One's opinion of this book will be directly related to one's expectations of this book. That makes it a very difficult one to review. There seems to be two main goals to this story: 1- to show what life was like in the area of Jeruselem circa A.D. 33 and 2 - To further the Christian message by re-writing the Biblical accounts in the New Testament from a more personal view. Therefore, if you are expecting a plot driven story set amidst a biblical era background (as the synopsis suggests) you will be sorely disappointed.

There is very little plot to this book. The "main" characters never even meet until over half way through the book. Instead, we read about their day to day world, first from a female servant's point of view - then from a male centurion's point of view. This telling, then re-telling slows the progression of events to a snails pace. Even after the initial meeting their interaction is almost nonexistent, a total of three short times throughout the rest of the book. The descriptions of each town, the local customs, both Roman and Judean are painstakingly presented and the general life in that era seems to be the point.

If you are searching for a descriptive re-telling of the Biblical events occurring after Jesus' death, you will thoroughly enjoy this book. It goes over the exact content found in scripture. The reader hears the stories from Mary Magdelene, Lazarus, Cleopus, the sisters Mary and Martha and many others. Nothing new or different but told in a more personal setting.

So, how does one rate that? Rating it low because of it's nonexistent plot, slow pace and completely unoriginal content seems blasphemous because of the beauty contained in the scriptural stories themselves. Rating it high, however, would be hypocritical, as the authors can claim none of what's good about the story, only the way in which it is written.