Authors Counter Accusations of Riding Dan Brown’s Coattails

by Marcia Ford, Religion BookLine -- Publishers Weekly, 8/9/2006

These days, authors of religious thrillers would be wise to brace themselves for the inevitable: the accusation they are trying to cash in on the success of The Da Vinci Code. But three such authors say that Dan Brown’s success simply indicated the time was right for the release of their books, which were all in the works before Da Vinci hit the bestseller lists.

Sam Bourne (the pseudonym of U.K. journalist Jonathan Freedland) is the author of The Righteous Men, a thriller that links Hasidic Jews in Brooklyn, an ancient prophecy and a global assassination plot. He believes critics have missed the point. “During the Cold War, we had spy thrillers,” Bourne told RBL. “The issue today is the clash of civilizations, the Judeo-Christian world and Islam. Thrillers are a very useful bellwether of whatever is most important in the world. Since 9/11, it’s religion.”

Bourne started his novel in 1999, but until the success of Da Vinci his agent was more focused on his nonfiction books. “Suddenly he was interested in my novel, so in that sense The Da Vinci Code impacted my book, because he felt people were more receptive to the idea of a religious thriller.” But the biggest boost came from the British TV show Richard and Judy. After The Righteous Men was included in its summer reading club, the book shot to #1 on U.K. bestseller lists. The HarperCollins title releases in the U.S. in September.

Tucker Malarkey says she began work on the suspense novel Resurrection (Riverhead, July)—whose plot centers on the discovery of the Gnostic gospels—before Da Vinci released. “When it became so successful, I thought, ‘Oh no.’ I was hard at work on Resurrection and I couldn’t be distracted. I made some of my friends read it to see if there was any overlap with my book.” There wasn’t, so Malarkey continued working on her own novel, which she hopes will increase awareness of the “lost gospels.” “There’s been a real gap in the reporting on these gospels,” said Malarkey, a former reporter at The Washington Post. “I wanted to add this material to the spiritual dialogue the country is engaged in.”

Like Da Vinci, Kathleen McGowan’s The Expected One (Touchstone, Aug.) includes such elements as conspiracy, ancient documents, and most important, the bloodline of Jesus and Mary Magdalene. But McGowan, also a former journalist, began researching her novel in 1989—and discovered that one side of her family believes they are part of that bloodline. “Given the 2,000 years since Mary Magdalene lived, she would have millions of descendants,” McGowan pointed out. “I’m not saying I’m unique. My family history simply gave me entrée into highly secretive places.”

She discourages readers from trying to do the impossible: trace their lineage back to Mary Magdalene. “What is important is this: if you believe Jesus and Mary Magdalene had descendants, how would that affect your life? Their descendants could be anyone you pass on the street every day. Would that make us treat each other any better? I believe it would.”