The setting is Milwaukee in 1994 on campus at Bethlehem College. Morrie Schiller is the narrator. On the very first day of school, he falls in love with an attractive female student, TRACY JOHNSON. She also feels attracted to him and his authentic nature, but fails to make the romantic connection. Morrie finds these equally strong signals very perplexing. Dreams of his childhood in the Catholic Church invoke nostalgia for his past. (His parents are Baptists but had once been Catholics.) Other subplots include an emerging presence of religious right-wing radicalism. These become central themes later in the story.

Unable to cope with the fervor, their relationship eventually breaks down. Tracy drops out of school and leaves Morrie "caught" in an identity crisis both emotionally and spiritually.

In Part 2, Morrie meets the mystical, Jack Joplin, who would expose Morrie's "Evangelical presumptions" and evoke his "transcendental self". Through a satirical "philosophical method" called the AMORE ASCENDES, the larger-than-life Jack teaches Morrie success with the opposite sex through "phenomenology" Jack prods him through quasi-Socratic dialogues and nudges him to project himself into the imaginations of unsuspecting women on campus. Morrie strikes success by "becoming that which a young woman wants to see"--especially with Emily Wagner, a posh art student from New York who see him as her romantic ideal and falls in love. Morrie cannot resist this Mephistopheles-like figure who imparts prowess leading to surrealistic adventures that go beyond that for which he bargained.

This is not a religious novel in the generic sense. The author addresses a general audience and narrates in the spirit of John Updike's writing. The rise of a right-wing political/religious activism is the novel's constant backdrop and an essential part of the plot. Though 1994 was more innocent time, the setting foreshadows the religious right's political prowess today. In Part 3, Morrie and a feisty but likable fundamentalist, Frank Blachford, renew a broken friendship. They come in the crossfire as moderate and fundamentalist Christians battle for the heart and soul of the college and must confront dangerous right-wing activists.

With today's media focus on Christian fundamentalism, Caught in the Winds focuses on current events with sympathetic characters who dare challenge Evangelical conventionality. While directed toward a mainstream readership, the novel should be of particular interest to reflective Evangelical Christians. As a campus novel, it will also appeal to students and give it many promotional possibilities on colleges and universities.