Toby Parker has the life he prayed for. CorVitae, the AI company he built to map the human heart, is saving lives. Mara’s Hope Center gives orphans a home. Their Ellie with her violin, Jonah with a soccer ball, Grace with a sketchbook, fill the hours that success used to empty.
Then the unthinkable happens.
A gas leak levels the Center. Thirty-five people are gone, including their three children. The company collapses. Illness follows. Friends arrive with explanations. In a heavenly boardroom the Great Executive and the Accuser argue over a single will Toby curse God when the grass withers?
Withering Grass is a modern retelling of the Book of a story of marriage under ruin, of faith that has to live without answers, and of whether anything eternal still stands when every tower has fallen. For readers of Francine Rivers, Karen Kingsbury, and anyone who has shouted at heaven and waited for a reply.
Mike Kunkel is a proud native Texan, lifelong educator, and musician with over thirty years of experience in music and technology education across Texas public and private schools. He currently serves as Music Director at St. Barnabas Anglican Church in Fort Worth.
Raised in a strong Christian home by a Baptist deacon father and a Sunday School teacher mother, Mike’s faith has deeply shaped his life, values, and writing. His love for Scripture inspired him to write his debut novel, Withering Grass, a modern retelling of the Book of Job that explores faith, devastating loss, perseverance, and ultimate redemption in today’s world.