On the Road to Damascus, Everything Changes (Review of 'The Damascus Way')
The Damascus Way, which Janette Oke and I co-authored, is currently #2 on the CBA best seller's list. The novel is the third and final book in the Acts of Faith series.
Karen Barnett reviewed The Damascus Way on her blog, "Cannot Be Shaken," and she graciously allowed me to reprint her review here.
By Karen Barnett
The roads in Judea, Samaria, Galilee and Syria were treacherous and travelers risked bandits, murderous zealots, and sandstorms as they struggled to reach their destinations. But, on the road to Damascus–everything changed.
The Damascus Way is a sweeping saga that gives readers a glimpse into the uncertain lives of the people of "the Way," the first century followers of the risen Christ. Authors Davis Bunn and Janette Oke show how this new faith brought not only persecution to the early church, but also miraculously transformed former enemies into family. The lives of Roman centurions, Syrian traders, Judean merchants and Samaritan slaves are bound together as they travel the Roman roads that unite their lands.
Young Julia, the daughter of a wealthy merchant, is horrified when she learns that she and her mother are, in reality, her father's second family and that her father never actually married her mother. Jacob, one of her father's caravan guards and a follower of The Way, is also searching for his place in the world. The two meet when they both become reluctant couriers for the communities of believers–a task that puts both them and their families at risk from the temple priests and Pharisees, such as Saul of Tarsus, who seek to rid the land of this dangerous new movement.
The Damascus Way is the third book in the Acts of Faith series. I read it without having read the two previous books and had no difficulty following the storyline. Readers who have read The Centurion's Wife and The Hidden Flame will likely enjoy seeing the continuation of some of the familiar characters from those books. Now that I've finished The Damascus Way, I'm eager to go back and read the first two books of the series. The authors painted such a vivid scene that I feel like I've just gotten back from my own journey and I'm still shaking the sand from my shoes.
Karen Barnett writes about faith, motherhood and writing in her blog, Cannot Be Shaken. An aspiring Christian fiction writer, she lives in Albany, Oregon with her husband and two children. She is published in Guideposts and Ladybug magazines.
