Summary: This is the story of Leah, a young Jewess of mixed heritage trapped in a vortex of competing political agendas and private trauma. Caught up in the maelstrom following the death of an obscure rabbi in the Roman backwater of firstcentury Palestine, Leah finds herself also engulfed in her own turmoil facing the prospect of an arranged marriage to a Roman soldier, Alban, who seems to care for nothing but his own ambitions. Head of the garrison near Galilee, he has been assigned by Palestine's governor to ferret out the truth behind rumors of a political execution gone awry. Leah's mistress, the governor's wife, secretly commissions Leah also to discover what really has become of this man whose death and missing bodyis causing such furor (from amazon.com).
Cons: The main things you could point out as problems with this book (and I only noticed them on my fourth read) are that you might not get into the book until you read the first two or so chapters (I honestly don't remember having this problem, but it is possible someone else could ) and it does move a bit slow at times. Also, (and this doesn't actually count as a con) if you do not enjoy books that are set in the time period of the Bible and that involve some Biblical characters, then you will not enjoy this one.
Pros: This book brings the time right after Jesus's death (and the early church) alive. I find it easy to forget how the people in the Bible were real people, and that there were other real people that they interacted with (I'm sorry if that sounds strange). Also, the authors of this book are very talented at bringing the land of Israel to life. For years, this book has been one of my favorites to read and read-read.
Note: This is the first book of three of the Acts of Faith series. While I will not write book reviews on the other two, I will mention that they were just as fantastic as this one and that I would highly recommend them.
This book easily gets five stars. Recommended ages 15 and up.
I love both these authors!
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