I hope Jesus was at least a little bit like the character portraying him in "Lamb." While the intentional historical inaccuracies show him studying Eastern philosophy and kung fu, it does seem probable and desirable that Jesus would have spent time learning as much as he could about the world and its people. It's also believable that he would have had friends and contemplated an adolescent desire for female companionship. What is not believable is that his friend would have been named Biff (it took me a while to not think of "Back to the Future" every time his name was mentioned) or that he would have been so curious about sex that he would have encouraged Biff to fornicate and recount the details.

I enjoyed this book most when Joshua (Jesus) and Biff were very close. As the book neared the end, the details seemed rushed. The reader was distanced from Joshua until his execution, which was a well-written scene that almost brought a tear to my eye. However, what followed was quite obviously a formulaic excuse for why Biff was omitted from the existing gospels. Granted, the author tried to make up for it with a bit of a twist at the end (which was foreshadowed much too early in the book -- you thought the author was never going to get back to it, and actually never completely explained it). Biff is called to write his gospel in modern-day America, and he speaks to the reader frequently at the beginning of the book, but when his side notes wane you actually start to miss him. The epilogue that resolves modern-day Biff's dilemma is quick and forced, and leaves the reader less emotionally connected than he would like to be.

Those gripes aside, this book was quite an entertaining read, and I found myself laughing out loud and, at times, fully in suspense (the encounter with the demon was great, if a bit wordy). The author's mix of thorough research and silly humor was fairly balanced, although I got tired of the "I invented sarcasm" bit. OK maybe a little more griping -- I wish the character of Mary (Jesus' mother) had been more fully developed, and that I had been able to feel more of her pain upon Joshua's death. I realize her scope was limited by the narrator's viewpoint, but it would have been nice to hear more about her than how beautiful she was. I do also feel compelled to mention that the author has a slight penchant for rambling -- most often while trying to describe the physical setting, which I sometimes had trouble picturing in my head. So he tried really hard, but didn't always succeed.

However, I did give this book four stars for good reason. I did really like it. I enjoyed the subject matter, and I thought it was treated with nothing but respect by the author. I probably would've given the book five stars if he had just left out some of the truly inconceivable events. A yeti? Come on, now.