Pastor Stephen Grant?

Stephen Grant is the pastor at St. Mary’s Lutheran Church on eastern Long Island. Grant is one of the more unique second-career clergy around, as he once worked for the CIA. Besides theology, his interests include archery, golf, writing, classic films, the beach, poker, baseball, and history. Grant also knows his wines, champagnes and brews. Oh yes, he generally dislikes politicians, and happens to be an expert marksman with a handgun and a rifle, while being pretty handy with a combat knife as well.

Tuesday, July 25, 2023

Author Ray Keating Talks about His New Book – “For Better, For Worse: A Pastor Stephen Grant Short Story”

 Ray Keating talks about the latest thriller For Better, For Worse: A Pastor Stephen Grant Short Story. It’s the 18th book in the Pastor Stephen Grant series.


 

Book Summary: From Finland to California, the tension builds and the action never falters. Pastor Stephen Grant arrives on the West Coast to officiate at the wedding of two friends. But the past reaches out to disrupt the festivities. Can Grant and his former CIA colleagues stop an attack by a team of killers sent by a powerful figure bent on revenge?

Monday, July 24, 2023

“For Better, For Worse: A Pastor Stephen Grant Short Story” by Ray Keating Filled with Action and Reflection

 18th Installment in Series Featuring a Former CIA Operative Turned Pastor

 

For Better, For Worse: A Pastor Stephen Grant Short Story is an action-packed, thought-provoking page-turner from Ray Keating. This is his nineteenth work of fiction, and the 18th book in the Pastor Stephen Grant series. 




 

What’s For Better, For Worse about? From Finland to California, the tension builds and the action never falters. Pastor Stephen Grant arrives on the West Coast to officiate at the wedding of two friends. But the past reaches out to disrupt the festivities. Can Grant and his former CIA colleagues stop an attack by a team of killers sent by a powerful figure bent on revenge?

 

Ray Keating says, “It’s my hope that For Better, For Worse provides plenty of action in a shorter story, along with digging a bit into the characters and their relationships. Plus, this story also says a thing or two about marriage and what it’s all about in the end. That’s a lot to pack into a tale of less than 100 pages, but I hope readers find it entertaining and interesting.”

 

The first Facebook review of For Better, For Worse said: “Outstanding story. It's impressive how much you managed to cram, if that's the right word, into such a slender book. I really enjoyed it.”

 

For good measure, Ray Keating received the following message from a reader on Facebook: “I'm not generally into short stories, but I like yours!”

 

Kirkus Reviews has called Ray Keating’s Pastor Stephen Grant “an engaging and multifaceted character” and “a consistently entertaining hero.” Lutheran Book Review calls Keating “the master of the theological thriller.”

 

Matthew Heise, author of The Gates of Hell: An Untold Story of Faith and Perseverance in the Early Soviet Union, said, “Check out Ray's novels… They are action-filled and deeply thought out. His Stephen Grant is Jack Ryan in Lutheran clerical garb!”

 

In an article titled “If James Bond Became a Pastor” covering Ray Keating’s Pastor Stephen Grant thrillers/mysteries series, author and columnist Gene Veith noted, “Mr. Keating knows how to tell an exciting story. And these books, like the James Bond novels, are ridiculously entertaining.”

 

Paperbacks and the Kindle edition of For Better, For Worse are available at https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CB4XS5SD, and signed books at www.RayKeatingOnline.com. All 18 books in the series are at https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08SW8HB34?binding=kindle_edition&ref=dbs_dp_rwt_sb_pc_tukn.

 

Review copies, and author interviews and appearances are available upon request. 

 

Contact: Ray Keating

E-mail: raykeating@keatingreports.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PastorStephenGrantNovels and https://www.facebook.com/AllianceofSaintMichael

Twitter: @KeatingNovels

RayKeatingOnline.com

 

About the Author 

 

Ray Keating is a novelist, an economist, a nonfiction author, a podcaster, a columnist, and an entrepreneur. 

 

At this point, Keating has penned 18 Pastor Stephen Grant thrillers and mysteries (with more on the way) – Warrior Monk, followed by Root of All Evil?An Advent for Religious LibertyThe River, Murderer’s RowWine Into WaterLionheartsReagan CountryHeroes and Villains, Shifting Sands, Deep RoughThe TraitorVatican ShadowsPast LivesWhat’s Lost?, Persecution, Under the Golden Dome, and For Better, For Worse. He also has begun the Alliance of Saint Michael series, with Cathedral

 

Among recent nonfiction books are The Lutheran Planner: The TO DO List SolutionThe Weekly Economist II: 52 More Quick Reads to Help You Think Like an EconomistThe Weekly Economist: 52 Quick Reads to Help You Think Like an EconomistBehind Enemy Lines: Conservative Communiques from Left-Wing New York and Free Trade Rocks! 10 Points on International Trade Everyone Should Know

 

In addition, Keating is the editor/publisher/columnist for DisneyBizJournal.com, and hosts three podcasts. He was a columnist with RealClearMarkets.com, and a former weekly newspaper columnist for NewsdayLong Island Business News, and the New York City Tribune. His work has appeared in many periodicals, including The New York Times, The Wall Street JournalThe Washington Post, New York Post, Los Angeles Daily News, The Boston Globe, National Review, The Washington TimesInvestor’s Business Daily, New York Daily News, Detroit Free Press, Chicago Tribune, TheHill.com, Touchstone magazine, Townhall.com, and Cincinnati Enquirer