Just days after the news that the Crystal Cathedral, home of so-called prosperity gospel preacher Robert Schuller, has filed bankruptcy, North Star Writers Group releases a new novel that features a remarkably similar preacher and institution.

Pharmakeia, written by North Star National editor in chief Dan Calabrese, follows his 2009 spiritual thriller Powers and Principalities, and is similarly set in Royal Oak, Michigan.

Like its predecessor, Pharmakeia explores the lives of three life-long friends and Royal Oak residents who find themselves grappling with disturbing spiritual insight. This new story finds one of the main characters receiving bizarre and frightening warnings in dreams about violent events affecting young people in the community. The three friends’ investigation leads them to the fictional Royal Oak Cathedral, which is struggling financially as Schuller-like prosperity gospel preacher Will Camus seeks personal fame at the expense of the church’s financial stability.

An equally prominent theme in Pharmakeia is the connection between substance abuse and spiritual vulnerability.

“I had no idea when I wrote this story that something like the Crystal Cathedral bankruptcy would be in the news at the time of the book’s release,” Calabrese said. “I had planned the release for mid-October since the early part of the year, and just days before the launch date, this story showed up. Unbelievable.”

Calabrese, who has been an Adult Bible Fellowship teacher for 15 years, makes no bones about his disdain for “prosperity gospel” preachers like Schuller and Joel Osteen.

“These men are frauds,” Calabrese said. “They twist God’s Word to make people think their reward will be money and riches on Earth, and as a result, those who follow them fail to understand that the true blessing of God is the grace of Jesus Christ and the powerful indwelling of the Holy Spirit. I don’t want to engage in schadenfreude, but for a man like Schuller to preach the garbage he does, and end up in bankruptcy, has to be a demonstration of the fact that God will not be mocked.”

Like his first book, Calabrese describes Pharmakeia as an extremely edgy work of Christian fiction.

“The Christian publishing establishment is not willing to explore the darkest aspects of spiritual evil in an honest way,” Calabrese said. “They’re too concerned about someone complaining over a word that offended them. That’s why I’m fortunate to have North Star Writers Group to publish my books. I don’t have to follow any rules that restrict this exploration, and I find that to be crucial because the work of demons is not pretty. You can’t sanitize it for audiences that are afraid of anything PG-13 or above, but you need to face it. If God’s people are afraid to do that, I don’t see how we can win the victory over it.”

Pharmakeia is available for purchase on the Books page of The North Star National, and at Calabrese’s author web site. The $15.99 purchase price includes shipping.

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