The OP has a dilemma. There’s LOTS of brilliant Christian literature I could recommend, just as there’s LOTS of brilliant Christian music I could recommend. But… you’re not going to find any of it in a standard American strip-mall “Christian” book store!
In terms of poetry, there’s John Donne, Gerard Manley Hopkins, and John Milton. Among novelists, there’s Fyodor Dostoevsky, Leo Tolstoy, Victor Hugo, Graham Greene… the list is endless.
As for Christian music, well, Christian faith inspired much of the best of Bach, Haydn, Mozart, Vivaldi. Again, it’s a long list.
But as I said, you’re not likely to find THAT kind of Christian music at standard Christian book stores.
I happen to think that, if you’re looking for great Christian literature, you don’t start with Christian authors and weed out the ones who aren’t great. Rather, you start with great authors and weed out the ones who aren’t Christian. That is, when a great author turns his attention to Christianity, the result is likely to be brilliant. But when a mediocre author writes esxclusively about Christianity, the results are likely to be awful. And it’s precisely THAT kind of literature that fills the shelves of most Christian book stores.
Similarly, when a composer as brilliant as Haydn writes a piece about the Creation, the results are splendid. But when an untalented composer writes music with exclusively Christian themes, the results are usually awful. But you’ll find THAT kind of music in a Christian bookstore far more often than you’ll find Haydn’s “Creation.”
Unfortunately, I get the feeling the person the OP wants to buy for is ONLY interested in the kind of books/music you’d see at a mainstream Christian bookstore- stuff that’s unoriginal, unchallenging, and simplistic.
with the “wrongdoer” finding God and welcoming Jesus into their life, but not usually until the last page.