Above the Line Books In Order

Publication Order of Above the Line Books

“Above the Line” is a series of inspirational novels written by award-winning romance, inspirational and mystery author Karen Kingsbury. Kingsbury has written some of most popular inspirational novels in the genre and she has more than twenty-five million of her books in print. Her novels have made some of the most prestigious bestselling lists and been adapted into major motion films. Her “Baxter Family” series of which the “Above the Line” series is a spinoff is being made into a TV series by one of the major networks. Besides her writing, Kingsbury also works at Liberty University where she is a Creative Writing adjunct professor. In 2001, she decided to double their family when she adopted three boys from Haiti. Karen and her husband lives in Tennessee near their adult children.

Karen Kingsbury was born in Fairfax, Virginia and was instantly hooked into storytelling evidenced by the fact that she was hooked and memorized The Grinch Who Stole Christmas by the time she was five. Since the family moved around so much she never had many friends that she found solace in books. She decided to study journalism since it seemed more practical but nearly gave up in her first year of study. What saved her career in writing was Professor Bob Scheidel, an old surly journalist. Bob dragged her fighting and screaming into the staff of his school magazine and then got her a job with the Los Angeles Times when she graduated from Cal State. It was at the Times that she met Don, who introduced her to the Christian faith and who she would later go on to marry in 1989. It was while she was pregnant with their first child to be able to write from home and got her answer pretty soon after that. She had written a story about a real-life murder that was published in “People Magazine” that an agent saw and loved. He contacted her and suggested she make it into a novel. The agent sold the novel and she earned 12.49 more than she ever made in a single year. She quit her job the following day and has never looked back since. While she started out writing crime fiction, she later shifted to inspirational novels in which she has made her name as one of the best in the genre.

The “Above the Line” series by Karen Kingsbury is a novel about Chase Ryan and Keith Ellison, two nondescript producers trying to make it in the world of film making. In “Take One,” they are in charge of millions of dollars that have been put up by investors. When everything begins to fall apart, they think they are in over their heads. Could they keep things chugging along fine and make a movie that can make money and be a blockbuster at the same time or will they lose the investors’ money? In the second novel of the series “Take Two,” Chase and Keith are still working the Hollywood scene where wheeling and dealing is the order of the day. The two friends soon learn that not all that glitters is gold and while they can find success in Los Angeles, it could cost them their ideas and relationships. “Take Three” the third novel of the series opens to Chase and Keith celebrating their first successful film. But in the midst of conflicting dreams, family relationships, and broken budgets the two needs to find their way through a maze of questions and pain that has been brought about by the achievement of their dreams.

“Take One” the first novel of the “Above the Line” series has Chase Ryan and Keith Ellison determined to change the world before it changes and leaves them behind. They have bigger dreams than themselves as they had left the mission fields of Indonesia and traveled to Hollywood dreaming of becoming world-changing filmmakers. They have managed to get investors to put up the money they intend to use to make a feature film. But as they start filming, what had seemed like a foolproof plan suddenly starts unraveling. They have millions of dollars they cannot afford to lose and they make a desperate play to save the film. They are dealing with their own insecurities, a botched production schedule and a temperamental schedule that makes creative freedom difficult and reduces the spiritual freedom that once drove them. They are starting to doubt if God was in the movie or if it was just a figment of their imagination. But then a chance encounter that leads to a friendship with John Baxter could change everything. He encourages them to never give up and produce their film if they believe it will change the world. Can they do it or is a huge risk for everyone involved?

In “Take Two” the second novel of the series Chase and Keith are done filming their film and now need to edit and promote it. What they have going for them is an investor with bottomless pockets and a production assistant who is his daughter to ensure the movie gets into theaters. They believe success is just on the horizon and spend their time between their homes in Hollywood and San Jose. In the meantime, Chase’s wife is struggling with having to take care of their two little children and has been sinking into greater bouts of depression. Her situation is not helped by a tight budget and she soon starts resenting the fact that Chase spends so much time away from the family. They are making a life-changing movie but could this be the movie that also changes his life by making him lose his family. Keith too is having to deal with a daughter who desires the adventurous and edgy and has recently been very rebellious. Andi wants love and danger in her life and has no time for God or belief. She is in a very dangerous place of no return.

“Take Three” the third novel of the “Above the Line” series opens to Keith and Chase on the cusp of their dream of producing a world-changing movie. Their producers are negotiating with the hottest movie star to take the lead role in their inspirational movie and things could not be better for the duo. But things take sudden turn as Chase is forced to leave Jeremiah Productions never to return. During this period, Keith continues working on the film alone though he finally relents and gets the help of one of the Baxters. It is not a great time for Keith who has to deal with his daughter’s identity crisis at the worst time as he can do nothing to respond. His daughter Andi soon has to face up to some terrible consequences and having no one to lean on embarks on a course that could just as well destroy her. Will Keith manage to keep the fire he had when he set out to become a filmmaker or will he decide to quit and help his daughter.