The Televangelist
Sister Mary Agnes was on the run, although that wasn’t her real name. Disguised “under the cloth” in a remote monastery in Nerinx, Kentucky she was certain no one would uncover her real identity or the truth behind why she was there in the first place.
Barclay O’Neill was known internationally as the highly esteemed healing televangelist whose “fleecing of the flock” was unlimited if only “the flock” knew the real truth behind his healing crusades. He never imagined that a young woman would uncover the sinister truth behind his work for the gospel.
However, the twist in the game of lies and deceit was the “wild card”–the serpent. Who was he? He was known simply as “the serpent” because he believed no one would ever uncover his real identity. After all, the serpent always catches his prey, and he was known as “the master of disguise”.
Fate sometimes plays a cruel hand, and so it did the night of a murder because the serpent didn’t count on one thing–the person who saw him do it. And who is The Butterfly Man? Why did he have to see the face of the serpent? And why would a weary reporter, Hayden Pierce, link himself to a story with so many layers of evil and truth?
And who is Dante Lane, former Special Ops, and what is his tie to “Sister Mary Agnes”? Behind the evil, there is only one thing for certain. Sooner or later, the truth wins—every time.
The Televangelist is approximately 87,000 words long and is the first in the trilogy series.
Barclay O’Neill, an esteemed international televangelist based in Dallas, Texas, thought he had it all covered underneath the disguise of his world-famous “tent crusades.”
He didn’t count on the revelations of his dark secrets being unveiled by a young woman who was now sequestered in a convent in a remote monastery in the foothills of Kentucky.
However, there was one more piece to the puzzle and he was known simply as “the serpent”—he always catches his prey and his fury was escalating but what, if anything, is his tie to Barclay O’Neill? Is there really such a thing as redemption?
And while the serpent prided himself on his perfect kill rate there was one thing he missed—it was the person who saw him do it. Game on!
Edition #102, February 10, 2023
THE TELEVANGELIST
A BARCLAY O’NEILL SERIES
By Lori Hart Uhle
She was on the run. Very few people knew the truth, and it was better that way—safer, really. She was smart enough to realize that one day very soon she was sure to be the hunted.
It was a long way from a life of luxury, wealth, and privilege to the cloistered life of a monastery. To the people here, she was Sister Mary Agnes, the nun who had arrived on the doorsteps of The Sisters of Loretto Motherhouse in Nerinx, Kentucky, a little more than a year ago. It had almost taken an act of God to get her here—to foolproof papers and documentation so as not to raise suspicion.
In her real life, as she often referred to it, she was someone else, living another life by another name.
Hiding had been inevitable—at least to her, anyway. She had to protect everything and everyone she loved—and herself.
What do you do, she wondered, when you walk headlong into a nightmare? You pick up the pieces and run, she thought to herself. Only the truth was—how long could she stay on the run, even in a convent house?
She was surprised to discover a peace here—found in the silence often associated with a convent house as one walked the hallways, reciting the rosary and doing penance, as well as being of service by helping those in need.
This was her station in life, as she liked to call it, at least for the moment. Who knew what tomorrow would bring?
She was about to learn that you really can’t run from the truth because it was often like a game of hide and seek. Sooner or later, someone would find you if you played the game long enough.
Truthfully—and there was that word again—she hated running, but sometimes it was the best option.
Sometimes it was the only option.
Little could Sister Mary Agnes have known that her whole world was about to shatter into a thousand pieces because, regardless of where one lives, the past often catches up with you when you least expect it. Sometimes the past could be deadly, and evil did not mind trespassing on God’s most holy ground.
1
Somewhere in the good book, it was written “an eye for an eye—a tooth for a tooth”—and at the beginning of the good book, it was also written about the deception of the serpent. Even the serpent could enter God’s house if the door were left open. This was the night of the serpent’s arrival, and with the serpent always comes death…
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Lori Hart Uhle writes southern fiction, socially conscious fiction, southern humor, psychological thrillers, romance, and inspiration.
She has been writing full-time since 1991, with the exception of a ten 1/2-year hiatus to take care of her beloved mother until she became critically ill & had to authorize physicians to take her off life support.
Lori sold her first short fiction, “Ravages,” a story about homelessness, to local NPR affiliates, followed by the acquisition of other short stories.
She began writing for magazines and newspapers, as well as teaching novel writing and book publishing at her local community college and then later for the private sector.
Lori is the author of SULLY AND ME, a book that won the Annual Gary Audio Awards by Fiction Works. SULLY AND ME was later published in print; her novel SEASONS was acquired in print and audio.
The majority of her work is independently published, and she is the author of the following:
- THE NICKEL (romance; previously published as Seasons)
- THE EMBALMERS (humor series)
- SOUTHERN HUSSY BITCHES SOCIETY (humor series)
- THE GIFT OF BROKEN THINGS (short story & novella collection)
- THE ROAD TO DIVINE MERCY (inspirational), and
- THE DIARY OF MISS EBBIE CATHERINE SULLIVAN (a continuing saga series; two are in print now–From the Front Porch Swing and The Growing Up Years).
Her upcoming thriller “The Killing of Alyssa” debuts in March 2023. Her children’s book “The Adventures of Agabus” debuts in late February 2023.