BUNN, T. Davis 1952-

PERSONAL: Born 1952, in NC; married, wife's name Isabella (an academic administrator and author). Education: Wake Forest University, B.A. (psychology, economics), 1974.

ADDRESSES: Home—Oxfordshire, England. Agent— c/o Author Mail, Doubleday, Random House, Inc., 1540 Broadway, New York, NY 10036.

CAREER: Writer of Christian fiction. American College of Switzerland, teacher; marketing director of a pharmaceutical and hospital equipment company, Switzerland; State of North Carolina, managing director of trade office, Dusseldorf, Germany, 1979-1991; Regent's Park College, Oxford, England, novelist-in-residence.

AWARDS, HONORS: Christy Award for North American historical (with Janette Oke), 2000, for The Meeting Place.

WRITINGS:

The Presence, Bethany House Publishers (Minneapolis, MN), 1990.

Promises to Keep, Bethany House Publishers (Minneapolis, MN), 1991.

The Maestro, Bethany House Publishers (Minneapolis, MN), 1991.

Florian's Gate, Bethany House Publishers (Minneapolis, MN), 1992.

The Amber Room, Bethany House Publishers (Minneapolis, MN), 1992.

The Quilt, Bethany House Publishers (Minneapolis, MN), 1993.

Winter Palace, Bethany House Publishers (Minneapolis, MN), 1993.

Rhineland Inheritance, Bethany House Publishers (Minneapolis, MN), 1993.

Sahara Crosswind, Bethany House Publishers (Minneapolis, MN), 1994.

Riders of the Pale Horse, Bethany House Publishers (Minneapolis, MN), 1994, 2002.

The Gift, Bethany House Publishers (Minneapolis, MN), 1994.

Gibraltar Passage, Bethany House Publishers (Minneapolis, MN), 1994.

Light and Shadow, Chariot Family Publishing (Elgin, IL), 1995.

The Messenger, Bethany House Publishers (Minneapolis, MN), 1995.

Istanbul Express, Bethany House Publishers (Minneapolis, MN), 1995.

Berlin Encounter, Bethany House Publishers (Minneapolis, MN), 1995.

The Music Box, Bethany House Publishers (Minneapolis, MN), 1996.

To the Ends of the Earth, Thomas Nelson Publishers (Nashville, TN), 1996.

(With Janette Oke) Return to Harmony, Bethany House Publishers (Minneapolis, MN), 1996.

Tidings of Comfort and Joy, Thomas Nelson Publishers (Nashville, TN), 1997.

One False Move, Thomas Nelson Publishers (Nashville, TN), 1997.

(With Janette Oke) Another Homecoming, Bethany House Publishers (Minneapolis, MN), 1997.

(With Janette Oke) Tomorrow's Dream (sequel to Another Homecoming), Bethany House (Minneapolis, MN), c. 1998.

One Shenandoah Winter, Thomas Nelson Publishers (Nashville, TN), 1998.

Princess Bella and the Red Velvet Hat (juvenile), Bethany Backyard (Minneapolis, MN), 1998.

The Warning, Thomas Nelson Publishers (Nashville, TN), 1998.

The Ultimatum (sequel to The Warning), Thomas Nelson Publishers (Nashville, TN), 1999.

The Dream Voyagers, Bethany House Publishers (Minneapolis, MN), 1999.

(With Larry Burkett) Kingdom Come, Doubleday (New York, NY), 2000.

The Great Divide, Doubleday (New York, NY), 2000.

The Book of Hours, Thomas Nelson Publishers (Nashville, TN), 2000.

Drummer in the Dark, Doubleday (New York, NY), 2001.

The Reluctant Prophet: Two Bestsellers in One Volume (contains The Warning and The Ultimatum), Thomas Nelson Publishers (Nashville, TN), 2001.

Winner Take All (sequel to The Great Divide), Doubleday (New York, NY), 2003.

The Quilt, Bethany House Publishers (Minneapolis, MN), 2004.

(With Isabella Bunn) The Solitary Envoy ("Heirs of Acadia" series), Bethany House Publishers (Minneapolis, MN), 2004.

"SONG OF ACADIA" SERIES; WITH JANETTE OKE

The Meeting Place, Bethany House Publishers (Minneapolis, MN), 1999.

The Sacred Shore, Bethany House Publishers (Minneapolis, MN), 2000.

The Birthright, Bethany House Publishers (Minneapolis, MN), 2001.

The Distant Beacon, Bethany House Publishers (Minneapolis, MN), 2002.

The Beloved Land, Bethany House Publishers (Minneapolis, MN), 2002.

ADAPTATIONS: Books adapted for audiocassette include The Great Divide (nine cassettes; unabridged), Brilliance Audio, 2000.

SIDELIGHTS: T. Davis Bunn is a prolific author of Christian fiction that includes romance and suspense, as well as a number of mainstream thrillers, and who has produced an average of more than three books a year during his first dozen years as a published writer. His debut novel, The Presence, features a black North Carolina attorney and politician who has a vision that sends him to Washington to serve God.

Bunn's many years of working in Europe provided him with background that appears in his Cold War novels, including Florian's Gate, in which London antique dealers search for treasures in former Iron Curtain countries, particularly East Germany and Poland, that had been plundered by the Nazis during World War II and then hoarded by the Stalin regime. Paulette Kozick wrote in Rapport that "it is this carefully researched, slice-of-life insider's view . . . that elevates Florian's Gate to a level of fascination that is unmatched by any other piece of contemporary fiction." Another novel set in Eastern Europe, Berlin Encounter, features Jake Burnes, a special intelligence agent for NATO, who is charged with the rescue of two scientists who are being held by Stalin. Central to the story is how Jake's faith helps him overcome the obstacles along the way.

The "Song of Acadia" series is a collaboration between Bunn and Janette Oke. It begins with the award-winning The Meeting Place, set in 1753, with the British and French settlers of Acadia (Nova Scotia) at odds, and the members of families on either side finding their relationships tested by the struggle. The series follows the families as time progresses, to the eve of the American Revolution and beyond.

The character of Buddy Korda appears in two Bunn novels, The Warning and The Ultimatum. In the former, Buddy receives a message from God that an economic disaster is imminent. In fact soon after, a second Great Depression envelops the world. In the latter, he follows a heavenly directive to work for a Constitutional amendment that would protect religious freedom.

Bunn's mainstream novels, published by Doubleday, include The Great Divide, about Gloria Hall, a Georgetown student who disappears in China while investigating slave labor practices in a plant owned by a multinational sports equipment manufacturer. Gloria's parents retain Marcus Glenwood, a former attorney who is suffering from depression following the death of his children in an automobile accident, and he investigates New Horizon, whose corporate headquarters are in North Carolina. His quest is made more difficult by the fact that several nasty attorneys from his old firm now represent the corporation. Booklist's John Mort noted that "there's a dash of romance as well and a nice slice of the tobacco-growing backcountry."

Drummer in the Dark is about a congressman who is warned not to vote for an amendment that would relieve Third World countries of their debt to the United States. The book is a thriller that finds a group of wealthy financiers trading in hedge funds and attempting to destroy the U.S. dollar so that they can reap the benefits of the panic that will follow. A Kirkus Reviews contributor wrote that "while he's at it, the author makes a few thoughtful points about the darkly immoral consequences of today's deregulated international banking bazaars."

Marcus Glenwood returns in Winner Take All. He is sought out by CEO Dale Steadman, whose former wife, opera star Erin Brandt, has kidnapped their baby and taken her to Germany. Part of the mystery is why: she was never particularly motherly before, spending her time instead on furthering her career. Marcus sends his assistant and girlfriend, Kirsten, to Germany with a subpoena, but the German government is unwilling to cooperate. A subplot involves the Metropolitan Opera and Lincoln Center. Mort wrote that Bunn "convincingly portrays the world of opera from the Met to Dusseldorf, and though he is not a lawyer, he has a gift for courtroom dialogue." Mort called the story "thoughtful, moral."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, March 1, 2000, John Mort, review of TheSacred Shore, p. 1196; April 15, 2000, John Mort, review of The Great Divide, p. 1500; December 15, 2002, John Mort, review of Winner Take All, p. 707.

Kirkus Reviews, June 15, 2001, review of Drummer in the Dark, p. 817.

Library Journal, April 1, 1999, Melanie C. Duncan, review of The Meeting Place, p. 80; June 1, 2000, Jetta Carol Culpepper, review of The Great Divide, p. 194; February 1, 2001, Melanie C. Duncan, review of The Birthright, p. 79; November 1, 2002, Shawna Saavedra Thorup, review of Riders of the Pale Horse, p. 74.

Publishers Weekly, November 13, 2000, review of Kingdom Come, p. 87; December 23, 2002, review of Winner Take All, p. 46.

Rapport, 1993, Paulette Kozick, review of Florian'sGate, p. 24.*