Archives|A Best-Selling Formula In Religious Thrillers
A Best-Selling Formula In Religious Thrillers
By DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK FEB. 11, 2002
The Evangelical minister Timothy LaHaye was one of the last decade's best-selling novelists, with easily the most surprising formula: apocalyptic thrillers, based on his own unusual and strictly literal reading of biblical references to the Second Coming. The first nine books in his ''Left Behind'' series sold more than 50 million copies over the last seven years, not counting a spinoff series for children.
Dr. LaHaye, 75, did it with the help of a partnership of like-minded Evangelicals: his longtime agent S. Rickly Christian, his collaborator Jerry B. Jenkins and the executives at the Bible publisher Tyndale House.
Now, however, Dr. LaHaye is ready to take his place alongside the best-paid writers in the country, and he has enlisted some more secular help. To begin with, he signed with the decidedly worldly Hollywood talent manager Michael Ovitz and his Artists Management Group, and last week his new agents reached an agreement in principle to sell the rights to a new series to the largely secular publisher Bantam Dell, part of the Random House division of Bertelsmann. For the worldwide rights to four planned novels, Dr. LaHaye will receive an advance of about $45 million.
This time, he will also be working without Mr. Jenkins. In fact, Mr. Jenkins said, he first learned of the agreement on Friday morning, when his son mistakenly called to congratulate him on ''the big deal'' after reading the news in Variety.
Dr. LaHaye's new advance is among the highest paid to a novelist of any kind. Only the top handful of blockbuster writers like John Grisham, Tom Clancy and Patricia Cornwell are paid more for their books, although other top-selling authors also usually retain valuable rights to sell the books to publishers outside the United States.
Dr. LaHaye's quick ascension from relative obscurity reflects the stunning growth in the market for Christian books the last 15 years. But for Bantam Dell the sizable advance is also a bet that Dr. LaHaye can continue building a mainstream readership without losing his legions of fundamentalist Christian fans. He will also be working without the help of Mr. Jenkins, who devised many of the details of the plots and handled all of the writing of their previous works.
Irwyn Applebaum, publisher of Bantam Dell, said he was confident that Dr. LaHaye's sales will grow. Mr. Applebaum declined to discuss the details of the new series, but said, ''It is a series which is absolutely going to thrill his established readership, who have bought his books in the Christian marketplace as well as in the mainstream marketplace, and it is going to attract additional readers. It our feeling that with our help he will be able to reach additional readers with every book.''
Dr. LaHaye did not return calls. He is the author of more than 40 books, mostly about the Bible and its application to everyday life. But the biblical interpretations that are the basis for his best-selling series of novels are not shared by most Christian denominations and trouble some who practice other faiths.
His keenest interests are in an anticipated period of ''tribulations,'' a seven-year rule by the Antichrist that he expects will entail one world government and a single currency. (After that, he foresees the apocalypse, the Second Coming of Christ, a 1,000-year rule of Christ and, lastly, another great battle ending in the creation of Heaven on Earth.) He is a co-founder of the Pre-Trib Research Center to study these matters and publishes Pre-Trib Perspectives, which his Web site calls ''a monthly journal keeping the reader on the cutting edge of unfolding prophetic events.''
His reading of the Bible holds that 144,000 Jews must convert to Christianity in the period preceding the Second Coming in order for it to occur. A Jewish-born convert to Christianity figures as a hero in his novels. In an interview with The New York Times in June 2000, Dr. LaHaye acknowledged that his emphasis on the conversion of Jews was offensive to some. ''Jews have a deep-rooted conviction that the Messiah has yet to come,'' he said. ''They will not accept Jesus as the Messiah.''
He holds even starker views on Muslims, whom he has sometimes called ''godless.'' ''We should not be deceived by the well-publicized belief in 'Allah' as though the Muslim and Arab world truly believe in God. The god they believe in is definitely NOT the God of the Bible, either in the Old or New Testaments,'' he wrote on his Web site. ''Only one religion points to God and we need to be more aggressive in proclaiming it.''
Asked about the interpretations underpinning Dr. LaHaye's novels, Mr. Applebaum of Bantam Dell said, ''He certainly has provocative ideas that some would even say are controversial, but he is essentially writing an adventure story that intertwines both his ideas and his research.''
He added, ''We certainly are not in the business of precensoring our authors.''
Mr. Christian, who specializes in representing Christian writers, introduced Dr. LaHaye to Mr. Jenkins. Mr. Jenkins had written more than 140 books, including Christian novels and best-selling biographies of the baseball players Hank Aaron and Orel Hershiser. They agreed to split the advance and royalties, Mr. Jenkins said.
Mr. Jenkins, 52, said, ''it was sort of a father-and-son dynamic.'' For each book, Dr. LaHaye provided a concept and ''his thoughts on the biblical passages and verses we are going to cover,'' Mr. Jenkins said, ''The point was to keep me on track theologically.'' Mr. Jenkins then developed details of the plots. Each combines the pacing of a thriller with the battle against the Antichrist.
Asked why he did not join Dr. LaHaye in his next project, Mr. Jenkins said, ''Well, it is not like I was asked.'' He added, ''He probably knows I would not have had time anyway.'' Mr. Jenkins is working on four more novels in the Left Behind series and owns an organization to train Christian writers and a small film company.
Mr. Applebauum said Dr. LaHaye had outlined the plot of his next novel and was seeking a new collaborator.
Dr. LaHaye's jump to the literary division of the Artists Management Group is the second major blockbuster novelist the group has signed since Mr. Ovitz founded it three years ago. Last year, it lured Mr. Clancy from the William Morris agency. Michael Burns, a spokesman for Mr. Ovitz's company, said Dr. LaHaye was hoping to see his books made into films. A lawyer referred him to one of the company's agents, David McIlvain.
''David said, 'Are you kidding? We would love to talk to him,' '' Mr. Burns said. Mr. Christian did not return calls.
Dan Balow, director of business development at Tyndale House, said the success of Dr. LaHaye's original series had effectively doubled the company's size the last seven years, helping it become one of the largest Christian houses.
But Mr. Balow said he did not resent Dr. LaHaye's decision.
''The dollars were not in our league,'' he said. ''Any of us, if we had a chance to make $45 million simply by switching publishers, we would do that.''
A version of this article appears in print on February 11, 2002, on Page C00002 of the National edition with the headline: A Best-Selling Formula In Religious Thrillers. Order Reprints| Today's Paper|Subscribe