Jack Cavanaugh Books in Order
Explore Jack Cavanaugh's books in order, with quick summaries, series background, and clear suggestions for where to begin reading.
Last updated: July 14, 2026
As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases (at no extra cost to you).
Jack Cavanaugh books in publication order
30 books
The Colonists
by Jack Cavanaugh
1994
After Benjamin Morgan dies, his children scatter into colonial Massachusetts, commerce, an Indigenous village, and even a pirate ship. Their father's hope for a lasting Christian family heritage is threatened as grief and conflict pull them apart.
The Puritans
by Jack Cavanaugh
1994
Drew Morgan is sent by Bishop Laud to expose Puritan dissenters in England. Falling for a Puritan curate's daughter changes his loyalties, sending him toward Massachusetts while the powerful bishop's reach still threatens his new life.
The Patriots
by Jack Cavanaugh
1995
As revolution reaches the American colonies, lifelong rivals Esau and Jacob Morgan are divided by love and loyalty. When both choose opposing sides in the struggle for independence, their family conflict becomes as dangerous as the war itself.
The Adversaries
by Jack Cavanaugh
1996
A friendship between Ohio Morgans and Virginia Coopers is strained when Morgan brothers help enslaved people escape. As their children's engagement hangs in the balance, the families confront divisions that foreshadow the coming Civil War.
The Pioneers
by Jack Cavanaugh
1996
Haunted by a factory fire that took his father and shattered his faith, Jesse Morgan flees industrial New York. A cruel prank, crime, and corruption leave him relying only on himself, until that hard independence begins to fail.
Quest for the Promised Land
by Jack Cavanaugh
1997
Nineteenth-century South Africa leaves Christiaan van der Kemp's family squeezed by British rule, frontier hardship, and conflict with the Xhosa. They join a difficult migration toward a new land, seeking freedom, safety, and a future of their own.
The Allies
by Jack Cavanaugh
1997
World War I uproots the Morgan family when the Lusitania is sunk and siblings Katy and Johnny are drawn into the conflict. A nurse and a fighter pilot, they face imprisonment behind German lines and battles of courage within themselves.
The Pride and the Passion
by Jack Cavanaugh
1997
In colonial South Africa, proud plantation heir Jan van der Kemp clashes with Margot de Campion, a Huguenot orphan raised in Amsterdam. Their growing bond is tested by family wounds, grief, danger, and the expectations surrounding them.
The Victors
by Jack Cavanaugh
1998
The attack on Pearl Harbor scatters the Morgan family's young adults across a world at war. From the home front to distant battle zones, their lives are endangered and their beliefs are tested by loss, fear, and uncertain news.
Glimpses of Truth
by Jack Cavanaugh
1999
Thomas Torr, a gifted peasant in fourteenth-century England, joins John Wycliffe's effort to translate the Bible into English. With death the penalty for the work, Thomas is drawn into religious conflict, church politics, and dangerous intrigue.
The Peacemakers
by Jack Cavanaugh
1999
During the Vietnam era, Morgan siblings Paige and Travis are pulled into different battles, campus protest and military service. As cynicism and violence reshape their lives, their family searches for a way to hold on to faith and each other.
While Mortals Sleep
by Jack Cavanaugh
2001
Before World War II, Berlin pastor Josef Schumacher watches his church's young people drift toward Nazi youth groups. He joins the resistance against Hitler, risking his safety and marriage to protect them from a growing evil.
His Watchful Eye
by Jack Cavanaugh
2002
In 1943, former Nazi believer Konrad Reichmann deserts after witnessing brutality on the Russian front. He plans to kill Hitler, but his old pastor urges another path as war, Soviet forces, and vulnerable children close in.
Postmarked Heaven
by Jack Cavanaugh
2002
Four people from very different eras write letters from heaven to the living. A Civil War doctor, a young martyr, an Ethiopian village girl, and a screenwriter reflect on the lives that brought them to a new perspective.
Beyond the Sacred Page
by Jack Cavanaugh
2003
In Tudor England, people risk their lives to translate, print, distribute, and read the Bible in English. Amid religious change and court intrigue, private faith becomes dangerous when powerful authorities decide who may have access to sacred words.
Above All Earthly Powers
by Jack Cavanaugh
2004
In 1961 Berlin, Monika Schumacher learns where the disabled children she once protected have been taken. To get them over the new Wall, she needs help from a man who failed her before, while betrayal waits on every side.
Dear Enemy
by Jack Cavanaugh
2005
During the Battle of the Bulge, nurse Annie is stranded behind enemy lines after a German soldier shoots her husband and takes her captive. As she learns more about Karl, hatred and attraction complicate every hope of escape.
Death Watch
by Jack Cavanaugh
2005
People around the world receive messages saying they will die exactly forty-eight hours later, and then they do. Reporter Sydney investigates the impossible pattern until the case reaches people she loves and puts her own life at risk.
Fire
by Jack Cavanaugh
2005
In 1740, Josiah Rush returns to Havenhill to serve as its minister, carrying blame for a deadly fire years before. A smallpox outbreak, hostile neighbors, and another blaze force him to confront the deeper sickness gripping the town.
Proof, The Great Awakenings 1857-1858
by Jack Cavanaugh
2005
When a young woman's conversion alarms her powerful father, he takes her church to court for deception and brainwashing. A young lawyer must defend the congregation and confront the challenge of proving that faith is more than manipulation.
Fury
by Jack Cavanaugh
2006
Orphaned Daniel Cooper sneaks out one night and witnesses a murder, then realizes the killer is coming after him. Hunted through deceit and betrayal, Daniel must find whom he can trust before fear and grief destroy his chance to survive.
Storm
by Jack Cavanaugh
2006
At Yale in 1798, Christian student Asa Rush finds a campus swept up in radical ideas and hostility toward faith. Recruited to help spark renewal, he must face political unrest, a rival, and a costly lesson in loving an enemy.
A Hideous Beauty
by Jack Cavanaugh
2007
On the day he wins a major award, author Grant Austin learns of a plot to assassinate the president. His attempts to warn anyone fail, and he is drawn into a hidden war involving ancient evil, angels, and his own unsettling origins.
Tartarus
by Jack Cavanaugh
2008
Grant Austin investigates first-century documents that claim Jesus' life was a hoax. As he tries to expose the deception, the fallen powers behind it close in, turning a historical mystery into another battle in an ancient spiritual war.
The Guardians
by Jack Cavanaugh
2008
Ethan Morgan has little interest in his family's faith or its treasured Bible. But when his twin Andrew is murdered in Ethan's place and the Bible is stolen, Ethan is forced to pursue both the thief and a heritage he has rejected.
Behold
by Jack Cavanaugh
2011
A boy's violent seizures send his spirit back through time, where he learns he has been chosen for a dangerous task. He must help bring the candlesticks of Revelation to modern Megiddo before an apocalyptic event unfolds.
The Arm of God
by Jack Cavanaugh
2014
In the days of Samson, Eri ben Helek refuses to abandon the tribe of Dan's promised land. Facing the heavily armed Philistines, he leads desperate raids and battles while ambition, revenge, faith, and survival pull his people in opposing directions.
Halo of Brimstone
by Jack Cavanaugh
2019
After disrupting an angelic attack, Grant Austin becomes the target of the rebel angel Nosroch. Israeli commando Rogan Dorn is hunting the same enemy, and their paths collide as old loyalties blur in a new supernatural confrontation.
Heavenly Mortal
by Jack Cavanaugh
2019
Grant Austin is again caught between faithful and rebel angels when a first-century manuscript appears to overturn the story of Jesus. A figure then returns in the clouds claiming to be Christ, but Grant believes the world is facing a deadly hoax.
Hideous Beauty
by Jack Cavanaugh
2019
Award-winning biographer Grant Austin uncovers a plot against the president, but no one believes his warning. The conspiracy pulls him into a hidden struggle with fallen angels and forces him to face truths about the world and himself.
Where to start with Jack Cavanaugh
For a sweeping American family saga: The Puritans → The Colonists → The Patriots → The Adversaries.
For World War II historical fiction: While Mortals Sleep → His Watchful Eye → Above All Earthly Powers.
For supernatural suspense: A Hideous Beauty → Tartarus → Halo of Brimstone.
For faith-and-history novels: Glimpses of Truth → Beyond the Sacred Page.
Jack Cavanaugh sub-series and character series
African Covenant books in order
Explore this seriesAmerican Family Portrait books in order
Explore this series
The Colonists
by Jack Cavanaugh
1994American Family Portrait, Book 2
The Puritans
by Jack Cavanaugh
1994American Family Portrait, Book 1
The Patriots
by Jack Cavanaugh
1995American Family Portrait, Book 3
The Adversaries
by Jack Cavanaugh
1996American Family Portrait, Book 4
The Pioneers
by Jack Cavanaugh
1996American Family Portrait, Book 5
The Allies
by Jack Cavanaugh
1997American Family Portrait, Book 6
The Victors
by Jack Cavanaugh
1998American Family Portrait, Book 7
The Peacemakers
by Jack Cavanaugh
1999American Family Portrait, Book 8
The Guardians
by Jack Cavanaugh
2008American Family Portrait, Book 9
American Family Portrait books in chronological order

The Puritans
by Jack Cavanaugh
1994American Family Portrait, Book 1
The Colonists
by Jack Cavanaugh
1994American Family Portrait, Book 2
The Patriots
by Jack Cavanaugh
1995American Family Portrait, Book 3
The Adversaries
by Jack Cavanaugh
1996American Family Portrait, Book 4
The Pioneers
by Jack Cavanaugh
1996American Family Portrait, Book 5
The Allies
by Jack Cavanaugh
1997American Family Portrait, Book 6
The Victors
by Jack Cavanaugh
1998American Family Portrait, Book 7
The Peacemakers
by Jack Cavanaugh
1999American Family Portrait, Book 8
The Guardians
by Jack Cavanaugh
2008American Family Portrait, Book 9
Book of Books books in order
Explore this seriesKingdom Wars books in order
Explore this seriesSongs in the Night books in order
Explore this seriesThe Great Awakenings books in order
Explore this seriesStandalone Jack Cavanaugh books

Postmarked Heaven
by Jack Cavanaugh
2002
Dear Enemy
by Jack Cavanaugh
2005
Death Watch
by Jack Cavanaugh
2005
Proof, The Great Awakenings 1857-1858
by Jack Cavanaugh
2005The Great Awakenings, Book 1
Behold
by Jack Cavanaugh
2011
The Arm of God
by Jack Cavanaugh
2014
Hideous Beauty
by Jack Cavanaugh
2019Kingdom Wars, Book 1
Author bio
Jack Cavanaugh was born in Youngstown, Ohio, on March 22, 1952. His family moved to Southern California when he was five, and that is where he grew up, went to public school, and eventually built much of his adult life.
History and faith were early parts of the picture. He earned a history degree from Grand Canyon College in 1975, then completed graduate study in biblical studies and preaching at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in 1978.
After school, Cavanaugh returned to Southern California and served as a pastor at churches in San Diego, Imperial Beach, and Chula Vista. He also taught American history at a local college, spoke at events and writers' workshops, and began placing work in a denominational newspaper, national magazines, and a San Diego newspaper column.
The novel writing part took patience.
A devoted reader of historical fiction, he set out to learn the form by studying craft books and reading closely. He once gave himself three years to become a full-time historical novelist. His first book contract arrived thirteen years later, after he pitched an idea at a writers' conference and was asked instead to develop a series about American history.
That request led to The Puritans, published in 1994 as the opening novel in the nine-book American Family Portrait series. The books follow generations of the Morgan family from seventeenth-century England and colonial Massachusetts through the Revolution, the Civil War, world wars, Vietnam, and the modern day. Cavanaugh uses big historical moments as pressure points for family loyalties, belief, romance, and hard choices.
His later historical novels travel farther afield. The African Covenant books are set in South Africa, while the Book of Books novels follow people caught up in the dangerous effort to make Scripture available in English. In the Songs in the Night trilogy, German Christians face Nazism, war, and then life under East German communism. The Great Awakenings novels, written with Bill Bright, visit American revivals in several eras.
He also writes suspense with a supernatural edge. A Hideous Beauty, Tartarus, Heavenly Mortal, and Halo of Brimstone make up the Kingdom Wars story, where author Grant Austin is drawn into a hidden conflict involving angels and demons. Other books range from the biblical-era adventure The Arm of God to Death Watch, a thriller built around chilling messages that predict recipients' deaths.
His work has received several honors, including awards for The Puritans, While Mortals Sleep, His Watchful Eye, Glimpses of Truth, and Beyond the Sacred Page. The awards matter, but the through line is simpler: Cavanaugh keeps returning to people whose convictions are tested when history gets dangerous.
He has continued to live in Southern California with his wife, Marni, near their adult children and grandchildren. Away from the desk, he plays acoustic guitar, paints landscapes, and studies Ancient Greek.
Edited by
Software engineer whose passion for tracking book recommendations from podcasts inspired the creation of MRB.
Lead investor at 3one4 Capital whose startup expertise and love for books helped shaped MRB and its growth.














Comments
Did we miss something? Have feedback?
Help us improve this page by sharing your thoughts