The Music Behind Collateral Damage

Stories often begin with a single moment—a conversation, a scene, or sometimes even a song. As I wrote Collateral Damage, music helped me capture the emotions behind the story: courage in the face of danger, the quiet strength of faith, and the kind of love that refuses to give up even when the path forward seems impossible.

These songs accompanied me through many of the scenes in this book. Some reflect the heart of the characters, others the tension of the story, and a few simply carry the spirit of the journey Valyn and Alex take together.

If you’d like to experience the story alongside the music that inspired it, you can listen to the full playlist below.

Highlights:

  • gonna have to trust You—Stephen Stanley

  • Fight Like Heaven—Tauren Wells

  • Don’t Tread on Me—We The Kingdom

  • Eden (Isn’t It Just Like You)—Benjamin William Hastings

The Music Behind Homefront

Sometimes music can tell a story just as well as words. The songs are meant to play alongside Alex and Valyn’s journey home and the hope they discovered even during difficult times.

Highlights:

  • Take It Easy — The Eagles

  • Take Me Home, Country Roads — John Denver

  • Wait For Me — Zach Williams

  • Unsung Hero — for King and Country

  • Country Psalm — Brandon Lake

  • Will the Circle Be Unbroken? —Randy Travis

  • A Father’s Blessing — Benjamin William Hastings