adds Nappa at Promise Press, "The potential here is huge."