Kingdom Come

In 1989 God offered mankind a savior, down in a small American town, down the Louisiana Bayou. It is a tale told just as in the Bible. The economy and times were so bad and the people so desperate for better days, they had all been begging for the Messiah. As sure as supply follows demand, both the capable and incapable citizens had good cause to claim to be that Savior. Everyone with a pulse promised to deliver the town, the country, the world and so their story, this story, reads like The Confederacy of Dunces at times but this tale is the gospel truth. Who among these characters was the real McCoy and who was an impostor? That was the biggest mystery of all. As is the case today, nobody then could tell for certain. However, we both know at least two things for sure, there was only one true Savior and wherever the Savior goes, the Devil was sure to follow. Jesus never emerged to save us all! Why is it you never heard of this Messiah, nor the facts of this tale you wonder? Here is why and here is what happened.

I have been asked by many people how this novel came to be. I tell them, in 1986 I set out on a well-planned trip to explore every corner of my new home in America... by bicycle. I added Canada and Mexico to the risky bargain. I knocked on stranger's doors and asked to sleep on their lawns. Nobody said no. Instead, they not only took me in but they also fed me, they did my laundry, they took me to their schools, they took me to their workplaces and they took me to their churches. It was viewing lives close up. Then suddenly it was an expansive and valuable view of the country at the same time.
After over 14,000 miles and two years ride, I was so impacted, I returned home and decided to write this novel. It was meant as an interpretation and summation of what I had witnessed. It was also meant to be the first of three interlocking stories about just what those experiences might portend. Most of all, the stories were meant to be as expansive and as vast and as the country. This first novel, written 37 years ago, seems drawn from today's headlines and therefore, even more relevant than ever.