Lamb is a funny book in the slapstick, irreverent tradition of Douglas Adams and Tom Robbins, and a really thought provoking look at what shaped the thoughts of Jesus in the years before his ministry. It's an interesting combination, and Moore pulls off the balance between slapstick and reverence with a delicate touch. Ultimately, though, I found myself wishing for more of the thought provoking stuff and less of the adolescent giggles.

This was particularly true for me in terms of sex in the book. There's a romance that takes up a few dozen pages toward the beginning of the book that's actually pretty touching; but past that, sex in this book is about Biff, who narrates the story, paying hot young prostitutes to indulge just about every adolescent fantasy imaginable.

Putting aside the sexual escapades, the thuggish episodes, the strange bits of fantasy-magic, and the cute but overdone anachronistic discoveries, the story is a sweet and moving one. Moore creates a Jesus (Joshua in the book) that is intensely likable, focused, attentive, moral and skilled. Josh is clearly the alpha here, but Biff holds his own, and the friendship between Biff and Joshua is believable and compelling. Joshua is thinking all the time, taking in the world all around him and his intensive study as he grows up and shapes Christian precepts. It's a very well done character study despite the silliness of the contexts.

In the end, as the story goes from invented childhood through some exotic Far East locales to the established Gospel, there's enough here to keep this a very readable, interesting book.