From Judaism to atheism to Christ

Q&A | Crime writer Andrew Klavan takes a turn at writing for young adults—but without the puppies | Marvin Olasky

Anacleto Raping /Genesis Photos

Andrew Klavan, 54, is a terrific writer of adult thrillers ("Too nice for vice," Feb. 10, 2007) who publicly declared his Christian beliefs several years ago. His latest novel, and his first aimed at "young adults" (grades 8-11) is The Last Thing I Remember (Thomas Nelson, 2009). Here are excerpts from our discussion.

You grew up Jewish, with a Bar Mitzvah at 13?

I was given Jewish training but at the same time was very explicitly and implicitly instructed not to take any of it seriously. My mother was and is to this day a complete atheist, and my father hedged his bets a little bit but didn't know what he thought. I was being inculcated in something that I was told was essentially nonsense. The result was that I felt completely inauthentic.

Inauthentic—and then you headed off to University of California, Berkeley, 3,000 miles away.