NEWS FEATURE: Christian Authors Focus Novel on Roots of Israeli Nation

(UNDATED) In their newest book, Christian authors Bodie and Brock Thoene build upon research for two earlier book series linked to World War II and the roots of Israeli statehood. “Jerusalem Vigil” (Viking) is the first book in what the Thoenes envision as a six-book series, to be called Zion Legacy. “Vigil” opens as the […]

(UNDATED) In their newest book, Christian authors Bodie and Brock Thoene build upon research for two earlier book series linked to World War II and the roots of Israeli statehood.

“Jerusalem Vigil” (Viking) is the first book in what the Thoenes envision as a six-book series, to be called Zion Legacy. “Vigil” opens as the British withdraw from Jerusalem after Israel is declared a state on May 14, 1948, a tense and difficult period for people of all religions in the famous eternal city.

After the British ceremonially hand over the key to Zion Gate and depart, remaining are Jews and Muslims who battle for control of the city.


“People don’t have to have read all the rest of them (their earlier books) to read this one. But, as far as our writing styles, we still use a camera-cut sort of approach,” said Bodie Thoene. She added that the couple are pro-Israel and they see faith as a cornerstone of all their work.

This novel captures five days of what became a struggle for control in the Mideast. It explores the difficult period through the eyes of the different ethnic groups involved.

“This is the one we’ve been aiming at all along,” she said. “We just started back there with the earlier series. That’s the back story. Once we got started in research, it was so interesting that we decided, `Why don’t we start here?’ ”

Zion Chronicles, a series of five books published between 1986 and 1988, traced the birth of Israel as a nation from November 1947 to May 1948. Zion Covenant, six books published between 1988 and 1991, detailed the German Nazi takeover of Europe from 1936 to 1939.

In Christian markets and now in more secular circles, the Thoenes have been very successful, with 32 titles to their credit and 6.5 million books in print. The first books, marketed as inspirational fiction, were published only under Bodie Thoene’s name. Her husband began being listed in the early 1990s when they published a series on Western tales.

With a background in journalism, she serves as plot creator and storyteller. His degrees in education and history make him the natural researcher for the team.


“Vigil,” released to bookstores this spring, also establishes the couple as trend-setters among Christian writers. With this book, they cross over from Christian to mainstream publishers, signing a multibook deal with Viking for The Zion Legacy.

Earlier this year, Publishers Weekly noted that the world of Christian and mainstream fiction “seldom meet,” interpreting the Thoenes’ multibook deal with Viking as part of a potential erosion of the borders between the two genres.

The Thoenes stress that their goal is giving readers a compelling, readable and meaningful story.

“We had taken a break from the other series,” said Brock Thoene. “We found that the books were so full of heavy circumstances and really terrifying times. To have to live through those with your characters and live with your characters was tough.”

They chose a very brief slice of history because we “wanted readers to know what happened on an hour-by-hour basis,” Bodie Thoene said. They created some characters, but the events in the book come from history, she said.

As always, the Thoenes hope their books both entertain and teach. In “Vigil,” the scenes shift often. The reader is introduced to strong fictional characters such as Moshe Sachar, commander of forces defending the Jewish sector of Jerusalem, and Ahkmed al-Malik, Arab demolition expert.


Intense historical research, interviews with Jerusalem residents, repeated trips to Israel (so many, they said, they’ve lost count) and a longtime practice of reading aloud every chapter contribute to the feeling one is watching history unfold when reading the Thoenes’ work. Now parents and grandparents, they divide their time between Nevada and London, using London as a home base for historical research across Europe.

Their writing odyssey began in Bakersfield, Calif., where they grew up. They married as sophomores in college, graduated and eventually went to work for the production company of actor John Wayne. When Wayne once asked Bodie what she really wanted to do, she told him her yen to tell Israel’s story.

“This (“Vigil”) is actually the book John Wayne told me to write,” she said. “He asked me, `What do you want to do?’ And I said, `This.’ He said, `That’s the Jewish Alamo.’ ”

DEA END HOLMES

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