In this fast–paced thriller by popular author Brandt Dodson, a young government accountant learns to trust God when his life begins to fall apart and unseen enemies pursue him with relentless zeal.
Daniel Borden is a thirty–year–old government accountant who lives a quiet life and plays by the rules. But when events transpire that shatter his orderly world and a team of assassins mark him for death, Daniel must flee for his life.
While on the run, Daniel encounters Laura Sky. Carefree and easygoing, Laura is everything that Daniel isn’t. But when the killers assigned to eliminate Daniel find him at Laura’s bed–and–breakfast, gunfire erupts and the two set out on the run once again.
As they try to unravel the mystery that confronts them, they discover how tenuous life can be and how their very existence depends on the God who will never abandon them.
A perfect suspense tale for readers who love Dee Henderson, James Scott Bell, Brandilyn Collins, and James Patterson.
Interview with Brandt Dodson:
1. What do you love most about this book?
I’m a big believer that books – whether they are fiction or non-fiction – should convey an element of truth. It’s my personal opinion that fiction can do this in a way that biographies, essays, or other works of non-fiction never could. Story is powerful. It puts us in the character’s place and lets us feel their emotions as they confront the challenges that are common to us all.
In Daniel’s Den, I wanted to take two very different people and put them against the same obstacle. On the one hand we have Daniel Borden, a wealthy and secure individual who has yielded to the temptation of relying on his material wealth while he surrenders his dream of having a family to the dustbin of hopelessness.
On the other hand, we have Laura Traynor who has surrendered her own dreams of being a writer as she tries to fulfill her late husband’s dream of running a bed-and-breakfast.
Daniel is relying on his wealth, Laura is relying on her own efforts, but neither is relying on the God who has been with them all along – if they had just been willing to surrender their dreams to Him. My favorite part of the books is when Laura realizes that God was in the valley (figuratively and literally) all along. Symbolism and setting play heavily in nearly everything I write, but more so with Daniel’s Den.
2. What was the most challenging part to write?
I knew from the beginning that this book was going to center on the financial industry. My greatest challenge was going to be how I could portray a world of numbers, profit, and greed in an entertaining yet realistic way. If I lose my readers early in the book, I lose them for good. So trying to illustrate just how corrupt and greedy some – and I want to stress some – of Wall street’s power brokers can be was going to take a great deal of effort. At the time Daniel’s Den was written, the goings-on of Wall Street and the CEO world were not making the news the way they are now.
3. What do you want folks to get from reading this book?
I write because I have something to say. That being said, however, it is important that the reader comes away from the book having been entertained. But beyond that, it is my hope that the reader comes away with the same realization as Laura Traynor. “God was there all along. But my bitterness clouded my view of Him.”
There is a scene (no spoiler alert needed) in a hotel when Laura is expressing her anger toward God. As she does, she is looking out the window across the lake that lies beyond the building. A storm is brewing and lightning is flashing and she says that God is, “not going to come walking across the water on this night.” But in fact, that is exactly what happens – even if only in a figurative sense.
4. Why an investment analyst?
There are very few things that we rely on more than money. If the bank account is full, we are happy. If it’s not, we become fearful. Not only does this apply to individuals, but nations as well.
I think we as a church have failed the un-churched and the un-saved in this regard. We tell them that money doesn’t buy happiness, but the fact is – it does, even if it’s only temporary.
Think not? If your child is in dire need of an antibiotic and has a very painful, raging ear infection you will become quite happy if the money to buy the antibiotic suddenly becomes available. And none of us will turn down a pay raise.
But money doesn’t buy lasting happiness. In fact, it can often cloud our view of the only true source of happiness.
I chose an investment analyst for the protagonist of this story because I wanted to illustrate that Daniel Borden is a man that has gone beyond the level to which most of us will go. He isn’t content working at a great paying job or living within his means. He wants it all. He is chasing the dollar because that is the perceived source of his happiness – lasting happiness, in his case.
But of course, he is dead wrong.
5. What’s next for you?
I’m returning to my roots. I’m happiest when writing fast-paced crime thrillers.
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