In an instant the Maui honeymoon of Lee’s dreams morphs to a nightmare when Jennifer disappears on their wedding night. Were the abductors the trafficking ring Jennifer crippled or does an even a more sinister organization want her for other purposes?
With the clock ticking toward Jennifer’s impending sale, Lee, accompanied by their fifteen-year-old foster daughter, Katie, and Jennifer’s grandfather, begins his own search of the island. As the search by Lee and the authorities intensifies, he fears beautiful Katie might end up in the crosshairs of the traffickers.
Can Lee save both his bride and his future daughter? What if he has to make a choice? If Jennifer is sold, could she kill herself to avoid a life filled with degradation and horror? If she did, would God forgive her?
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My take on Moon Over Maalaea Bay
H.L. Wegley has done a great job – again. I have read all of the books in this series so far and have enjoyed each one. He has created characters I care about, a problem worthy of attention and too big to ignore and a dose of faith discovery wrapped up in an intriguing story line.
Even though he has brought apologetics purposefully into his writing, it is done in an unobtrusive manner that does not detract from the story. A fun ride with purpose. You are sure to enjoy this 3rd book of the Pure Genius Series.
Be sure you read the message below about how H.L. Wegley incorporated apologetics into his books. Its encouraging to see how God can use whatever talents we have if we allow Him to.
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A Message from the author…
My Approach to Apologetics in Christian Fiction
Beginning in the 90’s I studied Christian apologetics for more than 10 years. At that time there was a dearth of good books on the subject and a need for Christians to challenge the false philosophies becoming prevalent in our culture. So, I planned to write a textbook or Bible study materials on that subject.
Shortly after I began, the real experts—Ravi Zacharias, Gary Habermas, William Lane Craig, J. P. Moreland, and a host of other apologists—people who had devoted their lives to defending the faith, started publishing far better works than I could have written. They added to the old standards by CS Lewis, Josh McDowell, and Norm Geisler.
After writing a few chapters, and accumulating a library of over 2000 books on the subject, I realized my time was best spent serving God in other ways, and I had a knack for, and enjoyed, writing fiction.
The plot of my debut novel threw a devoted Christian man into a difficult, dangerous situation with a brilliant agnostic woman, a woman who was also a seeker. This story allowed me to incorporate some of my accumulated apologetical knowledge in the story. Maybe my years of study would not be wasted.
As my Christian character began answering the agnostic’s questions, a pattern emerged which I have followed for most of my novels. Beneath the main storyline are two apologetical threads.
In the first, the Christian main character’s words answer the unbelieving character’s intellectual questions about Christianity, the common objections to our faith.
In the second thread the Christian main character’s actions reveal the characteristics of God and his nature that satisfy our deepest human needs, including the existential cries of my seeking character’s heart.
As apologist Ravi Zacharias emphasizes, the greatest barriers to faith are the existential questions raised by the pain of living life in this fallen world. People lose loved ones. They are hurt by “church people.” Or, they blame God for other disappointments and bad circumstances.
If I’m successful in using this approach, believers will take away answers for the hope that they have (1 Peter 3:15), and nonbelievers will find intellectual and existentially satisfying answers to their questions, reasons they should embrace the Christian worldview and follow Jesus.
In Moon over Maalaea Bay, 15-year-old Katie, only a few weeks old in the faith, finds a way to help a human-trafficking victim who has a hatred of men, a young woman who has difficulty with God being presented as “heavenly father” because of what men have done to her.
In my fourth and final book of the Pure Genius Series, my heroine answers every major objection to the Christian faith as the agnostic hero throws the questions at her periodically throughout the story. These confrontations create a lot of conflict, a good thing for suspense story, and they provide short, pithy answers readers can share when they have to give a reason to others for the faith they have (first Peter 3:15).
It is my prayer that the apologetical approach in the Pure Genius Series will change readers’ lives and equip believers to share their faith.
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The Author
The Author
H. L. Wegley served in the USAF as an Intelligence Analyst and a Weather Officer. In civilian life he forecasted weather and performed research in atmospheric physics. After earning an MS in Computer Science, he worked 20+ years in distributed computer systems development at Boeing before retiring near Seattle, where he and his wife of 48 years enjoy small-group ministry, grandchildren, hiking on the Olympic Peninsula, snorkeling Maui whenever possible, and where he writes inspirational thrillers and romantic suspense novels. He is currently starting his 9th novel.
